Highs and lows of a woman tobacco farmer
When my husband passed on in 2003, I left the comfort of Harare to concentrate on tobacco farming in order to fend for my four children, says Shingirai Chataika (52).
TWO of my children are doing well in South Africa while the other two girls are tobacco farmers here in Zimbabwe, she says with a smile of achievement. I have had my ups and downs in tobacco farming but have stuck to the trade since it is my livelihood.
My plot is 6 hectares and I plant beans, maize, groundnuts and of course tobacco. I produce an average of 3 000kg per hectare from the one and half hectares of tobacco I farm.
I now own a shop in Macheke near Chirunji School that I was renting out until the unfortunate demise of my tenant hence I now need to focus on running it.
I have received my export incentive and I also want to redeem my treasury bills which I want to use to buy top dressing fertiliser for my maize.
As an entrepreneur I used to bring goats from Macheke for fellow farmers coming from my area. I would cook food at my house in Budiriro and would avail them with meals that they would pay for later on.
By the time the marketing season starts, most farmers would have exhausted their money and will not be able to buy food from licenced takeaways.
The financial position of many farmers is so bad that sometimes transporters give them money which is added to the stop order so that they can survive in Harare whilst waiting for their payments.
I have discouraged women from bringing children to the floors as they will be exposing them to an array of health risks and vagaries of the weather.
When the season starts, makeshift unlicenced food outlets whose hygienic standards no one can verify mushroom at the floors.
In the face of the typhoid outbreak this is an outright no.
I wish floors could come up with arrangements for farmers with reputable canteens so that money can be deducted from sales sheets as there is a risk of contracting typhoid when food is bought from sources which are not only unhygienic but which are not traceable.
Typhoid is a bacterial disease spread through poor hygiene and contaminated water.
Typhoid is a serious threat and farmers should not congest the floor facilities.
The current set up at auction floors was never designed for tobacco to be sold whilst farmers are in residence hence there are no dormitories.
In India, farmers sell their tobacco, leave the sales floors and only return when their money is processed in four to five days.
The same applies in Tanzania, Malawi and Brazil where farmers sell their tobacco and their money is processed in a couple of weeks when they have returned to their places of residence.
Growers are urged to return to their farms after selling their tobacco instead of camping at the floors leading to congestion and spread of diseases.
Tobacco farmers can then continue with their farming activities which include curing and baling whilst accessing their money from the point of sales, ATMs, mobile money transfers and other facilities at their exposure.
For additional Information contact TIMB on telephone numbers 08677004624 /6 or 0772145166 /9 or 027922082/ 21982 or 025-3439 or 067-24268 /29246 or 0277-2700 or 064-7280 or 02716772 or Toll Free Numbers 08006003 / 0731999999 / 0712832804 or WhatsApp 0731999999 or E-mail: info@timb.co.zw