Tobacco farmers look forward to fair deal

AS the 2021tobacco marketing season kicks off tomorrow, many farmers who have produced the golden leaf have high expectations. Most of them earn an income once-a-year when they deliver the crop, but will feel shortchanged if government connives with banks and merchants to change the goalposts inasfar as payments are concerned.

After toiling for months on end to produce a quality crop, they expect nothing short of fair prices and payment terms to enable them to start preparations for the next cropping season.

The past few marketing seasons have not been good for tobacco farmers as they were often either shortchanged by merchants at the floors or banks would change the goalposts, leaving most of them counting losses.

They have recently been exploited by contractors, who paid them paltry amounts, and had 50% of their revenues retained by the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe through the foreign currency retention system.

The other half was paid at a fixed rate of US$1:$25, which made it difficult for them return to the farms at a time when most of their inputs were priced in foreign currency.

This means farmers used Zimbabwe dollars to buy foreign currency on the parallel market where rates were high.

At one point they coughed out $165 to buy US$1 and they lost heavily.

In addition to this, it was difficult for farmers to access their money at banks after they delivered their crop.

They had to wait for weeks at the tobacco auction floors before they were paid.

Instead of coming up with a payment model that encourages and promotes tobacco farming, government has failed to assist.

Tobacco farming may be abandoned in future if these issues are not resolved.

That would be a blow to the fiscus and the economy in general because tobacco markets have been growing and demand has been firming internationally.

To support farmers, government must immediately review policies that affect them and make sure that all impediments are removed.

As producers of one of the country’s leading foreign currency earners, tobacco farmers need careful handling or else the crop risks going down the way cotton did.

The white gold is now struggling to find takers with farmers still to be paid for last year’s crop.