Tobacco sales hit US$500m mark
ABOUT 144 578 024 kilogrammes of flue cured tobacco have gone under the hammer, with growers pocketing over US$500 million in earnings since the opening of the 2024 marketing season in March.
Growers under the contract system sold the bulky of the golden leaf at US$480 million, while their self-financed counterparts have earned US$31 million.
Statistics released by the Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board (TIMB) on Day 46 showed that tobacco was selling at an average price of US$3. 53 compared to US$3 during the period last year.
About 94 percent of tobacco is grown under contract farming, and farmers are primed for rich pickings this season as they are being paid 75 percent of their earnings in United States of America dollars and 25 percent in local currency at the prevailing exchange rate.
The highest price for auction system is US$6,99 compared to US$5,07 same period last year. In the contract category the highest price is US$6,99 compared to last year’s US$6,10.
However, as the marketing season progresses, side-marketing of tobacco has become rampant, forcing the Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board (TIMB) and the police to arrest 208 growers and middlemen, while an undisclosed grower numbers have been blocked for selling more than five times in a few days.
Armed with Statutory Instrument 77 of 2022 which outlaws the practice, TIMB has deployed teams working in conjunction with the police on the ground to bust syndicates that are fuelling side marketing of the golden leaf.
Repeat offenders now face jail.
TIMB spokesperson, Mrs Chelesani Moyo-Tsarwe said they have deployed inspectors to monitor how the crop is being delivered to the floors and flash out middlemen who are fleecing farmers.
“As TIMB we have Statutory Instrument (SI) 77 of 2022 in place to curb side marketing, and since the commencement of the marketing season we have arrested 208 culprits, some of whom have been convicted and fined.
“We are working with the Zimbabwe Republic Police and the courts to restore order sanity in the tobacco industry. The rate of side marketing and involvement of middlemen is going down as more inspectors have been deployed in all the tobacco growing regions to bust syndicates,” said Mrs Tsarwe.
Meanwhile, Zimbabwe Tobacco Farmers Trust president, Mr Victor Mariranyika implored farmers not be swayed by middlemen visiting their farm gates, offering to buy their crops as they risked being shortchanged in the process.
Mr Mariranyika urged farmers to directly market their crops to either contract floors or auction floors.
He challenged TIMB to deal with contractors that were buying tobacco financed by other contracting companies as this was fuelling the scourge of tobacco side marketing.
“They are trying their best in curbing side marketing of the crop considering their limited man power versus the number of farmers. Side marketing destroys the whole concept of business and cause the collapse of the entire tobacco value chain.
“Side marketing is not about farmers, but also involves contractors who are buying a crop they did not fund. Both the farmer and contractor must be honest in their dealings.
Farmers who are selling their tobacco to middle men at home are putting themselves on risk of robberies. Instead, growers should deliver the crop to the auction floors and have their earning deposited in banks, that way their earnings are safe.
“Middlemen do not do farmers any favour by buying tobacco at their farm gates.
“It is an exploitative enterprise because they pay you peanuts and resale the same crop at a much higher price. In other way middlemen are making profits at the expense of the farmer who is going to be sued by the company that sponsored him,” Mr Mariranyika said.