(3 minutes read)
· Zimbabwean farmers started selling their tobacco crop due to
the delays in auction on account of Covid-19. Sale of tobacco is a
major source of income for the farmers and foreign exchange for the
debt ridden country.
· Tobacco is the largest earner of foreign exchange after gold
for Mozambique.
· This year around production was estimated at 230 million
kilos after rain cut the area planted by 12% and fewer growers planted
the crop compared to last year.
Zimbabwean farmers started selling their tobacco crop due to the
delays in auction on account of Covid-19. Sale of tobacco is a major
source of income for the farmers and foreign exchange for the debt
ridden country. Auctions could have helped the farmers to realize
better price for their produce. Many feel that the farmers are
resorting to distress sale to fend for their day to day expenses.
Tobacco is the largest earner of foreign exchange after gold for
Mozambique. The Southern African country has earned US$747 million in
export of tobacco mainly to China and Europe, according to official
figures in 2018.
This year around production was estimated at 230 million kilos after
rain cut the area planted by 12% and fewer growers planted the crop
compared to last year. Industry regulator -Tobacco Industry and
Marketing Board (TIMB) -said that the crop is generally grown under
grim weather conditions characterized by late rains and long dry
spells. Last year was a bumper crop at 259 million kilos. Farmers and
traders had got good returns by processing the crop and exporting to
various destinations.
This year farmers are upfront with a triple whammy of challenges.
Foremost was drought last year, followed by rains and now compounded
by coronavirus. Drastic drop in income necessitates more food aid to
the tobacco farmers, who are mostly marginal farmers entirely
depending on tobacco cultivation for their livelihood. TIMB has banned
informal traders from selling goods at auction floors. During the
auction season, farmers sleep outside the auction hall, which this
time around was prohibited by the authorities because of the pandemic.
The officials said that farmers would be allowed to retain half of
their earnings in dollars and the remainder in local currency. That
was not the case last year because trading in dollars was banned last
year.