The Zimbabwe Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board (TIMB) has announced the opening dates for auction and contract floors for the 2022 season, according to ZBC News.
“The TIMB wishes to inform all stakeholders that the 2022 tobacco marketing season kicks off on the 30th of March 2022 for auction floors and Thursday, the 31st of March for contract floors,” said Chelisani Moyo, spokesperson for the TIMB.
“We registered 122,000 farmers for this season compared to 145,000 last season, mainly due to the fact that TIMB has come up with a framework to bring sanity in the industry to ensure that proper farmers are the ones who are registered,” he added.
The number of registered Class A buyers has increased to 33 from 28 in 2021.
Over the past two years, sales have been conducted under strict Covid-19 protocols, and the TIMB is currently conducting crop assessment with the parastatal set to issue the sales guidelines before the marketing season starts.