Low leaf tobacco prices cause concern in Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe’s Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Lands and Agriculture has expressed concern over the low prices being offered at tobacco auction floors this season, according to a story in The Herald.

It has urged stakeholders to educate growers on what they have to do to be rewarded with good returns for their tobacco.

The committee members toured Northern Tobacco, Tianze Tobacco Company and Boka Tobacco Auction Floors, where they were said by the Herald to have expressed dismay at a price cap of $4.99 per kg at a time when prices on contract floors were as high as $6.30 per kg.

Some committee members felt that buyers were exploiting farmers by offering low prices, while others accused the Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board of not doing enough to assist farmers, especially on the issue of low prices. Others attributed the low prices to the low quality of the crop being delivered to the auction floors.

The Zengeza West Member of Parliament, Simon Chidhakwa, complained of middlemen buying the tobacco at very low prices outside the auction floors for resale at the floors.

Meanwhile, a story in the Zimbabwean relayed by the TMA said that quality tobacco that in previous seasons had sold for US$4.00 per kg was this season attracting offers of US$1.60 per kg.