Africa-Press – Zimbabwe. By Staff Reporter – THE Tobacco Farmers Union of Zimbabwe (ToFUZ) has written to the Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board (TIMB) demanding assurances farmers would be spared from perennial payment hurdles and other logistical inconveniences when sales on the golden leaf return later this year.
In a correspondence covering a broad range of issues affecting his constituency, ToFUZ Executive President Believe Tevera also urged TIMB to abandon its “ambush” methods when dealing with farmers.
“We request that TIMB should be clear on the payment method and not make last minute announcements which would ambush farmers,” he said.
“There should be clarity on the foreign currency retention threshold and it should be announced in time before the opening of the selling season.
“The retention ratio should be increased from the last year 50/50 which drastically affected farmers and tobacco production in Zimbabwe.”
Tevera said most farmers last season failed to recapitalise given that all inputs used in tobacco production were denominated US dollars, forcing them to shift into contract farming.
He added, “As a union, we therefore propose and demand that the forex retention ratio should be increased to 70% forex and 30% RTGS, and the RTGS part should be exchanged using the rate on the local market not the low rate on our foreign currency auction system.”
Tevera also called upon “TIMB to engage with monetary authorities and banks to ensure that cash is readily available in banks once it has been deposited at the conclusion of sales.”
In the past seasons, farmers have often waited for weeks for their cash to be available yet they would want to use it to settle payments and prepare for the next season.
“There is also need for TIMB and monetary authorities to engage banks which are able to avail cash on demand and not make farmers queue for long periods exposing them to the deadly COVID19 pandemic,” he said.
READ FULL CORRESPONDENCE BELOW;
Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board (TIMB)
The Chief Executive Officer
Hope this email finds you well, the above matter refers to Tobacco Farmers Union of Zimbabwe (ToFUZ), a duly registered Association of small scale tobacco farmers, which is requesting for clarity on issues concerning the payment modalities for the upcoming 2021 marketing season as well as general issues of farmers welfare in the same period. Our issues are as follows:
We look forward to your cooperation and action on the matters we have raised.
