TOBACCO farmers have expressed interest in participating in the various segments of the crop’s value chain saying the move would help boost their earnings, which have only been coming from sales of the golden leaf all along.
Speaking during the launch of the Zimbabwe Tobacco Growers Association (ZITOGA) in Harare on Thursday, president of the association Mr George Seremwe said they aimed to effectively incorporate the organisation’s membership into the national tobacco value eco-system.
ZITOGA is an amalgamation of four associations namely Tobacco Association of Zimbabwe, Zimbabwe Progressive Tobacco Farmers Association, Tobacco Farmers Union Trust and Tobacco Farmers Union of Zimbabwe with a total membership of 50 000 registered growers.
The organisation seeks to safeguard and promote the interests of the indigenous tobacco growers both large and small-scale.
“In as much as the land reform programme restored our dignity, as a people by allowing us to rise from mere farm labourers to landowners, we wish to rise from this grower status to value chain participants,” said Mr Seremwe.
In addition, the newly formed association is looking at engaging the Government in different aspects of the tobacco value chain so that production is safeguarded.
“The contractual relationship between the grower and contractors needs to be reviewed, for example, some of the inputs are loaned at rates much higher than the market value. The contractual agreements have pushed growers to be caught in debt-traps, as they off-load production risk onto growers,” said Mr Seremwe.
Tobacco contributes 10 percent to the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) earning up to US$782 million in foreign currency.
“Tobacco has made many individuals rich whilst small-scale and communal farmers are at the bottom of the pile due to unfair and uncouth business practices, which include unfair and unethical handling of contractual agreements by their contractors,” said Mr Seremwe.
The association urged the Government to promote programmes that support sustainable tobacco growing and curing practices.
“We are keen to support training programmes, which are ongoing including the tutoring of our growers in current best practices, as advised by agronomists and other stakeholders,” said Mr Seremwe.
The Government and the private sector has been rolling out trainings for tobacco growers to boost quality.
Zimbabwe has a long history of being one of the largest tobacco producers and is ranked fourth globally and has since earned the world tobacco super producer recognition.
“We are working with all parties who mean well for the farmer, as we rally behind Government initiatives and policies that support the communal farmer,” said Mr Seremwe. – The Herald
