Africa’s marketing season has not delivered good news for Zimbabwean tobacco growers, according to the latest International Tobacco Growers’ Association (ITGA) Crop Monitor report, leading the president of the Tobacco Association of Zimbabwe (TAZ) to call for a meeting between all the industry’s stakeholders.
The ITGA report says tobacco delivery in Zimbabwe so far is 20% lower compared to 2018, disappointing those who had expectations of a large crop. Not only is the volume delivered below the expected quantities, but prices are much lower than last year. The fall is an astonishing 37%.
Several situations are the reason for this. First, the marketing season started with farmers uninformed of the method of payment, creating uncertainty regarding the process. There have also been monetary problems that can be attributed to the new Zimbabwean currency (Real Time Gross Settlement or RTGS$), which is causing inflationary pressure, thus creating more difficulties to national leaf companies.
These firms have to buy the crop in US dollars, increasing their costs and driving down prices. To worsen growers’ difficulties, several fees and prices also increased, further eroding the already depleted farmer’s income.