Tobacco farmers want assurances for next year

Tobacco farmers in Zimbabwe say they need assurances that fuel and input shortages that reduced production this season will not have to be faced next year. "We got through this season, but not without difficulties," Zimbabwe Tobacco Association president, Duncan Millar, told IRIN on Tuesday. Shortages of coal needed to power the leaf-drying curing process pushed prices of the fossil fuel to levels many farmers could not afford. In addition, a shortage of railway wagons and reduced coal production forced many tobacco growers to fetch their own coal from the supplier in Hwange, in the west of the country. "It has been tight for a while but it became consistently worse and farmers had to pay over the odds for the coal," Millar explained. Farmers also battled to access supplies of diesel and petrol to run their farming equipment and deliver tobacco to the auction floors. Zimbabwe faces a severe shortage of foreign currency, affecting almost every sector and impeding the country's ability to import items necessary for the agriculture and manufacturing industries. A report in Zimbabwe's Financial Gazette last week said the National Oil Company of Zimbabwe needed to raise between Zim $120 billion (US 148 million) and Zim $150 billion (US 185 million) to import fuel this year. "It was very difficult for the newly settled farmers [the beneficiaries of the government's land reform programme], because besides fuel, they also had to deal with galloping inflation," Millar added. Deliveries to the auction floors have been slow due to a drier growing season but are expected to pick up by the end of May. Prices were about the same as last year and quality was better, but production was still expected to come in at a low 85 million mt compared with last year's 165 million mt, and 238 million mt three years ago. Millar said tobacco farmers had begun preparations for next year's tobacco crops but needed assurances that conditions would improve. "We need to know that we will have fuel and we need to have the confidence that we won't face road haulage problems again next year," he said. He urged the government and the Tobacco Growers' Trust - a representative body allocated 20 percent of the foreign currency generated on auction floors for distribution among its members - to prioritise sourcing fuel for tobacco farmers. "We generate most of the country's foreign currency, so we deserve to be given greater priority. There's no point in finding us tractors if we have no fuel to run them with," Millar concluded.