A severe market failure in the Eastern Province has left tobacco farmers in a state of desperation, with vendors purchasing their crop for as low as two Kwacha per kilogram K2).
The crisis stems from the failure of licensed Tobacco Trading Company TTC, which operate out grower scheme to purchase the tobacco from the farmers they contracted.
This void in the formal market has been filled by opportunistic vendors who are capitalizing on the farmers’ precarious situation.
Farmers have endured significant hardships, having waited at selling sheds sleeping in toilets, since May with their harvested tobacco.
Many like Giliyani Banda aged 57 of Mabvuta in Chipangali invested thousands of Kwacha and took out loans to finance their production, relying on the anticipated sales for repayment.
After investing over seven thousand Kwacha, he sold his six bales of tobacco to a vendor out of sheer frustration.
He received only seven hundred Kwacha (K700) to take back to his village.
Widespread frustration is directed at the government, with farmers accusing it of failing to secure and protect their livelihoods during this year’s tobacco selling season.
In a related issue, farmers who managed to sell their tobacco to the Haven Company are facing a different challenge.
They have not received their payments despite numerous appeals, including interventions from Paramount Chief Mpezeni.
The situation has created a severe financial crisis for agricultural households in the region, casting doubt on the reliability of the tobacco out grower system.
By Samuel Khwawe.
