As the Zimbabwe 2024 tobacco marketing season gets under way, farmers are looking at firmer prices due to tighter supply, reports The Herald.

This marketing season, two auction floors – Tobacco Sales Floor (TSF) and Premier Tobacco Auction Floors (PTAF) – have been licenced by the Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board (TIMB) to buy tobacco with over 1,000 bales due to arrive on the first day, reports The Herald. The contract floors that have higher inflows will open tomorrow.
As the season gets underway, farmers have voiced different concerns with Mr Nickson Chatunga of Centenary saying volumes this season were likely to be low because of the effects of El Nino and Mr Naison Masuku of Centenary stressing it was important to get paid on time. “Payment delays can cause disastrous delays in other projects. We also do other productions; hence we are appealing to the authorities to ensure that we get payments on time, side marketing should also be addressed as well as corruption so that we continue sustaining in tobacco farming,” he said.
Mrs Tracy Humbashe of Centenary also said the growing season had been challenging due to a dry spell but said they were still expecting reasonable prices from the little they had.
The farmers’ concerns were confirmed by Tobacco Farmers Union vice president, Mr Edward Dune, who said farmers were ready for the marketing season and a meaningful harvest was expected, although climate change affected the crop. “We can achieve 70 per cent of last year’s product,” he said.
According to The Herald, Zimbabwe Tobacco Association (ZTA) chief executive Mr Rodney Ambrose said opening the auction floors early was critical for farmers so that they could clear loans.
This season, farmers will receive 75 per cent of their incomes in foreign currency with the remainder being disbursed in local currency, reports The Herald. The volume target is 260 million kg of tobacco.