Eastern Fodya Association of Zambia (EFAZ) expects to purchase less tobacco this year compared to last year due to poor prices and market arrangements last year, reported the Times of Zambia last week.

The board chairperson of EFAZ, association representing tobacco farmers, Franklin Mwale said farmers were growing tobacco at their own risk because of poor tobacco prices on both the local and international markets.
He said the association had embarked on a programme of visiting all the 5,600 members in the region., and that it would carry out membership audits and evaluate the performance of its farmers. 
Mwale has asked the government to appoint experts with the knowledge in burley and flue-cured tobacco who can explain and advise the government on the future of the tobacco industry.
Mwale thanked the Government for dissolving the Tobacco Board of Zambia (TBZ) because it was not serving the interests of tobacco farmers. He assured farmers in the region that the newly elected EFAZ board would work according to the expectations of the people and would represent them adequately. (pi)