Zimbabwe's tobacco marketing season failed to take off as scheduled today for the second year running amid price disputes between farmers and buyers.

The auction floors, ranked among the continent's largest, did not open, as supposed at 7.30 am local time. Philemon Mangena, the deputy managing director of the Tobacco Sales Floor, said the delay was a result of a dispute over the selling price. "We still waiting for the opening price from the authorities," Mangena told AFP at the floors. "Once the announcement has been made we will be able to start, but right now there is a bit of a standstill."
Farmers get paid in Zimbabwe dollars based on the official exchange rate with the U.S. dollar – a tiny fraction of the black market rate in a country where inflation is running at around 165,000 per cent. (pi)