OWN CORRESPONDENT, Harare | Wednesday 12.15pm.
RICHARD Tate, head of the organisation representing Zimbabwe’s 7700 tobacco growers, rejected as “mischievous” claims they were boycotting Wednesday’s start of annual auctions to blackmail President Robert Mugabe’s government.
Abysmal prices of $1.56 a kilogramme for the first bales sold — compared with producers’ break-even price of $2 — did more than Tate to explain why only 3500 bales were on offer instead of last year’s 10000 on the opening day of sales.
“The only people who are selling now are those who need to sell — who just want to get the tobacco off their farms,” said an auction floor official who reported that most of the limited volume on offer came from the 6000 African small-scale growers, desperate to raise cash as Zimbabwe’s economy plunges deeper into crisis.
Tate said advising ZTA members to sell the 220 million kilogramme crop in May when, he hoped, prices would have improved, did not amount to a boycott.
“There is no intention to derail any initiative, farmers are not wishing to cripple this country’s economy, farmers must farm and farmers must sell tobacco,” said Tate, blaming fuel shortages as well as security fears and poor prices for the low volume on sale.
He said that last week he pleaded vainly with cabinet ministers to allow Zimbabwe’s current exchange rate of 38 to one against the US dollar slide to 45, which would “trigger an enormous supply of tobacco coming onto the market. We would fill this shed to overflowing immediately.”
Tate said it was too early to estimate the amount of tobacco either destroyed by arson during current farm invasions or ruined when farmers were forced to flee during reaping and curing. He said he was anxious to restore confidence in time for preparation of seed beds for the 2001 crop.
The main government-controlled newspaper, The Herald, said a decision to delay the supply of tobacco to the auction floors was “a shameless act aimed at holding the government to ransom”.
Tobacco is Zimbabwe’s biggest single foreign currency earner, and the government is looking to the auctions as the salvation of an economy already on its knees. — AFP
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