Tobacco marketing to be decentralised

THE government and the Tobacco Industry Marketing Board (TIMB) are exploring ways of decentralising the he marketing of the crop to the provinces to reduce transportation costs for farmers, Finance Minister Tendai Biti has said. Currently, four auction floors – Boka Tobacco Auction Floors, Tobacco Sales Floors, Zimbabwe Leaf Tobacco and Millenium Auction Floors – are licenced to auction the crop but all of them are based in Harare, meaning farmers must incur huge transportation costs.

However, presenting his mid-term fiscal review recently, Biti said the government and the industry were looking at ways of easing the transportation burden to farmers. “Government together with TIMB are exploring alternatives for decentralising the marketing of tobacco to provinces and districts following concerns related to high transportation costs and congestion at the current auction floors,” he said. Meanwhile the TIMB said the current selling season would close on Friday with the revised target of 133 million kgs having been surpassed.

 "TIMB advises that the final day of the 2012 flue cured tobacco auction sales is February 27 with final deliveries being accepted on Thursday July 26," the TIMB said in a statement Tuesday. "All growers are advised to complete their grading and baling operations well before the final sale day. Contract sales will continue until further notice. Dates of clean up sales will be announced in due course.” Initial projections had put this season’s crop at 180 million kgs but this was revised downwards due to a decline in the hectarage planted caused by funding constraints.

 However, TIMB chief executive Andrew Matibiri said they were expecting an even higher output next season. “This shows that tobacco is still coming through. We have an idea on how much we are to revise upwards as the (current) tobacco season ends,” he said. Latest figures from TIMB show that 134 million kg of tobacco valued at US$496,3 million was delivered to the country’s auction floors as of last Friday, a 45 percent increase on the US$343 million recorded during the same period last year.