New guidelines for new tobacco selling season

Theseus Shambare

FOOD vendors will not be allowed to operate around tobacco auction floors, while children under the age of 16 will be prohibited in and around the premises under new guidelines for this year’s marketing season, which begins on Wednesday.

There are indications that the golden leaf will fetch good prices.

The new Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board (TIMB) guidelines, which were crafted in observance of the current strict cholera and Covid-19 protocols, are also meant to decongest the sales floors.

Licensed contractors and auction floors are being urged to maintain high hygiene standards. Outlining the state of preparedness for the 2024 marketing season during an interface with the media last week, TIMB head of operations Mr Blessing Dhokotera said the season will witness increased police presence and inspection officers.

To curb side marketing, the regulator has come up with a transporter compliance framework which includes a system that monitors the movement of tobacco from the primary source up to the market.

In addition, biometric technology has been infused for the first time, with every farmer expected to have their fingerprints registered and incorporated into an online database.

“This new feature will automatically record the frequency of sales by the farmer, the accumulated weight and it will also automatically stop and signal to the authorities if any anomaly is detected on any grower number for immediate action,” said Mr Dhokotera.

TIMB has also introduced the mandatory goods in transit insurance for transporters.

“The cover is on an all-risks basis, including fire and allied perils, theft, hijacking, collision and overturning, and explosion of the goods whilst in transit by road.

“This is beneficial for both parties as it protects the transporter and the farmer in the event of unforeseen incidents to avoid excess losses,” added Mr Dhokotera.

“No children will be allowed in and around auction floors during the 2024 selling season.  In light of the cholera outbreak . . . , all selling points are also expected to spearhead awareness campaigns at their premises, including displaying relevant posters and fliers.”

Each sales point, he said, shall have a designated isolation area.

“In accordance with guidelines and recommendations from the Ministry of Health and Child Care, guidance on how to handle suspected cholera or Covid-19 cases will be referred to the isolation centres that are also housed on the selling floors.”

Good prices

Meanwhile, TIMB has since dispatched teams to tobacco-growing areas to do a final crop assessment following the prolonged dry spell that has mostly affected the late rain-fed crop.

During the first-round crop assessment, output was forecast to top 260 million kg.

However, the figure is expected to be reviewed downwards, as many crops have achieved small to average leaf size.

TIMB head of business Mr Tapiwa Chimedza said the prevailing situation indicates that prices are expected to firm.

“As the principle of business always relies on demand versus supply, it is clear that prices are possibly going to be good, although our rain-fed crop has been slightly affected by the mid-season dry spells,” he said.

“The El Niño phenomenon has contributed to quality compromise and leaf size. However, this has not only affected Zimbabwe but the whole region.”

Zimbabwe is the largest tobacco producer in Africa, followed by Zambia, Tanzania, Malawi and Mozambique, all of which are being affected by the El Niño weather phenomenon.

Limited output will, therefore, push up prices.

Farmers have been assured of improved payment modalities after some growers were shortchanged by unscrupulous companies that failed to honour their obligations to pay on time last year.

Seventy-five percent of the net amount will be directly deposited into the farmers’ foreign currency accounts and treated as free funds, while 25 percent, which will be in the local currency, will be deposited into the growers’ local bank accounts or e-wallets.

Tobacco auction floors officially open on Wednesday at the country’s oldest auction floor, the Tobacco Sales Floor, for self-financed growers, while contract sales will commence the following day.

The number of farmers who registered the cash crop dropped by 11 percent from last year to 132 325.

There were only 426 new farmers, down from close to 1 000 during the same period in 2023.

Only two auction floors will be participating during the selling period.

The 2024 marketing season’s pricing model will be determined by the traditional bidding process at the auction floor, where the highest bid will be the final price on every tobacco bale.

In contrast, a grade-price matrix derived from the average grade prices from the previous day auction sales will determine the minimum price for every grade on the contract sales.

To date, Harare has 17 licensed selling points under contract farming, with Manicaland province having six, while Mashonaland West has nine, Mashonaland Central seven and Mashonaland East five.

* X@: TheseusShambare