FARMERS have urged the Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board (TIMB) to decentralise tobacco auction floors by operationalising the Tobacco Value Chain Transformation Plan 2 (TVCTP 2), covering the period 2026 to 2030.
This emerged during a recent stakeholders meeting in Harare to validate the new blueprint, which replaced the TVCTP 1 that ended last year.
Last year, self-funded tobacco was sold at only two auction floors in Harare, and the trend is expected this year, as only three auction floors have been registered, all of them in Harare.
Under section 44 of the Tobacco Industry and Marketing Act (Chapter 18:20) which controls the marketing of tobacco, “auction tobacco” (defined as tobacco not contracted) cannot be bartered or sold outside of a licensed auction floor.
Speaking at the validation workshop, Zimbabwe Progressive Tobacco Farmers Association (ZPTFA) president, Mr Mutandwa Mutasa, said under TVCTP 2 auction floors must be decentralised to provinces.
“We want auction floors to be decentralised to provinces such that farmers cut on transport and logistical costs, as well as risks of losing their produce enroute to market.
“By having auction floors closer to farmers’ production areas, we are likely to get the correct figures on self-funded and contracted tobacco,” he said.
Mr Mutasa believes a lot of farmers are funding production on their own but end up selling to contractors resident in their areas in order to cut on transport costs.
He challenged the notion that 95 percent of tobacco is reportedly produced under contract arrangements, saying the true contract position could be around 60 percent.
“TIMB is taking statistics on production funding models from the point of sale and these figures do not depict the correct contract and auction volumes,” he added.
Zimbabwe Tobacco Growers Association (ZTGA) chairman, Mr George Seremwe, concurred, saying many smallholder farmers in communal areas ended up selling the crop that was destined for auction floors to contractors to cut costs.
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“Farmers are required to pay US$10 per bale to transport their tobacco from Rusape to Harare.
“They also run the risk of losing their produce through hijacking on the way to the market,” he said.
The high transport cost, time spent at the market and other risks force farmers to side-market their crop to contractors in their areas, he added.
Stakeholders also questioned the efficacy of licensing an additional auction floor in Harare instead of the tobacco-producing regions.
TIMB chief operations officer, Mr Blessing Dhokotera, said investment in setting up an auction floor was a business decision, which the board could not impose on prospective investors.
“TIMB has since licensed 47 buyers for auction floors, and so far, we have not received any prospectus from any entity requiring to set an auction in the provinces,” he said.
The board has granted Ethical Leaf Tobacco (ELT) a licence to operate an auction floor in Harare starting this upcoming marketing season that begins on March 4.
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It joins the Tobacco Sales Floor (TSL) and Premier Tobacco Auction Floor.
The auction floors were the better paying markets last year when 19,9 million kilogrammes of the golden life was sold at an average US$3,54 per kg, allowing farmers to gross US$70 million.
This contrasts with the contract floors where 335 million kg were sold at an average price of US$3,31 per kg with farmers earning US$1,18 billion.
However, the highest price at the auction floors was US$4,99 per kg compared to US$6,30 at the contract floors.
This year, tobacco production is projected to eclipse last year’s 355 million kg as the country recorded a hectarage of 164 536 by January 15, breaking the all-time high figure of 146 000 ha of 2019.
The TVCTP 2 is built around these seven strategic pillars — enhancing productivity, sustainability and farmer resilience, localisation of tobacco financing, value addition and beneficiation, market and trade development, research, development and innovation, institutional strengthening, governance and policy co-ordination, as well as environmental, social and governance (ESG) compliance and traceability.
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Under TVCTP 2 flue-cured tobacco production is set to rise from 355 million kilogrammes in 2025 to 500 million kg by 2030.-herald
