No editorial checks on this article yet

This article is not approvedThe content of this article is not verified by the editorial team of Africanews.com. Read our editorial requirements to see the criteria we use to decide if we publish an article on the homepage of Africanews.

Security beefed up at auction floors

  1. Posted on Monday 11 May 2009 - 14:17
    bruce
    Bruce Sibanda, Harare, Zimbabwe
    POLICE have beefed up security at all tobacco auction floors in Harare to protect farmers who are being paid in foreign currency from been robbed.

    Auction floors opened last Thursday and farmers are paid in Americana two hours after selling their golden leaf.

    But with the use of multiple currencies of the economy there has been a massive increase in armed robberies on business premises countrywide and tobacco farmers are being targeted.

    ZITAC Public Relations Manager, Kudzai Hamadziripi said farmers raised the isue of security with them and they are now working with police.

    " We realized that farmers are in danger of been robbed of their money after getting paid so we asked police to beef up security around the auction floors. But so far there hasn't been any robbery incident reported"

    Police said they would arrest "any suspicious" person milling around the auction floors.

    However, while many farmers welcomed the prices offered since auction floors opened on Thursday, others said the prices were still low and not sufficient to cover the costs of inputs.

    Tobacco farmers have adopted a wait and see attitude while observing prices on the floors.

    Prices at the three auction floors ranged from $2, 30 to $4, 50/kg on opening day, depending on the quality of the leaf.

    The Zimbabwe Tobacco Growers Association (ZTGA) says a total of 42 000 tonnes of tobacco is expected to pass through the auction floors.

    “It is now expensive to be a tobacco farmer, more so when payments do not come on time and are not attractive when compared to what is being offered around the world,” ZTGA said.

    Tobacco used to be Zimbabwe’s major foreign currency earner, producing as much as 227 762 tonnes in 2000 before the disruptive land reform program.

    The Zimbabwe Tobacco Association says not only has crop output declined but the number of growers has also declined as only 8 000 farmers planted tobacco, compared with 28 000 last year.

    Last season, many farmers who delivered their tobacco complained that they were poorly paid while there are reports that some have not yet been paid to date.

Latest News

  1. OPINION: Welcome to African Green Revolution24/05For the past century and a half, Africa has tried various agricultural approaches without much success.
  2. Egyptians vote in historic election23/05Egyptians began voting freely on Wednesday for the first time to pick their president in a wide open election that pits Islamists against men who serv…
  3. Africa Day 2012 - a moment for reflection and…22/0525th May is Africa Day. For many years it has been a celebration of African unity. It dates back to 1963 when the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) …
  4. South Africa's African agenda21/05The Deputy President of the Republic of South Africa, Kgalema Mothlanthe paid a rare visit to Ghana in April at the invitation of John Dramani Mahama …
  5. Women struggle to rinse hunger, poverty stains21/05Just looking at her one clearly appreciates that she is old and frail therefore in need of support for food, clothing and shelter to live comfortably …
  6. Climate Climate change affects migratory birds…21/05Changes in the climate globally have affected the movement of both migratory and resident species of birds, Nature Uganda has said.
  7. Ghana: Foreign retailers cited for currency…18/05The Ghana Union of Traders Association (GUTA) is attributing the sharp depreciation of the Ghana cedi against major currencies to the illegal activiti…
  8. Kenya: Community radio brings succour to…18/05Korogocho, a slum in northeastern Nairobi with 100,000 inhabitants, had many of the ingredients for a political explosion similar to those that rocked…
  9. Veld fires 'flame' Zimbabwe's…16/05Over the years, Zimbabwe has experienced the scourge of veld fires destroying property worth thousands of dollars.
  10. Liberia commends ECOWAS for support14/05The induction training of pioneer Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Volunteers for Liberia kicked off in Monrovia, with the Deputy Mi…
  11. Vanishing Lake Chad puts 30m lives at risk14/05As you approach the Lake Chad basin from Maiduguri, in north-eastern Nigeria, the evidence of despair is telling.
  12. Heavy rains cause havoc in Kenya14/05Heavy Rainfall continued to wreak havoc across the country leading to the suspension of relief food in some parts of the country as most roads in Turk…
  13. Zimbabwe: Growth points lie dormant14/05The Zimbabwean government mooted the concept of growth points in the 1980s as a means of decongesting cities and towns.
  14. Sierra Leone improves in infant mortality11/05Sierra Leone has improved in infant mortality cases according to Save the Children- World Motherhood index 2012 report. The West Africa country descri…
  15. Zimbabwe: Resettled farmers fail to utilize…10/05Resettled farmers in Zimbabwe are failing to utilize land due to inadequate farming inputs and lack of resources.
News archive