Tobacco Farmers From Eastern And Central Provinces Still Stranded In Lusaka
By Lukundo Nankamba
Tobacco farmers from Eastern and Central Provinces are still stranded in Lusaka after the Tobacco Association of Zambia and the Tobacco Board of Zambia allegedly failed to facilitate the sale of the commodity to potential buyers.
The commodity that was taken for sale to alliance one Zambia since July this year has not yet been bought even after promises by the company to do so a month ago.
Some affected farmers have told Phoenix News that the tobacco Association of Zambia and the tobacco board of Zambia has asked them to source for their own buyers which they did, but later, tobacco of Zambia refused to allow one of the potential buyers to sample some of the tobacco for them to determine offer prices while the other potential buyers are Chinese who have offered very low prices.
The tobacco farmers have complained of being denied another opportunity to sell their tobacco which has largely affected their livelihood as they are dependent on the crop.
The farmers further say this development is a drawback as they are unlikely to cultivate their crops this season because their capital is held up in the tobacco they expected to sell.
And when contacted for a comment, the Tobacco Board of Zambia Chief Executive Officer James Kasongo assured that the remaining 300,000 kilograms of tobacco will be bought next week because Alliance One, Gary Parker, and a Chinese company have expressed interest to buy the tobacco from the farmers.
Mr. Kasongo explained that some stakeholders are more than willing to buy off the remaining tobacco but that the issue mainly with the Chinese firm is that it is offering $2 per tonne to buy the crop when the farmers want the crop sold at $2. 50 cents.
PHOENIX FM NEWS
The post Tobacco Farmers From Eastern And Central Provinces Still Stranded In Lusaka appeared first on Phoenix FM.