By Mercy Chidzombe:
The decision by the Tobacco Commission (TC) to officially close down Kanengo and Chinkhoma Auction Floors has irked some tobacco farmers in Mchinji who claim that they have not sold most of their tobacco thereby throwing the farmers into a dilemma.
The statement released by the commission on August 22 indicates that Limbe Auction Floors closed on August 8 and all floors were expected to close on August 29 but Tobacco Commission extended the closure date to September 5 for Central Region based floors of Kanengo and Chinkhoma and also to September 12 for Mzuzu Auction Floors respectively..
However, hundreds of contracted farmers in Mchinji are still stranded with unsold leaf, raising fears of heavy losses in the countrys main foreign exchange earner.
Our investigations have established that farmers contracted to Associated Central African Limited, Hell and Cotton, Premium Tama, and Alliance One are among those still holding unsold tobacco.
At Waliranj in Mchinji district, one farmer who identified himself as Maliseni Mbewe said in an interview, that there are many farmers like him in the district who still have lots of unsold bales of tobacco after the closure of the Auction Floors.
I am yet to sell my tobacco and I dont know what to do because the auction floor is closed and the new season is about to begin. My livelihood depends on tobacco farming yet I have not sold the leaf.
I have children to send to school and I have to buy inputs for the incoming growing season; with this sad development I am afraid I may not be able to purchase fertilizer which has become unnecessarily exorbitant, Mbewe said.
He explained that bottlenecks in the booking process necessitated by the contractual agreements with the intermediate companies like Alliance One, Africa Associated Leaf Premium Tama- a requirement for accessing the market, prevented many farmers from selling during the extension period.
According to farmers clubs and cooperatives, about 500 bales remain unsold in Mchinji alone= a development that could translate into millions of dollars in lost foreign exchange.
Just this morning, we reached to the Senior Chief to inform the authority that many farmers here in Mchinji have not finished selling their tobacco. It is a very serious problem, said one farmer who did not want to be named.
When contacted, Senior Chief Mavwele neither denied nor confirmed the challenges.
However, during President Chakweras campaign rally at Waliranji last week, the chief publicly lamented that farmers in the area had been left stranded with their leaf.
Farmers here in Mchinji work extra hard in their farms to earn a living; it is worrisome however that some of the tobacco bales from this years farming season are yet to be sold at the Auction Floors. We are very much worried with this sad development, the chief said.
Our visit to Kanengo Auction Floors on Saturday proved that indeed the Floor has been closed as per what the workers manning the Floor corroborated
