'Cash barons' fleece farmers

Some unscrupulous businesspeople are taking advantage of cash shortages to dupe unsuspecting farmers at the tobacco auction floors, the Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board has said.

Briefing the Lands, Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Committee, TIMB chief executive Dr Andrew Matibiri said it was disturbing that some people were taking advantage of the cash crisis to dupe farmers.

The conmen, said the TIMB, mislead farmers by telling them that they would not be able to withdraw their money after sales due to the prevailing cash shortages. They then offer farmers cash and charge them for the service.

"The current cash shortages have led to the resurfacing of the cash barons who are going around misleading farmers and conning them of their cash.

"We have heard some unscrupulous people who solicit for money from farmers. They offer farmers cash in the event that the farmer transfers his money into their bank account. For instance, a farmer may deposit $1 000 into the bank account of the conmen and receive $800 cash," he said.

Dr Matibiri said the board was working on ending corruption at the auction floors including removing middlemen.

The committee was concerned that some farmers were paying staff at the auction floors to influence prices.

Some farmers are made to believe that their tobacco will only fetch a good price on the floors if they bribe the officials.

Dr Matibiri said in some cases the middlemen did not even work at the floors but were taking advantage of unsuspecting farmers.

"While we come up with solutions to the challenges at the floors, the conmen will also be devising other means of deceiving farmers.

"TIMB will soon introduce the e-marketing system to reduce chances of collusion among buyers. We hope the issue of middlemen will be solved by this method," he said.

The committee, which was led by chairman, Mr Christopher Chitindi, toured the TIMB new head office along Gleneagles Road and contract floor Boost Africa.

At the TIMB the committee wanted to know why some tobacco floors were decentralised.

They were concerned that the farmers selling their crop in Karoi and Mvurwi were likely to realise low profits compared to those in Harare.

Dr Matibiri said decentralisation had enabled farmers to reduce costs of transporting the crop to the floors in Harare.

He said the farmers were also getting the same prices as those being offered in Harare.

The committee also demanded to know how the tobacco levy was going to benefit farmers and why it was not being disbursed.

TIMB said the levy had been garnisheed by the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (ZIMRA) but the board together with other stakeholders could access it after coming up with a proposal of how the money will be used for afforestation program- mes.

At Boost Africa, the committee members toured the premises including the auction floors.

Boost Africa official Mr Gordon Cannon said the company contracted more than 8 0000 small-scale farmers.

"Last season we experienced challenges after 20 percent of its growers failed to settle their loans as a result of a bad rainfall season," he said.

The committee will continue with the tours this season to assess the challenges affecting tobacco growers.