Trust Freddy
Herald Correspondent
TOBACCO farmers have been warned not to sign contract farming agreements without first seeking expert advice, after it emerged in Parliament that some contractors are charging up to US$70 for fertiliser and chemicals available elsewhere for US$33.
Agriculture, Mechanisation and Water Resources Development Minister Dr Anxious Masuka issued the caution in the Senate while responding to Chief Dandawa of Hurungwe, who raised alarm over the exploitation of small-scale tobacco farmers.
Chief Dandawa told the Upper House that contracting firms were pricing inputs between US$66 and US$70 per bag, more than double the US$33 to US$34 charged by commercial suppliers such as Farm & City.
“Where we come from, in the rural areas, tobacco farmers are crying,” Chief Dandawa said. “Why are you allowing these contractors to sell their fertilisers at a higher price compared to other companies?”
Dr Masuka said statutory contract law bars state intervention once growers voluntarily sign agreements, urging farmers to consult the Department of Industry before committing to any paperwork.
“When they are signing their contracts, according to the law of contracts, Government cannot intervene because they would have agreed,” Dr Masuka said, while conceding that “unscrupulous” operators were taking advantage of farmers.
He urged farmers to get help before they put pen to paper.
“I can advise them to engage our Department of Industry before they enter into those contracts,” he said.
“I think you should seek for advice before signing the papers so that you will not be shortchanged.”
He admitted that some players in the contract system were taking advantage of farmers.
“Many of those who get into these contracts are unscrupulous. They get a lot of money through unscrupulous ways,” he said.
However, the Minister defended the contract farming model, which was introduced in 2004 after banks stopped lending to newly resettled black farmers who lacked collateral following the land reform programme.
Under the system, contractors supply inputs upfront, and farmers deliver their tobacco to those firms upon harvest.
Minister Masuka credited the arrangement with boosting national production from 48 million kilogrammes to 359 million kilogrammes last year, praising Hurungwe farmers as some of Zimbabwe’s top producers of flue-cured tobacco.
