Rise of black tobacco barons in Zimbabwe
28 JUN 2013 00:00 RAY NDLOVU
High prices are reviving the crop from its slump, but the demographics are
altogether different.
A strong stench of tobacco fills the air at the Boka Tobacco Auction floors
on the outskirts of Harare, but it does not appear to bother the new farmers
eager to sell their crop. Loud chatter takes place among the groups of women
seated on the cold floor, while the men stand and talk among themselves,
keeping a watchful eye on their prize produce as they wait for the start of
business.
A cafeteria, located at one end of the auction floor, provides hot meals for
the farmers, with a sizeable queue of the hungry gathering to buy sadza and
meat. The profile of the tobacco farmer has certainly changed. Gone are the
predominantly white, mostly male commercial farmers. After the chaotic
land-reform exercise in 2000, resettled small-scale farmers both male and
female – some coming to the floor with their toddlers – have now waded into
the tobacco business.
Upstairs are the snug and carpeted offices of the auction floor. An imposing
portrait of the late founder of the auction floor, Roger Boka, towers over
the large mahogany table at the centre of the boardroom. With several other
photos of the tobacco baron and his family looking on in the room, one
cannot shake off the feeling that the late Boka is keeping a watchful eye
over his empire.
On an iPad, sales people present the figures for the day to Rudo Boka, the
chief executive of Boka Tobacco Auction floor and the daughter of the late
Roger. Boka says the updates give real-time information on the best selling
farmer each day, the amounts in cheques paid out, those farmers who have
cashed their cheques at the bank, and the amount of tobacco sold. She points
out one of the highest selling tobacco farmers the previous day, with a crop
worth $10 000 sold. “His crop was very good. It is likely he has some more
at home and he will bring it to the auction floor.”
At their peak, white commercial farmers produced 236-million kilograms of
tobacco in 2000, but by 2008, production had slumped to only 48-million
kilograms. Now, 90 000 newly resettled black farmers grow tobacco on between
one and two hectares of land each. Last year, Zimbabwe’s tobacco exports
raked in $771-million from the 144.5-million kilograms of tobacco sold at an
average of $5.94 a kg. Andrew Matibiri, the chief executive of the Tobacco
Industry and Marketing Board, indicated that of the 90 000 newly resettled
farmers that had registered to grow and sell tobacco this season, more than
20 000 black farmers were first-time growers.
Alarm bells for maize, cotton sectors
A combination of high international prices for tobacco and demand for the
Zimbabwe-grown crop from foreigners such as South Africa – the highest buyer
of tobacco – China and the United Arab Emirates has been the central plank
for the rise of the black tobacco farmer. The price offered for other
agriculture produce such as maize and cotton remains subdued, with
agricultural experts sounding alarm bells that those sectors of agriculture
are under threat as scores of farmers of cotton, once a prized crop, are
turning to tobacco.
The cotton price is $0.35 a kilogram, while maize farmers continue to haggle
with the Grain Marketing Board, the sole buyer of maize, over the payment of
a sustainable price and the debt owed from last season’s crop. According to
the tobacco board, 151-million kilograms of tobacco have been sold so far
and the projected target for this year is 17- million kilograms from 77 910
hectares of land put under tillage. That increase would mark a 38%
improvement from the 56 377 hectares under tobacco tillage last season. “We
are still confident that we will get to the 170-million kilogram target,”
said Matibiri.
Professor Sam Moyo, the director of the African Institute for Agrarian
Studies, said the quality of the tobacco crop had been steadily improving.
“In the first five years, the quality was low, but in the past three years,
there are now new growers and a lot more gains are possible in the future,”
Moyo said.
Finance Minister Tendai Biti has come under fire from Zanu-PF for not
channelling more funds to support tobacco production. With no collateral,
the banks have been sceptical about financing new black farmers, leaving
many unable to increase their productivity.