Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board chairperson Mrs Monica Chinamasa congratulates The Herald senior agriculture reporter Elita Chikwati for scopping the best Tobacco reporter of the Year award in Harare yesterday. Picture by Tawanda Mudimu.
Elita Chikwati Senior Agriculture Reporter
Stakeholders in the tobacco industry have appealed to Government to release $14 million levied on tobacco growers.The tobacco levy was collected from farmers for the past two seasons, and the Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board (TIMB) was waiting for instructions from Treasury on how the money would be disbursed.
Government re-introduced a 1,5 percent tobacco levy on sales by growers in 2015 to finance reforestation activities such as awareness campaigns and training.
Since January 2015, TIMB has imposed a levy on tobacco growers at the rate of $0,015 of each dollar of the selling price.
During the 2016 season, the levy was reduced to 0,75 percent.
TIMB and farmers had made consultations on how the money could be used as they waited for Government to disburse the money.
In her opening remarks at the closure of the 2016 marketing season, TIMB chairperson Mrs Monica Chinamasa yesterday expressed concern that farmers had been levied for the past two seasons but had not benefited from the fund.
“We appeal to Government to avail the funds. To date, not even a single cent has been disbursed to the industry. Farmers have been waiting for the funds since the close of the selling season last year,” she said.
Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development Minister Joseph Made said he was also going to take the matter up with Finance and Economic Development Minister Patrick Chinamasa to see how farmers could be assisted to access the money.
“Things are hard, but we will take the matter further and sit and talk with the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development to see how best we can solve the issue. I remember some farmers wanted the fund to be used for cloud seeding last season, but we refused since it was meant for conservation projects,” he said.
Farmers’ Development Trust director Mr Lovegot Tendengu said: “Farmers had their money deducted. The amount – $14 million – is a lot of money. We paid the money and it should be accounted for,” he said.
Some stakeholders felt that the levy should be scrapped since it was not benefiting them.
In the 2015 National Budget, Cde Chiamasa said the re-introduced levy would go towards conservation programmes.
He said Government had to introduce the fund because there was an increase in tobacco production, a development that was threatening the environment.