Chinese company to contract 80,000 Zimbabwean tobacco growers
http://www.tobaccoreporter.com/
editor | July 8, 2013
The Chinese company Midriver Enterprises is expected to contract nearly
80,000 Zimbabwean farmers to produce tobacco during the 2013-2014 season,
according to a story in the Zimbabwe Herald.
And because some farmers have been facing financial problems, the company
will offer to supply them with inputs and working capital to pay wages. The
company will supply also coal for curing so as to reduce deforestation and
promote sustainable practices.
Midriver’s production manager, Johannes Muchimika, said that most farmers
had not been producing high-quality crops because they had had limited
inputs. Farmers would apply inadequate amounts of fertilizers because of
financial constraints, he added.
In addition, Muchimika said, some farmers had faced difficulties paying
workers, especially for reaping and curing, a situation that had resulted in
huge losses.
Midriver, which will buy the crop from the contracted farmers, says it will
provide the inputs at reasonable prices to farmers since it would be buying
them directly from the manufacturers.