The tobacco marketing season begins on Wednesday after being delayed by a month because of late rains and the Covid-19 outbreak.

Under normal circumstances, the sale of the country’s top agriculture export and the economy’s second biggest foreign currency earner after gold begins mid-March every year. However, as a result of unfriendly weather over the growing period and health concerns farmers will start selling their crop on Wednesday.

The late, erratic rains are expected to knock output down by 13 percent to 225 million kilogrammes this year, down from the record of 259 million kilogrammes that was achieved last season.

The Government says farmers planted 100 426 hectares of tobacco this season. The area put under tobacco declined by six percent from the 106 558 hectares planted during the 2018-19 season.

Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board (TIMB) recently projected that although the production would decline, the quality of the crop will be good, raising hopes that farmers would get higher average prices for their crop than the US$2, 03 per kilogramme they earned last year.

This year’s selling season will be unique amid the Covid-19 pandemic. Farmers will not be allowed to throng auction floors; vendors and informal traders who, every season make much business selling various items to growers would be barred from their usual spaces while the highest standards of personal hygiene would be practised. Hand washing facilities comprising running water and either an alcohol based sanitiser, disinfectant or soap will be availed at entry points for use before one enters the trading floors and after sales.

Only persons providing essential services will be allowed to enter premises and will be screened for body temperature with their identification details recorded. The temperature check will be conducted by an official trained by the Ministry of Health and Child Care.

Furthermore, it is expected that more of the crop than is traditionally sold there would be sold outside Harare as the Government implements decentralised selling of the crop this season so as to decongest the auction floors consistent with the social distancing imperative to fight the spread of Covid-19.

Security is expected to be tighter too at the trading floors to ensure that social distancing and hygienic standards are followed.

TIMB chief executive, Dr Andrew Matibiri told our Harare Bureau at the weekend:

“Contract tobacco sales will start on Thursday April 30 while sales bookings and deliveries will open on Monday April 27, 2020. Some contractors had already decentralised auction floors and will operate from there while others were geared for Harare. These will operate in Harare under strict guidelines.”

Auction floors are generally known to attract thousands of people from March when the selling season begins to around August every year when selling ends.

In addition, farmers typically wait in queues to sell their crop for days, to receive their payments and to buy whatever they choose to buy from thousands of traders who congregate just outside the auction floors. This cannot be allowed to happen at this time when the country and the world at large are fighting Covid-19 that had killed more than 200 000 people worldwide by yesterday. Locally, 31 people had been infected with four having lost their lives to it.

It was therefore a good decision by the Government to delay the start of the marketing season and to come up with the regulations to prevent infection.

We look forward to order prevailing at the auction floors over the next five months or so as farmers sell the golden leaf. Those who would be allowed into the selling zones are urged to uphold the utmost hygienic standards so that they reduce their chances of contracting coronavirus or spreading the pathogen. They must wash their hands as often as they can while wearing face masks also.

We think that the enforced decentralisation of tobacco marketing this selling season would not only be important this time but also into the future. We have witnessed the logistical challenges that farmers face moving their crops from Guruve, Muzarabani, Gweru, Chivhu and other faraway places to Harare. Many were forced to spend large sums of money in transport costs while the more unfortunate ones had their bales stolen at gun-point.

Let this season be a test run after which a decentralised tobacco marketing model would be permanent in the country with or without Covid-19. Maize, cotton, wheat and other crops are already being sold that way.

The more local marketing of the crop will reduce the costs that farmers bear, reduces the time they spend moving their crop to Harare and minimises the risk of them being attacked and robbed by criminals.