The Zimbabwe Farmers Union (ZFU) president, Paul Zakariya is urging government to give financial support to tobacco contract farmers so that they will be able to maximize their yields. Zakariya told Hevoi FM News that contract farmers are struggling to raise capital to purchase farming inputs and this is affecting their farming operations. “We would like to urge government that it’s high time it gives financial support to tobacco contract farmers as they are struggling to stay afloat. The amount needed for them to buy tobacco farming inputs is too much for them to realize some profit…..its high time government set up a fund to assist them and once they harvest the crop, they pay back,” said Zakariya. Zimbabwe sold 186.6 million kg of leaf tobacco valued at $515.9 million during the 2021 marketing season, reports All Africa, citing data from the Tobacco Industry Marketing Board (TIMB). The figures are up 16.8 percent in volume and 31 percent in value over the 2020 sales.
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