New grower payment system

A new payment system for flue-cured tobacco growers in Zimbabwe is not to everyone’s liking, according to a Voice of America story.

The 2016 tobacco selling season is seeing the introduction of a new system under which growers no longer receive cash at the auction floors but have payments made directly into their bank accounts.

The new system is aimed, in part, at speeding up operations at the auction floors and protecting growers from criminals and unscrupulous dealers who otherwise might rob or swindle them.

But as with all new systems it has its drawbacks, one of which is that, according to the story, many farming areas don’t have banks.

In addition, some farmers complain that the old system allowed them quickly to buy the inputs they needed for their farming activities, which presumably often include crops other than tobacco, and return to their farms.

The new system is being introduced by the Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board.