After eight weeks of trading, the country’s green gold has managed to earn the country $63.1 million against $99.2 million earned during the same period last year, representing a decline of 36 percent.
But statistics from Tobacco Control Commission (TCC) show that there has been an improvement in both earnings and volume of tobacco being sold.
So far, about 44.6 million kilogrammes of tobacco has gone through the auction against last year’s 61.1 million kilogrammes, representing a drop of 27 percent.
In an interview, TCC Chief Executive Officer, Albert Changaya, said though the market started on a low note, farmers are now being offered better prices than was the case during the first weeks of trading.
But there are still complaints from farmers on auction system who claim that buyers are favouring those selling their tobacco on contract.
A tobacco farmer from Mangochi, Bernard Ajusa, said although the rejection rate has gone down, the situation was still tilting towards farmers on contract farming.
“Sales are picking but at a very slow pace. Buyers are opting for the contract market and this means we have to wait longer than expected,” he said.
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