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Lovemore Kadzura Rusape Correspondent
Tobacco farmers in Manicaland stand to benefit from the recent announcement that two auction floors will be opening in Rusape this year.

One of the auction floors will be operated by Agritrade Leaf Tobacco, a relatively new entity, while there are market rumours that Mashonaland Tobacco Company is also mulling a comeback in a town where it once operated floors for three seasons before closing shop.

The opening of the auction floors in Rusape will come as a major relief to farmers of the golden leaf, who have been enduring the extra cost of transporting their crop to Harare.

Agritrade Leaf Tobacco field operations manager Mr Kudakwashe Saringo said his company, which started operating last year, had taken the deliberate move to decentralise their auction floors to cushion farmers.

“We have taken a deliberate move to decentralise our operations so that we go down where the farmers are,” he said.

“We have come to realise that tobacco farmers are experiencing a lot of challenges in accessing auction floors in Harare.

“It is costly for farmers in Manicaland to transport their crop to Harare and on top of that, it is risky on the road, as many kilogrammes are sometimes lost along the way due to accidents and theft. This move will also de-congest floors in Harare and facilitate the smooth flow of the auctioning system.

“Farmers are happy that we are opening here and a number have already started registering with us.

“We will be offering fair and competitive prices, which are commensurate with quality. We do not want to short-change hard-working farmers. We are also going to employ a number of people at our auction floor and that is our part in reducing unemployment in the country.”

Manicaland Young Farmers Federation coordinator and Headlands farmer Cde Farai Mapfumo said farmers welcomed the auction floors. He also said he hopes that the development would not be temporary.

“It is a positive development that auction floors are coming back here again,” said Cde Mapfumo.

“This is what we have been clamouring for. We want to have a permanent auction floor in Rusape.

Tobacco is the main crop in Rusape and surrounding areas such as Odzi and Macheke, but farmers are struggling to take their crop to Harare.