Tobacco.org

Zimbabwe tobacco farmers protest as inflation soars 

Zimbabwean farmers tore up their tobacco crop in protest on the auction floors of Harare on Wednesday as state price controls to combat hyperinflation threatened to wipe out their profits.

"The price is useless, I would rather keep my tobacco and sell to buyers from Malawi or Zambia," muttered Ottilia Mavhunga, a farmer from Karoi, a town in northern Zimbabwe, as she prepared to take her bales of tobacco away.

The tobacco trading season -- once a key feature of Zimbabwe's business calendar -- had to be called off for the second time in as many weeks after farmers pulled out of the sale, citing low prices given by auctioneers.

Jump to full article »