More women farmers at Zimbabwe's tobacco auction floors

Media Summary

Women small scale communal farmers in Zimbabwe are now more prevalent at the tobacco auction floors. These ladies, who do much of the hard labor on the lands under cash crops through out Africa.

Report current story

in Business, on the 15th of February 2012

Previous Pause Next

A group of local farmers congratulate each other on an excellent tobacco crop, which received a high grade a good prices at the auction floors during the official opening of the tobacco selling season in Zimbabwe at the Boka Auction Floors in Harare.

ID: 1055600

More Info

Local ladies stand by their tobacco bails at the auction floors during the official opening of the tobacco selling season in Zimbabwe at the Boka Auction Floors in Harare.

ID: 1055599

More Info

A local farmer carrying a baby on her back walks through rows of tobacco bails at the auction floors during the official opening of the tobacco selling season in Zimbabwe at the Boka Auction Floors in Harare.

ID: 1055598

More Info

A tobacco buyers goes hi-tech as he collects footage on a tablet at the auction floors during the official opening of the tobacco selling season in Zimbabwe at the Boka Auction Floors in Harare.

ID: 1055597

More Info

ID: 1055596

More Info

A local farmer walks through rows of tobacco bails at the auction floors during the official opening of the tobacco selling season in Zimbabwe at the Boka Auction Floors in Harare.

ID: 1055595

More Info

A local farmer inspects the prices her tobacco crop has fetched at the auction floors during the official opening of the tobacco selling season in Zimbabwe at the Boka Auction Floors in Harare.

ID: 1055594

More Info

Description:

Historically the marketing season for cash crops such as cotton and tobacco coincided with an increase in suicide rates among disenfranchised wives who after toiling year round are defrauded by husbands playing truant with the family's earnings.

These women are probably the backbone of much of the third world's agricultural production and as they become familiar with the marketing processes this market place transparency will increase productivity of their farms.

This year the tobacco marketing season opened with prices for the "golden leaf" ranging anything from USD$1.70 to USD$4.75 per kilogram sold.

Zimbabwe's agriculture minister, Joseph Made said,
“The importance of tobacco to the economy cannot be underestimated.”

This year Zimbabwe is expecting to grow 150 million kilograms of flue cured Virginia tobacco according to the country's Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board (TIMB).