Tobacco giants trap Zimbabwean farmers in a “system of oppression”
Faced with difficulty accessing credit, small Zimbabwean tobacco farmers must turn to large foreign companies. These companies provide seeds, fertilizers, and technical expertise in exchange for a portion of the harvest. But farmers often find themselves caught in a relationship of dependency, sometimes going so far as to go into debt to these companies, reports “Global Press Journal.”
Zimbabwe is the world's third-largest tobacco exporter, behind Brazil and India. By 2024, production of some 232,000 tonnes would generate more than $1 billion in revenue for the country. But it's unlikely that small producers will see any of this, warns Global Press Journal . "The tobacco boom is keeping them in debt," they say.
The media outlet, backed by the journalism promotion NGO Global Press, went to meet these Zimbabwean farmers. Most of them own farms of a few hectares, some acquired during the land reform at the turn of the 2000s. Aimed at ensuring the redistribution of land monopolized by large white landowners, it was carried out in haste and gave rise to a wave of violence, the headline states.
Today, tobacco farmers describe a system of enslavement that continues in the form of "agricultural contracts." Lacking sources of financing, they often turn to large foreign companies.
“They provide us with seeds, fertilizers and the necessary technical support in exchange for crop guarantees, price controls and access to global markets.”
But these products are for them
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