Buyer hitch hits Migori tobacco farmers
Augustine Mwita, the chairman Kenya Tobacco Farmers Union, displays a decaying tobacco leaf in his rural home in Kehancha, Kuria west sub County, Migori. Thousands of acres of the tobacco grown in Suna West, Kuria West and Kuria East sub-counties is at risk of going to waste unless a new tobacco buyer comes to the rescue of the farmers after the exit of Alliance One Kenya Ltd. PHOTO | BENSON MOMANYI | NATION MEDIA
What you need to know:
- Tobacco growers in Migori County are stuck with their crop on the farms as they continue to wait for a new buyer.
- Farmers’ woes caused by the exit of Alliance One Tobacco Company, which was the biggest leaf buyer in the county.
- The growers are pondering what to do with the tobacco on thousands of acres, before they switch to other cash crops.
More than 10,000 tobacco growers in Migori County are stuck with their crop on the farms as they continue to wait for a new buyer.
Thousands of acres of the tobacco grown in Suna West, Kuria West and Kuria East sub-counties is at risk of going to waste unless a new tobacco buyer comes to the rescue of the growers.
“The future looks bleak. We don’t know who will buy our tobacco,” said Kenya Tobacco Growers Association Chairman Augustine Mwita.
“We are asking both the county and national governments to speed up the search for a new investor who can buy our cash crop,” said Mr Mwita.
The farmers’ woes have been compounded by the exit of Alliance One Tobacco Company, which was the biggest leaf buyer in the county.
The firm moved to Uganda and Zimbabwe, citing poor leaf quality in Kenya.
BAT Kenya and Mastermind Tobacco still operate in the region, but on a small scale.
The growers are pondering what to do with the tobacco on thousands of acres, before they switch to other cash crops.
“We are appealing to investors who may be interested in buying tobacco to come to Migori. Our future is bleak unless we find a company to buy our tobacco,” said Mr Martin Mwita, a farmer from Kehancha, Kuria West.
LOW PRICES OFFERED BY BUYERS
Migori accounts for 70 per cent of tobacco produced in Kenya.
Over Sh1.7 billion is paid to farmers in the region annually. Alliance One Kenya, the biggest leaf merchant, was spending Sh1.2 billion on Migori farmers annually.
One of the farmers said he was ready to shift to another cash crop.
“We have failed to gain much from tobacco farming because of the low prices being offered by the buying companies,” said Mr John Rioba, a large-scale tobacco farmer from Kuria East sub-county.
“This explains the presence of abject poverty in the tobacco- growing areas,” he added.
Migori County Assembly Majority Leader Jeyi Gucha said tobacco farming is turning into a liability for farmers in the region.
“Poor pay, coupled with health risks, has made this business less lucrative,” he said.
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Background
Firm played key role in sector
Alliance One (Kenya) Ltd is a subsidiary of Alliance One International, whose head office is in Morrisville, North Carolina, US.
Its core operations involved sponsoring farmers to produce tobacco mainly in Migori County, processing and exporting it to the international market.
