June 8, 2006

 

Illegal grain buyers outbid grain authorities in Zimbabwe

 

 

Illegal buyers in Zimbabwe are waylaying grain trucks near the capital region of Goromonzi and asking farmers to sell corn to them at higher prices to them instead of the country's Grain Marketing Board (GMB).

 

The prices offered can be 10-20 percent higher than those offered by the authorities. It is not known where buyers intent to ship the corn.

 

The GMB controls the marketing and distribution of corn in Zimbabwe. Some farmers said they were ready to sell their corn illegally to save on transport costs and because of GMB's strict requirements on moisture content in grain delivered to them.

 

When GMB turns away farmers because their grains had high moisture content, farmers have to shoulder the costs in transporting the corn back home, said a Goromonzi farmer, Farai Chimbwanda.

 

GMB are shooting themselves in the foot with their strict requirements, he said.

 

Desperate farmers were even selling their maize to brazen buyers outside GMB depots after being turned away. These buyers were paying farmers at a third of GMB's prices.

 

Farmers would rather sell to buyers who transport the corn at their own expense, he added.

 

There are also private buyers who give farmers a date when they would come to collect the corn. Some would even offer twice the market price.

 

In Chikwaka, the buyers were reportedly operating at night, sending touts in advance to solicit grain from farmers.

 

Some of those touts can be persistent and farmers do see the obvious benefits, though they know it is illegal, another farmer said.

 

The illegal buyers were taking advantage of GMB's absence in different districts to buy corn from farmers, said Minister of Agriculture Joseph Made.

 

It's critical that GMB build permanent collection and distribution points across the country, to reduce the areas exposed to illegal buyers, he said.

 

Made said GMB did not build permanent structures as collection points because they felt it was redundant. However, now it sees collection points can serve not only as a collection point but also a distribution point for agricultural inputs. 

 

Zimbabwe is expected to harvest about 1.8 million tonnes of corn this year, half of which was to be delivered to the GMB.