Tobacco farmers boycott auction in Zimbabwe

Reuters reports (6 April 2005) that Zimbabwe's tobacco marketing season failed to take off this week as farmers refused to sell at the price offered by merchants at the Tobacco Sales Floors in the capital, Harare. Buyers offered the farmers a maximum of US $0.45 per kg, down from $3 per kg last year, but farmers are demanding not less than $3 per kg and have threatened to withhold their crop until fairer prices are obtained. Of the 1,000 bales brought to auction, only 300 bales had been sold by the time the boycott started. Find the full story here.