By CHATULA KANGALI –
THE Eastern Fodya Association of Zambia (EFAZ) has urged the Government and experts to assist tobacco farmers with information on the type required by the local and international markets.
EFZA chairperson Franklyn Mwale said in an interview that there was need for the Government to the farmers with technical information on the growing of good grade tobacco.
He said a number of independent farmers in Eastern Province had difficulties in accessing the market due to the grade of tobacco currently being grown in the area.
“As an association, we want Government to come in and help us plant the type and grade of tobacco which is demanded by the local and international market.
“At the moment, most farmers plant barley and it is not easy to sell it,” he said.
Mr Mwale said a Chinese firm was recently in the province looking for Flue Cured Virginia (FCV), a type of tobacco currently not grown in the area.
He said Alliance One, a local company, had made an order of two million kilogrammes of FCV that should be planted in the incoming season and to be bought next year.
