Moses Charedzera
As the Zimbabwe Agriculture Media Awards (ZAMA) draw closer, the media has been commended for doing a good job in reporting agricultural issues by the Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board , TIMB.
TIMB has partnered the Zimbabwe Agricultural Society ZAS, working in collaboration with Mejrkh Communications and Media Advisory in hosting the third edition of ZAMA slated for the 30th of July 2021.
Due to current covid-19 protocols banning gatherings, the event will be hosted virtually on YAFM facebook page and Great Dyke TV.
TIMB spokesperson Chelesani Moyo said it is a fairly well done job for the media in reporting issues around tobacco production, harvesting and marketing in the current season.
“During the 2021 season, the media has done fairly well in informing the public around tobacco issues, however, we feel more can still be done going forward in ensuring fair and balanced media coverage.
As the Covid 19 regulations are lifted, as TIMB we wish to facilitate an engagement with the media to shed more light on the operations of the industry in order to ensure factual reporting on tobacco,” she said.
The TIMB’s support for the media stems from their desire to see well-rounded news stories on farming.
“As the TIMB, we endeavor to support the media in undertaking factual and balanced coverage on agricultural issues, therefore we saw the need to sponsor and support the 2021 ZAMA,” said Moyo.
Other sponsors who have partnered ZAS include Agricura and the Agricultural Marketing Authority.
Some of the burning issues in tobacco include the activities of some unscrupulous merchants and middleman who fleece of farmers through fixing low prices for the producers of the golden leaf.
Meanwhile the TIMB has indicated that as of day 69, they have recorded a total of 191 million kilogrammes of tobacco valued at US$ 529 million as compared to 164 million kilogrammesreceived during the same period in 2020, which was valued at US$407 million.
