Cashew nut farmers up in arms about delayed payment
What you need to know:
They aired their grievances at a public meeting convened by the MP for Ndanda, Mr Cecil Mwambe, at Mlingula Ward in Mtwara Region on Tuesday.
Mtwara. Some small-scale cashew nut farmers in Masasi District here have raised concern over their delayed payment.
They aired their grievances at a public meeting convened by the MP for Ndanda, Mr Cecil Mwambe, at Mlingula Ward in Mtwara Region on Tuesday.
During the meeting, the farmers said they sold their cashew nuts to a regional cooperative union in September, and that they were to be paid two weeks later.
Mr Salum Almas, one of the farmers, said they did know when the organisation would pay them.
He blamed various challenges they are gappling with, including financial constraints, on the delayed payment.
“As small-scale farmers, we want to know when we will be paid. This is because we sent our produce to warehouses for weighing more than two months ago,” he said.
Another farmer, Ms Glory Millanzi, explained that, in the 2016/17 season, they knew that they would benefit a lot from their produce because the price for the crop was good.
Ms Millanzi asked relevant authorities to step in, saying delayed payment frustrate their efforts to fight poverty. Mr Mwambe voiced his disappoinment on the delay and promised to work on the mater, telling the farmers that procedurally, they should be paid within five days.
