TIMB schemes contracting standards framework

THE Tobacco Industry Marketing Board (TIMB) says it is working on a minimum standards framework for contracting companies as the 2022/23 season commences.
As much as 93 percent of the country’s tobacco crop is funded by contractors as the local financial sector remains reluctant to provide funding to agriculture due to lack of collateral and lack of confidence in the bankability of the current 99-year lease document.
“We are working towards standardising the inputs package offered by contractors to growers. We have come up with a compliance administration framework that every registered contractor should meet.