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Obert Chifamba-Agri-Insight

IT seems tobacco side marketing is stubbornly resisting all efforts to stamp it out, with reports indicating that over 2 000 farmers were allegedly swindled by unscrupulous contractors in botched sales deals recently. 

Facts on the ground seem to suggest that the farmers (mostly producers of self-financed tobacco) had intended to capitalise on their free agents’ status to sell the crop to buyers of their choice and avoid going to the floors. 

That way they would have been able to escape the bane of being price-takers who have no say in deciding the value of their own produce and discuss the payment terms with the buyers. 

The Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development has since promulgated Statutory Instrument 77 of 2022 prohibiting any engagement in side marketing of tobacco, which stipulates that tobacco farmers have the option to self-finance and enjoy the independence of choosing their purchasers or to obtain funding from contractors to whom they will sell their tobacco as agreed. 

Prior to the year 2022, there was no clear legislation prohibiting the side marketing of tobacco in Zimbabwe despite the fact that the law still required all transactions relating to buying and selling of the golden leaf in Zimbabwe to be regulated by the Tobacco Industry and Marketing Act (hereinafter the Act) together with various regulations promulgated hereunder. 

Of course, this was an attempt to protect farmers from rogue buyers that would use devious ways to get the crop before paying a song for it, leaving the grower poorer. 

Such buyers have been in existence for some time now with the Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board (TIMB) pressing for their total elimination year-in, year-out, yet it seems they are tapping into loopholes littering the marketing system to re-appear every season. 

It is high time TIMB finds a permanent solution to the problem and make the tobacco sales floors more attractive to farmers than the random buyers that end up fleecing them of their much-deserved potential revenue. 

Interestingly, TIMB has this year even gone a rung higher in its push to eliminate the menace by engaging private investigators to try and make sure there is no side marketing happening undetected.

This solution does not, however, seem to be providing any respite, as the unscrupulous buyers always seem to have ways of worming their way into the system to run their illicit deals unnoticed. 

It is critical for TIMB and other stakeholders waging the war to eliminate this vice to identify and plug all the loopholes that are making their system porous once and for all. 

An organised marketing system will naturally attract all farmers to come and do their business there, which does not seem to be the situation at the country’s tobacco sales floors with all seasons being plagued by price discords, growing volumes of bale rejections and cases of lost                               tobacco bales.

In most cases, unscrupulous buyers end up cajoling farmers into selling the rejected tobacco to them before just re-packaging and re-selling at better prices. 

This has unfortunately bolstered claims that unscrupulous buyers work in cahoots with some people employed by the tobacco sales floors. 

These are some of the things pushing farmers to look for alternative buyers.

Hardly a season passes without farmers complaining over price ceilings amid suspicions of collusion among buyers, while some contractors are repeatedly failing to honour their contractual obligations, but still expecting growers to do so to the last letter. 

Such a scenario is naturally pushing farmers straight into the open and waiting arms of these opportunistic buyers who will then capitalise on the desperate situation to dictate the terms of deals they thrash out with the growers. 

There are also cases where unregistered people come in as B-class buyers that are not registered, scouting for opportunities to rip off unsuspecting farmers whom they promise very attractive packages, but later renege on the promises. 

Some of the 2 000 farmers currently at war with the unscrupulous buyers also reportedly delivered tobacco for which payments have not been honoured. 

Contractors promised to pay good prices and deployed agents to buy tobacco, which they had not even contracted and have not paid the farmers. 

It is unfortunate that farmers are the ones coming out with bruised egos from the deals. The sad thing is that they are always accomplices in this little vignette of deceit through use of illegal means to effect the transactions because their growers’ numbers will not be on contract. 

It is also saddening to note that some prominent tobacco contracting companies are yet to pay farmers for crop they delivered. 

TIMB has since promised to look into the matter and once again reminded farmers that it is an offence to engage in side marketing of their tobacco crop if it was produced under contract. 

Those that produce tobacco using personal funds also need to be selling their crop through the proper channels to avoid scenarios that turn sour like the current one. 

What is more worrisome is the fact that the problem of side marketing has become so prevalent in the country’s tobacco greenbelts such as Mashonaland East and Manicaland that it may cause market distortions that will end up hounding many out of growing the crop.

This will be an unfortunate eventuality given that the crop is one of the country’s major foreign currency earners whose production and marketing must be done smoothly to enhance yields and revenue. 

TIMB should be proactive and embark on campaigns educating farmers and the general public on the dictates of the law that criminalises side marketing tobacco. 

Such a person will be guilty of an offence liable to the payment a fine not exceeding Level 5 or an imprisonment term not exceeding six months. 

And depending on the degree of illegality, a person can be penalised via both ways — paying a fine and serving a jail term for the offence. 

Such consequences do not only affect the buyers or sellers, as this is inclusive of persons who would have assisted in the storage and transporting of the tobacco. 

And to ensure that all contractors are doing their businesses above board, the law now requires them to provide proof of commitment or intent to the TIMB by June 30 of every year and failure to do so will lead to their suspension from contracting growers for that season. 

They are also expected to submit to TIMB a complete schedule of inputs and their costs by June 30 and failure to do so results in them being suspended for that season. 

This will protect farmers from contractors who renege on promises, but still expect farmers to repay everything, even for services not rendered. 

Contractors are also supposed to submit copies of legally binding contracts by September 30 of every year and proof of inputs distributed either via paid up invoices or payment plans with suppliers while contracted growers without accompanying signed contracts will be de-contracted. 

The last submission expected from them is the list of all their contracted growers, including contact details by November 30 of each year.