Harare, New Ziana) –The Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board (TIMB) has deployed inspectors across all growing regions to combat side marketing of the crop as the country prepares for the 2025/26 selling season,
Farmers are already reaping and curing their tobacco, with expectations high that this year the output will surpass the 355 million kilograms recorded last season.
A persistent challenge in the sector, side marketing occurs when contracted farmers sell their crop to third parties in violation of legally binding agreements.
The practice is outlawed under Statutory Instrument (SI) 77 of 2022, which prescribes penalties of up to six months in prison, a fine, or both.
In an interview on Monday, TIMB public affairs officer Chelesani Moyo said the board has adopted a zero-tolerance stance towards side marketing.
“Tobacco side marketing has always been a challenge, and its impacts are significant. It disrupts business continuity, damages investments, and worsens farmers’ cycle of poverty by undermining livelihoods and the sustainability of the industry,” she said.
“Therefore, the Board has put in place strategies to combat side marketing, and inspectors have been deployed across all tobacco-growing regions to monitor compliance and investigate cases of side marketing once the marketing season commences. TIMB’s message is clear, side marketing is a criminal offence, and we have zero tolerance for it,” she added.
Moyo urged farmers, contractors, and stakeholders to comply with the SI provisions, which make it clear that any person who participates in side marketing shall be guilty of an offence and liable to a fine not exceeding level five (5) or to imprisonment for a period not exceeding six (6) months or to both such fine and such imprisonment.
New Ziana
