At a time people implicated in Al Jazeera’s GoldMafia documentary have been let off the hook, government has announced plans to arrest cotton side-marketing suspects.

According to Dr. Anxious Masuka, minister for lands, agriculture, fisheries, water, and rural development, fining people who side market cotton is ineffective; jail time is a preferable choice.

In an effort to protect one of the nation’s top foreign exchange earners and a major source of income for many Zimbabweans, Dr. Masuka said individuals or businesses involved in the side marketing of cotton should be subject to imprisonment on Monday at the beginning of the 2023 cotton marketing season in Mahuwe.

“Last year, seven side marketing breaches were recorded with the culprits being fined over US$10 000,” he said.

“In terms of the deterrent measures, we must go beyond this and make side marketing a criminal offense. Jail is the only effective way to curb this practice.”

Side-marketing is a form of contract default where a contracted cotton grower sells his or her crop to a third party in breach of a legally binding contractual agreement which states that contracted cotton shall only be sold to or bought by the licensed contractor who provided inputs to such a grower.

“My ministry, through the Agricultural Marketing Authority, continues to implement measures to curb side marketing,” said Dr Masuka.

“These include the Memorandum of Agreement by all contractors for the establishment of cotton buying points, maintenance of good business practices and registers of each contractor at each buying point.

“Last year, seven side marketing breaches were recorded with the culprits being fined over US$10 000. In terms of the deterrent measures, we must go beyond this and make side marketing a criminal offense. Jail is the only effective way to curb this practice.”

Side marketing almost collapsed the cotton industry in 2013 after private merchants stopped financing farmers due to poor debt recovery.

In 2014, output dropped to 28 000 tonnes, the lowest in nearly two decades.

The Government intervened by providing farmers with free inputs under the scheme known as Presidential Free Inputs programme.

Dr Masuka emphasised that farmers should get a decent return and timely payment for their commodity.

Unlike the previous seasons when some farmers were not paid on time; growers were receiving their payments upon delivery of their crop this season.

Dr Masuka urged farmers to increase hectares in cotton farming.

Government wants more ginneries and oil expressing plants nearer farmers, and a third spinning company to take up more of the lint to ensure value addition in line with the National Development Strategy 1 (NDS1).

He said in August, they were targeting to install machineries to process cotton seeds into cooking oil in cotton growing areas such as Gokwe, Checheche and Mahuwe.

Nearly 350 000 farmers were contracted to grow cotton under the Presidential Inputs Scheme last year and planted about 250 000 hectares and 152 000 tonnes are expected this season.

Running for the eighth straight season, the State-assisted scheme has seen cotton production recovering.

More than 360 000 farmers benefited from free inputs under the scheme, running for eight consecutive years.

Under the scheme, farmers get free basal and top dressing fertiliser, seed as well as chemicals. The State-assisted scheme has seen an average of 300 000 households receiving free inputs.

Minister of State for Provincial Affairs and Devolution Senator Monica Mavhunga said Government’s effort to drill boreholes and dam construction has helped a lot to improve people’s livelihoods.

“We are happy that here in Mbire , Government is constructing Dande Dam, Bindura Dam and Semwa Dam. All these efforts will help to upgrade people’s standards of living. We are also grateful of the Pfumvudza programme. That’s why last season we made an improvement in farming programmes compared to the other seasons,” she said.

Agriculture Marketing Authority (AMA) chief executive Mr Clever Isaya said it was critical for farmers to grow crops according to their ecological regions, adding that this will help to improve productivity levels.

He said that side marketing should not be tolerated this season adding that grade A will be costing $0,46c per kg.

This season farmers will be paid 85 percent in foreign currency and 15 percent will be paid in local currency on the prevailing rate on the day of payment.

Six contracted companies have registered to grow cotton this year.

“We have 300 000 cotton growers we have registered this season,” Mr Isaya.