Online Reporter
Edgar Vhera
The Government has mandated the Agricultural Marketing Authority to establish a centralised national grower registry to curtail double-dipping, ensure seed cotton sales through designated points and conduct a properly constituted crop validation exercise during the planting season.
This was revealed by Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development Deputy Minister, Vangelis Haritatos, at the recently held cotton indaba in Kwekwe, hosted by the AMA.
Deputy Minister Haritatos said side marketing was a cancer that had destroyed the cotton sector.
“The loss of 6,7 million kilogrammes of cotton to side marketing is not a victimless act.
“It constitutes theft from the contractors who invested in the crop, violates contractual trust and is a primary reason for the sector’s collapse. It endangers compliant companies and perpetuates a cycle of poverty,” he said.
“Until now, AMA has been hindered by significant enforcement gaps, allowing seed cotton to be purchased outside of Common Buying Points (CBPs) and turning a blind eye to legitimate complaints. This ends today as we plug that data black hole and dysfunctional forecasting,” he said.
The cotton industry this year conducted the validation exercise during the early days of harvesting.
“Conducting crop validation after harvest is not validation but an autopsy. A sample size between six and nine percent is statistically inadequate; we must adopt scientific, timely forecasting that guides decision-making, rather than merely documenting failure,” the deputy minister said.
The Government’s move is meant to stop and improve the plummeting production, eradicate side marketing and regulatory shortcomings.
“The era of passive regulation is over, you are not spectators, you are referees and you must blow the whistle, penalise foul play and enforce the rules impartially.
“Your success will be measured by the restoration of order in cotton markets, not by the number of reports you produce,” he told AMA.
Cottco chief executive officer, Mr Rockie Mutenha, said in 2024 alone, the company lost over 6 million kilogrammes to side-marketing.
“This undermines trust, leads to massive losses, poverty and hunger. Side marketing threatens the survival of companies providing inputs to farmers, undermines contract integrity and impedes growth in the cotton sector and affects national outputs,” he said.
Mr Mutenha agreed that cotton was purchased outside CBPs and complaints from progressive companies were often ignored.
“The authority’s enforcement role has a lot of gaps as most contractors failed to provide adequate inputs and support services, resulting in poor and reduced crop yield.
“There is no established national grower registry to track input distribution and contract obligations to flag-out farmers contracted elsewhere not to double contract, leading to abuse of inputs,” he explained.
Mr Mutenha said cotton land validation should be done by January and crop forecasting from March to April.
To grow the sector, stakeholders suggest that contracts must include mandatory provision of inputs and agronomic support.
“One powerful solution to side-marketing is zoning, which assigns exclusive geographic areas to each contractor to prevent overlapping contracts and poaching.
“Zoning also makes it easier for AMA to monitor compliance and enforce rules and restore order and discipline in the sector,” he said.
