by Gideon Madzikatidze
HARARE – SEEDCO, a leading seed distribution company in Zimbabwe, is sounding the alarm on the rampant sale of counterfeit seeds, admitting that their efforts to combat the scourge, even with police and government (Ministry of Agriculture) involvement, have not been enough due to lack of deterrent sentences (lighter convictions and sentencing as espoused by the Seed Act).
Some stakeholders demanded that the last resort to address the abnormality should be amendment of the Seed Act. Despite the company’s tireless efforts to partner with the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) and relevant department from the Ministry of Agriculture to curb the illegal trade, bogus companies continue to imitate SEEDCO’s varieties, cheating farmers and threatening food security.
Speaking during the Zimbabwe Seed Association event held at SEEDCO headquarters, Edmore Mtetwa, head of seed services institute (Ministry of Agriculture) has claimed that they will continue to fight the scourge
“The Ministry is being assisted by the office of Attorney General office in the continuous reviewing of our regulations (Seed Act) and the issue of penalties is also there,” Mtetwa said.
The Zimbabwe Republic Police has vowed to enforce the Seed Act, urging farmers to buy only from accredited retailers and report suspicious activities to curb the illegal trade, but bogus companies continue to imitate SEEDCO’s varieties, cheating farmers and threatening food security.
National spokesman (ZRP), Commissioner Paul Nyathi admitted that there are inconsistencies in terms of prosecution or sentencing of criminal syndicates involved in the counterfeit seeds scam.
“We can’t continue to have this problem year in year out, we certainly need to engage all stakeholders including the including the Ministry of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs, and Attorney General’s office so that we have deterrent sentences, people must go to jail. To be honest with you ladies and gentlemen these criminals are duping innocent farmers, Zimbabweans, and these companies are losing revenue,” Nyathi fumes.
“So we can’t continue to allow criminals to take advantage of this, so definitely something should be done, and we will work closely with relevant stakeholders in making sure that the current sentencing structure is reviewed for criminals to go to jail and we are not compromising on that,” Nyathi added.
Last year, SEEDCO suffered losses, including an armed robbery, highlighting the challenges in tackling these sophisticated syndicates. The counterfeit seeds, often sold at half price, are difficult to distinguish from genuine products and have led to significant financial losses for farmers, impacting crop yields and the broader agricultural economy.
“We’ve established distribution centers with uniform pricing to help farmers spot fakes, but fraudsters are becoming increasingly clever,” Felistus Gurajena, SEEDCO’s Managing Director said then.