Image: researchers at Kutsaga Research Farm, courtesy Kutsaga.
Zvamaida Murwira of the Herald reports that the Zimbabwe cabinet has given the green light to the Tobacco Research Board to expanded its primary mandate of tobacco research to include diversified agricultural technologies, agro-forestry and biotechnology.
The TRB’s marketing wing, Kutsaga, is already doing research on what it calls ‘alternative cash crops’ such as medicinal cannabis and industrial hemp as well as shisha and potato varieties. In its next phase, Kutsuga is expected to research ways of adding value to the biomass that is being produced.
Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Minister, Dr Zhemu Soda announced the expansion of the tobacco framework to include cannabis in Harare on 1 July 2026.
He said Cabinet considered and approved principles for the amendment of the Tobacco Research Act as well as the Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board Act.
“The amendment has been necessitated by the need to reflect the growing and diverse nature of tobacco and associated crops research and production, to provide support to farmers through extension and capacity building, to undertake research on manufactured tobacco and to provide research services to farmers and other stakeholders” Dr Soda said.
The additions come to Kugsaga’s current functions of to align with national agricultural transformation and food security goals.
Some of its additional functions include crop diversification and climate-proofing, where it conducts research and develops alternative cash crops, including medicinal cannabis, industrial hemp, shisha and potato varieties.
The aim of the amendment is to build a tobacco-related legal framework to provide support to farmers and stakeholders through agriculture extension and capacity building.
“Cabinet considered and approved the principles for the amendment of the Tobacco Research Act [Chapter 18: 21] as presented by the Minister of Agriculture, Mechanisation and Water Resources Development, Dr Anxious Jongwe Masuka,” Dr Soda said.
The Tobacco Research Board (TRB), trading as Kutsaga, has expanded its primary mandate of tobacco research to include diversified agricultural technologies, agro-forestry and biotechnology to align with national agricultural transformation and food security goals.
Some of its additional functions include crop diversification and climate-proofing, where it conducts research and develops alternative cash crops, including medicinal cannabis, industrial hemp, shisha and potato varieties.
It will also focus on agroforestry afforestation that includes initiatives to reverse environmental degradation by supplying and promoting fast-growing timber (e.g, eucalyptus) and fruit trees, alongside rotational food cropping.
Dr Soda said amendments to the TIMB Act will address inherent gaps that occurred during the last amendments that were last made in 1997.
“The resulting Act will address the several changes that have occurred in the industry since the last amendment in 1997. More specifically, the amendment will allow the Tobacco Research Board to trade under a name which shows its expanded scope, including researching both manufactured and unmanufactured tobacco products,” said Dr Soda.
“The proposed amendments will further enhance the Tobacco Industry Marketing Board’s regulatory measures for the industry and align the current Act to the provisions of the Public Entities and Corporate Governance Act and the Public Finance Management Act.”
The TIMB Act will have to be harmonised with the Public Entities Corporate Governance (PECG) Act to ensure uniform accountability, prevent conflicts of interest and eliminate legal friction. This creates standardised board appointments, operational transparency and financial compliance for Zimbabwe’s agricultural parastatals.
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