Zimbabwe has biometrically registered more than 113,000 tobacco farmers since the program began earlier this year, as part of the Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board (TIMB)’s drive to improve transparency and security in the sector. The initiative links each farmer’s unique grower number to their fingerprints, GPS coordinates, and demographic information, ensuring that only genuine growers participate in the market and helping protect farmers from exploitation.
TIMB public affairs officer Chelesani Moyo Tsarwe said the biometric system will help eliminate fraud, curb side marketing, and enhance efficiency across the industry. “TIMB has rolled out a biometric grower management system to address the longstanding challenges within Zimbabwe’s tobacco sector,” she said. “The new system introduces biometric data capture, linking each farmer’s unique grower number to their fingerprints, GPS co-ordinates of their household and farm, and demographic data.”