Stand with Tobacco Farmers: Donate Today!

As you read this: multinational corporations are trapping around 150,000 contract tobacco farmers in Zimbabwe in cycles of debt, bogus self-employment, and dangerous working conditions. These big corporations force small-scale farmers to take out loans for seeds and pesticides, then buy back the harvest at rates that barely cover those loans—leaving months of hard labour unpaid while offloading all farming risks onto impoverished families.

A poisonous cycle of debt which hurts children

Cycle of Debt: Corporate contracts keep isolated farmers trapped in debt year after year, with families carrying the entire risk of droughts and crop failures.

Nicotine Poisoning: Working bare-handed with raw tobacco sap causes Green Tobacco Sickness (GTS), an acute nicotine poisoning causing severe illness and hospitalisation.

Impact on Children: Children are forced into hard agricultural labour to help pay off family debts, suffering high rates of poisoning that keep them out of school.

As Alexander Matesanewa, Secretary of Zim-ROC, put it:

"Our farmers are the backbone of this economy but they are working with bare hands and no protection... Our lives and health matter."

Founded in September 2026, the Industrial Workers of the World Zimbabwe Regional Organising Committee (IWW Zim-ROC) will spread grassroots worker power across Southern Africa. Our first mission: translating the documentary Tobacco Slave into local languages for rural screenings that break isolation, teach GTS prevention, and spark collective action

How your funds will be spent

Provides Essential PPE: Supplies gloves, masks, and overalls to shield farmers and kids from severe nicotine poisoning and toxic chemicals.

Funds Grassroots Action: Pays for film translations, projection equipment, and rural outreach to organise isolated communities.

Builds Global Solidarity: Powers direct action on the ground while driving pressure against corporate headquarters in the Global North.

Every contribution puts protective gear and organising power straight onto the frontlines.

An injury to one is an injury to all.

A luta continua!

To help the unionising efforts where you live, you can donate online HERE: https://chuffed.org/pro.../201980-tobacco-farmers-fight-back