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No viable alternatives to tobacco growing have been found and the implementation of WHO FCTC Article 17 has not provided any tangible results, says ITGA president, José Javier Aranda. Photo credit MKD, Creative Commons 4.0
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WHO’s recommendation that farmers grow food crops such as maize instead of tobacco ignores real evidence that suggests otherwise.
The latest salvo on tobacco launched by the people in the ivory tower known as the World Health Organization (WHO) is accusing tobacco farming of being a key reason for a global food crisis by taking away land that could be used to grow food instead.
WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said governments across the world “spend millions supporting tobacco farms”, and that choosing to grow food instead of tobacco would allow the world to “prioritize health, preserve eco-systems, and strengthen food security for all.”
According to WHO, 3.2 million hectares of land across more than 124 countries are being used to grow tobacco, “even in countries where people are starving.”
Previously, WHO focused its efforts against tobacco farming in Asia and South America, but is now turning to Africa. In its latest report Grow food, not tobacco, WHO said a record 349 million people in 79 countries globally are facing acute food insecurity, mostly in low- and middle-income countries, over 30 of which are on the African continent.
WHO statistics found that Brazil, China, and India account for about 55% of global tobacco production, but are not adding acreage. The other countries in the top 10 tobacco producers are Indonesia, Malawi, Mozambique, Turkiye, Tanzania, US, and Zimbabwe. While tobacco cultivation area dropped by 15.8% from 2005 to 2020, in Africa it increased by 19.8%, with East Africa accounting for 88.5% of tobacco leaf production in the continent.
Included in the report is WHO’s belief that there is a “misconception that tobacco farming is a highly profitable business for smallholder farmers and good for the economy in general,” there is no direct link between tobacco farming and demand for tobacco leaves in the country” as international trade now makes it possible to import tobacco leaf from any country in the world.
This begs the question, though, that if countries should not be growing tobacco leaves, where exactly is that imported leaf through international trade coming from? Mars? Or does WHO mean low- to middle-income countries should stop farming tobacco, which is a revenue-generating crop for them, and pave the way for tobacco leaf from higher-income countries?
Dr. Rüdiger Krech, WHO’s director for health promotion, told reporters that tobacco’s economic importance is a “myth that we urgently need to dispel,” and that the crop contributes less than 1% of gross domestic product (GDP) in most tobacco-growing countries. He also claimed that the profits from tobacco leaf go to the world’s major tobacco companies, while farmers struggle under a burden of debt contracted with the companies.
In its report, WHO also blames government subsidies for tobacco cultivation, which include cash to farmers for growing a crop or softer lending terms; pricing of subsidized seeds, fertilizers, and power; and crop insurance, for creating market “distortions” that encourage farmers to grow tobacco crops. Instead, it says governments should offer subsidies for food crops, such as beans, sweet potatoes, maize, rice, green vegetables, nuts, berries, or animal husbandry.
Real farmers, real voices
On the ground, not in the WHO ivory tower, are the farmers whose livelihood would be most affected by WHO’s agenda, and their response is, unsurprisingly, not aligned with that of WHO.
The Federation of All India Farmer Associations (FAIFA), for example, challenged WHO to back up its recommendation that tobacco be replaced with alternative crops with data. Vikram Raj Urs, FAIFA joint secretary, said, “Climate change and extreme taxation is pushing tobacco farmers’ livelihoods to the brink. Farmers’ earnings have shrunk cumulatively by more than INR 75 billion (US$906.41 million) since 2013-14, due to crop substitution.
Over 100 million kg of tobacco production is affected due to severe climate events. WHO’s recommendation to grow alternative crops on semi-arid lands, where even a draught-resistant crop like tobacco is facing challenges due to climate change, is unscientific.”
In a FAIFA release, general secretary P.S. Murali Babu said there had been attempts in the past to get tobacco farmers to switch to other crops such as grains and paddy, but according to a study by the Central Tobacco Research Institute (CTRI), this substitution resulted in severe losses for farmers compared to the income they had previously earned from growing tobacco.
“The WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), an international treaty that India is a party to, is a threat to the livelihoods of tobacco farmers as it has not provided viable alternatives for tobacco-growing countries,” added Murali Babu.
“We fail to understand why WHO is trying to influence the global supply chain for agricultural crops. It makes one wonder if there is an agenda WHO is driving on behalf of vested interests. They should stick to their work of public health and awareness generation on health-related issues and understand that tobacco is also a legal crop and product across the world. Even in WHO’s own FCTC it is recommended that tobacco consumption has to be controlled without hurting livelihoods.”
FAIFA president, Javare Gowda, said, “Historically, WHO was formed as well as funded by nation states. However, in recent times, the organization has also started receiving funding from non-state actors like private trusts which have linkages with private corporations. This vested interest agenda is disturbing the livelihood of global farmers and there is no in-depth study on successful alternative crops in similar agroclimatic regions. Hence, it is imperative for the global farmer community to come together and mount a protest against WHO.”
According to FAIFA, only 0.25% of all cultivated land worldwide is used for the production of tobacco. Compared to other agricultural practices, the volume of tobacco production does not pose a significant danger to food security.
José Javier Aranda, president of the International Tobacco Growers’ Association (ITGA), made a similar call to the sector in a statement marking ITGA’s World Understanding Tobacco Farming Day on May 31, saying “It is time to stand up together and request the support of governments against the demonization of our sector. For more than 15 years, tobacco growing and growers have been subjected to incorrect arguments that put tobacco farming as the main enemy to all sustainable development goals.
The real evidence is completely ignored. The reality is that no viable alternatives to tobacco growing have been found and the implementation of WHO FCTC Article 17 (economically sustainable alternatives to tobacco growing) has not provided any tangible results. This is due to the exclusion of the main actors in this debate – the tobacco growers. We will never achieve sustainable transition, where growers’ livelihoods are guaranteed, if we don’t look at the issue from all relevant perspectives.”
According to Aranda, many tobacco growers have already diversified their production and crop rotation is a standard routine for farmers around the world. However, diversification is not an option for most cases as market realities and the funding required to move away to other eco-nomically viable crops are not there. He went on to say the example of Kenya, the diversification pilot project of WHO FCTC, has no meaningful significance in the global context (0,0005% of the total tobacco production). To reach pragmatic solutions for most tobacco growers, farmers must be included in the debate.