Zim plots alliances to fend off tobacco ban

LIVINGSTONE MARUFU

Zimbabwe is forging local, regional and global alliances to fend off threats by the World Health Organisation (WHO) to ban tobacco production on health grounds and has since formed an inter-ministerial committee which comes up with a country position.

Tobacco is Zimbabwe’s fourth largest foreign currency earner with annual export receipts hovering around US$1bn.

The sector also directly supports close to 250 000 households and contributes up to 13% to the national GDP and 30% to agriculture exports.

The National Economic Consultative Forum (NECF) which chairs the inter-ministerial committee told the stakeholders at the recently ended Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board national stakeholders meeting that the country has to fight from within to be heard.

“Working with all stakeholders in coming up with heads of arguments for FCTC [the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control] meetings (responding to the agenda) – through the inclusive committee thereby coming up with an agreed national position.

“On the regional front, we will form alliances for the five tobacco growing countries in Eastern and Southern Africa (T5) – [Zambia, Malawi, Mozambique, and Tanzania] where we will plan a meeting of the region during the first quarter of 2023,” NECF economics director Godwin Murehwa said.

“On the international stage, we will forge alliances with like-minded countries such as China, Guatemala, Honduras, Dominican Republic where we push for farmers’ participation at FCTC meetings through International Tobacco Growers Association.”

He said Zimbabwe will start some engagements with other countries soon to prepare for the Conference of Parties (COP 10) to be held in Panama City in 2023 (around November) and the country will utilise the local, regional and International strategy.

The inter-ministerial committee’s other members include Health and Child Care, Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development, Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare, Finance and Economic Development, Environment, Tourism and Hospitality Industry, Industry and Commerce and Foreign Affairs ministries.

FCTC is the first global public health treaty which is regarded as an evidence-based treaty that reaffirms the right of all people to the highest standard of health.

The WHO FCTC was developed by countries in response to the globalisation of tobacco smoking-associated health issues.

It also aims to tackle some of the causes of tobacco smoking-related diseases, including complex factors with cross-border effects, such as trade liberalisation and direct foreign investment, tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship beyond national borders and illicit trade in tobacco products.

NECF said the threat is real as the golden leaf is being attacked from all angles.

Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Resettlement, Anxious Masuka said the government appreciates all the initiatives that are being done by industry players to improve the sustainability of tobacco production and if sustainability is unlocked growth can be achieved rapidly.

“The (proposed) elimination of tobacco is a real threat to our agriculture sector. Our tobacco is exported to more than 60 destinations. Only 1% or 2% is a value-added before export. We need to capture more value. We have come up with a bold plan, which will be radical enough to transform the (agriculture) sector,” he said.

Masuka said the government-approved the Tobacco Value Chain Transformation Plan seeks to increase production to 300m kg annually of good quality styles desired by the international market, increase productivity to 2000kg/ha through vertical growth and loss reduction, accelerating research and innovation, exploring alternate and alternative crops, attending to matters of sustainability, traceability, and good agricultural practices, including ethical use of labour.

“We encourage our growers to use renewable sources of energy for curing tobacco and they should not cut down indigenous trees for fuel wood for curing tobacco. Doing so is like robbing our future generations.

“It is in this regard that a request has been made by the industry to have part of the Tobacco Afforestation Levy utilised for demonstration of efficient curing technology such as Rocket barns that reduce fuel load use by 50%.”

Zimbabwe Commercial Farmers Union president Shadreck Makombe said there is a need to defend tobacco by working together on resisting the tobacco ban.

“With the WHO FCTC COP10 which is scheduled for November 2023, there is a threat that attention will be on producing countries not socially, environmentally caring and sustainably producing tobacco. We need to protect our industry together,” Makombe said.

According to WHO, tobacco remains the only consumer product that kills up to half of those who use it as intended by manufacturers and it kills one person every four seconds, approximately eight million individuals needlessly dying every year with one million of those deaths occurring in non-smokers exposed to tobacco smoke.

WHO also links tobacco use to the four most prevalent noncommunicable diseases: cardiovascular disease, cancer, chronic respiratory disease and diabetes.