Geneva, 27th May, 2023 – The World Health Organization (WHO) has called for an end to tobacco subsidies and a shift towards food production, citing the global hunger crisis and the devastating health impacts of tobacco use. In a report titled “Grow food, not tobacco,” released ahead of World No Tobacco Day on May 31st, WHO emphasized the need to prioritize health, preserve ecosystems, and strengthen food security.
According to WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, governments worldwide continue to spend millions supporting tobacco farms, even as millions of hectares of fertile land are dedicated to tobacco cultivation in 124 countries. This alarming trend persists in areas where people are suffering from starvation.
The report highlights that 349 million people are currently facing acute food insecurity, with a significant number residing in 30 African countries where tobacco farming has increased by 15% over the past decade. It is worth noting that nine out of the ten largest tobacco cultivators are low and middle-income countries. The expansion of tobacco farming exacerbates food security challenges by occupying arable land and causing deforestation, water contamination, and soil degradation.
Additionally, the report exposes the tobacco industry for perpetuating a cycle of dependency among farmers and exaggerating the economic benefits of tobacco as a cash crop.
To combat these issues, WHO has partnered with the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Food Programme (WFP) to launch the Tobacco Free Farms initiative. The program aims to assist farmers in countries such as Kenya and Zambia by providing microcredit lending to pay off their debts to tobacco companies. It also offers knowledge, training, and support for cultivating alternative crops. Through WFP’s local procurement initiatives, the program helps farmers find markets for their sustainable food harvests.
By advocating for the cessation of tobacco subsidies and the promotion of food production, WHO, FAO, and WFP aim to address the intertwined challenges of hunger, health, and environmental sustainability on a global scale.