- Tanzania to earn $400 million annually from tobacco export/sells.
- The country now ranks second largest tobacco producer in Africa after Zimbabwe.
- Tobacco has no known health benefit. On the contrary, it causes disease, disability and premature death. Over 6 million people die globally every year from tobacco-related illnesses.
Tanzania has been ranked as the second-largest producer of tobacco in Africa, falling behind only neighboring Zimbabwe, even as tobacco’s toll worsens globally. The ranking comes after a bumper harvest in the year 2022/2023, as announced by Tanzania’s Minister for Agriculture, Hussein Bashe.
According to the minister, the country’s tobacco production has more than doubled over the last year alone to 122,858 tonnes in FY2023/2024 from 50,000 tonnes earlier.
As of December last year, the export value of tobacco stood at $316 million, and with the increase in output, the minister is confident that this year the country will attain its goal of earning $400 million from tobacco sales.
“For the 2024/2025 season, we are optimistic that we will reach 200,000 tonnes …which is very close to our 2025/26 target of 300,000 tonnes,” he told press.
“It was not an easy journey. I thank all the Tobacco Board workers, we dreamed, we did it, keep pushing. We will become Africa’s No. 1 producer,” the minister urged.
Tobacco’s toll: Smoking kills nearly six million people each year
While Tanzania is aiming at becoming the continent’s top tobacco producer, the World Health organization (WHO) reports that tobacco tobacco’s toll is on average six million people each year.
Of this insanely high death toll, “more than 600,000 of these people are exposed to second-hand smoke,” WHO report notes.
“Tobacco has no known health benefit. On the contrary, it causes disease, disability and premature death…in fact, tobacco kills up to one half of all its users and remains one of the leading preventable causes of death.”
Tobacco sell versus tobacco deaths is an impossible equation to balance, it is the evil versus good time old battle.
The tobacco sells versus health imbalance is that of moral versus profit; like stopping the use of fossil fuels to save the planet, when the profits are considered, then it seems we are ready to loose many lives to enrich a handful few.
While top tobacco producers like Zimbabwe and Tanzania look for ways to increase tobacco production, the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC) works on tobacco control measures.
It is a tag of war, producers looking to grow their markets (despite health and death consequences), the WHO FCTC looks to reduce this market i.e. prevent people especially the youth from starting to use tobacco, help current tobacco users to quit and; protect non-smokers from exposure to second-hand smoke.
However, the WHO FCTC admits that; “Strengthening the implementation of the WHO FCTC is one of the big challenges for countries in the African Region.”
The organization maintains that; “Developing comprehensive tobacco control legislation and building capacity for its effective enforcement are crucial for Member States of the Region.” But how can they, yet they have national goals that are in direct contrast to this noble cause.
Lets recal the Tanzanian ministers statement as to the country’s tobacco production goals; “For the 2024/2025 season, we are optimistic that we will reach 200,000 tonnes …which is very close to our 2025/26 target of 300,000 tonnes,” he proudly told press.
So, with such national strategic goals to increase tobacco production by large producers like Tanzania; the WHO FCTC ambition to “…develop comprehensive tobacco control legislation and build capacity for its effective enforcement,” seems futile.
Especially when the target member states praise the increase in tobacco production; “It was not an easy journey. I thank all the Tobacco Board workers, we dreamed, we did it, keep pushing. We will become Africa’s No 1 (tobacco) producer,” that is the Tanzanian Minister of Agriculture commending tobacco producers.
Read also: US sanctions on Zimbabwe: New directives set to squeeze top leadership
Tobacco industry: a smoky screen in Zimbabwe
While Tanzania is enjoying bumper harvests and aiming to become Africa’s number one tobacco producer, Zimbabwe, the country that currently holds that status, is choking in tobacco corruption allegations.
Tobacco farmers in Zimbabwe accuse the country’s Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board (TIMB) of misappropriating a whopping $46 million.
“It’s now almost 10 years since TIMB started collecting an afforestation tax of 0.75 per cent from growers with over $40 million collected,” notes Zimbabwe Tobacco Association CEO Rodney Ambrose.
Tobacco is one of the major cash crops grown by peasant farmers in Tanzania. It was commercialized in the country from the colonial-era and today, the crop is one of the top three cash crops, others are tea and coffee, that earn Tanzania the highest amount of foreign exchange.
“The sector growth in terms of the total area under cultivation and numbers of farmers participating in tobacco farming is increasing, regardless of its health and environmental challenges faced. This is a sign that tobacco farming is still a reliable and promising cash crop within the tobacco growing areas of Tanzania,” boldly reports the Tobacco Research Institute of Tanzania (TORITA).
The authorities at TORITA are working to increase tobacco production seeking international companies to invest in the purchase, processing and trading of its tobacco. According to TORITA, worldwide demand of tobacco is on the increase, especially across Asia with China at the forefront.
With growing demand for tobacco and tobacco products, it can be expected that tobacco producing countries like Tanzania and Zimbabwe will only continue to increase production seeking profits. When it comes to economic growth and amassing of profits, health and even fatalities take second stage.
Tobacco production and consumption will continue to increase as long as tobacco is legal but then again, even production of illegal drugs continues despite the law.
However, at least by banning tobacco production and consumption our moral compass will be pointed in the right direction, for now, our desire for profit by far surpasses our care for the health and wellbeing of our fellow men, women and children.
Trading in death: Tobacco production and products
Tobacco, a plant product containing mainly nicotine, cellulose, ammonia, and protein is one of the most controversial moral cases of modern times. The plant leaves are dried and cured and end up been manufactured into cigarettes, cigars, chewing tobacco, pipe tobacco, and shisha tobacco among a many other products.
Even though it is proven to cause life long diseases and death for both users and non-users, tobacco production and consumption remains legal everywhere in the world.
What is worse is that, tobacco consumption is largely not by choice, rather, “after the initial trial for fun” the consumer becomes addicted to the chemical nicotine. From that point onwards, the user suffers from nicotine dependence that is defined as “an addiction to tobacco products caused by the drug nicotine. It causes nicotine withdrawal if the person does not keep using.”
What this means is that, a tobacco victim cannot stop consumption even if they wish, leading to their permanent poor health and subsequent death.
This fact makes tobacco production and consumption the most good-evil pair of modern times that defines our age as that of priority to enriching a few even at the life cost of the many; the fact stands true for plastics, fossil fuels and tobacco.
