Hunger: Stakeholders Want Tobacco Farming Replaced With Food Crops Cultivation In Nigeria

On Wednesday, the Ministry of Health and other stakeholders gathered in Abuja to examine possible and relevant strategies aimed at reducing hunger in Nigeria by transitioning from tobacco production to food crop farming.

The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Health, Engineer Olusesan Adebiyi said tobacco cultivation contributes to increased food insecurity as arable lands that are supposed to be used to grow food crops are used to farm tobacco.

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The Permanent Secretary, who was represented by the Director of Public Health, Dr. Morenike Alex-Okoh, said this at a press briefing to commemorate the ‘World No Tobacco Day’ which is observed globally on May 31 annually.

The theme for the year’s campaign is “We Need Food, Not Tobacco” which seeks to raise awareness about alternative crop production, and marketing opportunities for tobacco farmers and encourage the farmers to grow sustainable and nutritious crops.

It also said the theme aims to expose the tobacco industry’s efforts which are known to contribute to the global food crisis through interference with the government’s laudable policies geared towards promoting viable, profitable, sustainable alternatives to tobacco growing.

It said although Nigeria is not a major producer of tobacco, 2022 data from the Food and Agricultural Organization(FAO) said the country is ranked 9th in Africa.

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According to a report by the United Nations Children’s Fund(UNICEF), 25 million Nigerians are at risk of facing hunger between June and August 2023. Hence, the need for Nigeria to cover its arable lands to cultivate food crops to tackle food insecurity and malnutrition.

Alex-Okoh said people are more aware of the harm caused by tobacco via smoking, chewing and snuffing. However, there is less focus on the harm growing tobacco does to farmers, their children and the environment.

He said the farmers are exposed to several health risks such as acute nicotine poisoning also called “green tobacco sickness” which is characterized by nausea, vomiting, headache, muscle weakness and dizziness when farmers absorb nicotine through their skin when in contact with the leaves of mature tobacco plants.

Children are also said to be more at risk of having the green tobacco sickness due to their low body mass, especially children who contribute enormously to the workforce of tobacco in the low-middle-income country.

“Globally, widespread cultivation of tobacco leaf has raised various public health concerns, including concern about child labour and occupational health hazards. Children are more susceptible to nicotine absorption and green tobacco sickness given their proportionately lower body mass.

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“Also, there is evidence to show that exposure to chemicals such as pesticides, herbicides, and fumigants among children who work on tobacco farms may result in severe chronic health consequences due to higher risks of cancer, reproductive health issues, mood disorder and permanent neurological damage,” he said.

The Ministry of Health said it is committed to working with National Tobacco Control Committee(NATOCC), the Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Rural Development, and others to create alternative cropping for tobacco farmers according to the stipulations of the National Tobacco Control (NTC) Act 2015 which prioritizes alternative cropping for tobacco farmers in line with Section 5(h) that mandates the National Tobacco Control Committee (NATOCC) to work with the Ministry of Agriculture and other relevant agencies in that regard.

In addition, the ministry said it will ensure Nigeria has the data on the number of tobacco farmers, the total hectarage of tobacco farms as well as alternative cropping for the farmers including technical support to all stakeholders involved towards achieving a reduced burden of tobacco use and tobacco-related illness in the country.

Speaking, the World Health Organization Country Representative to Nigeria, Dr. Walter Kazadi, said tobacco kills half of its users and is responsible for more than 8 million deaths annually. And more than 7 million deaths are as a result of direct tobacco use while nonsmokers account for 1.2 million death from exposure to second-hand smoke.

Dr Kazadi, who was represented by Dr Mary Dewan said, apart from the health risk of tobacco and global food insecurity, growing and the production of tobacco, contributes to
deforestation, soil degradation and low capacity for growing food crops and other agricultural activities which lead to climate change and damage to the ecosystem.

He said ” unfortunately, nine out of 10 biggest tobacco farmers are in low and middle-income countries with four of these countries defined as low-income food -deficit countries.

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“Any profit to be gained from tobacco as cash crop is not enough to offset the damage done to sustainable food production in these countries.”

He advised that lands to grow tobacco be re-prioritized to growing food crops to achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 2 —zero hunger. Also for government and policymakers to develop and implement policies and strategies as well as provide an enabling market for tobacco farmers to move growing food crops that would provide them and their families a better life.

The Programme Manager, Nigeria Tobacco Control Alliance (NTCA), Chibuike Nwokorie said Nigeria needs to have data on tobacco farmers in order to have a successful transition from tobacco farming to crop production and consumption.

He also declared that NTCA will continue to partner with the ministry to ensure that tobacco is effectively controlled in Nigeria.

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