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Tobacco Crops breeds death in Africa

  1. Posted on Monday 15 February 2010 - 09:10
    Emeruwa
    Image of Emeruwa
    Experts have described tobacco crop as a crop of death. This is considering that tobacco farmers all over Africa are impoverished and the farmland which the plant grows turns infertile to other crops.

    This position was maintained by Rachel Kitonyo, Chairperson of Africa Tobacco Control Alliance, ATCA, during a meeting of Africa Tobacco Control Regional Initiative, ATCRI in Uganda. Kitonyo says Tobacco cultivation in Africa constitute a big economic and health care challenge.

    She argued that the claim by Tobacco Industries that it provides employment opportunity for Africa is a false impression. “In Kenya, the Tobacco Companies claim that they employ over 2,000 workers but when we did our investigation, we find that it was not true. Check across Africa, there is no where Tobacco farmers are living one dollar a day…..they are poor yet making the companies rich by planting death crop” she said.

    This explains why Yoweri Museveni, the Uganda President advised the Tobacco farmers to explore other crops instead of concentrating only on Tobacco farming.

    The meeting in Uganda was to provide a coordinated effort at helping Uganda implement the content of the Framework Convention Tobacco on Control, FCTC. “We are here to challenge the government of Uganda to domestic and implement the content of FCTC, says Akinremi Adeola, Africa Representative on Framework Convention Alliance. Akinremi observed that there are weak legislations in Uganda.

    A world Health Organization fact sheet indicates that Tobacco use kills 5million people each year and if this trend is not controlled, it will wipe out more than 20million before 2015. Tobacco has been linked to the greatest cause of Cancer related deaths.

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