By HELEN ZULU –
ABOUT four million jobs will be lost if the tobacco industry is pushed out of business as proposed by the World Health Organisation (WHO), the International Tobacco Growers’ Association (ITGA) has said.
ITGA president Francois van der Merwe said this could result in four million jobs being lost and about 24 million people who depend on growing tobacco in poverty.
Mr Van der Merwe was speaking during the official opening of the ITGA Africa Regional meeting, in a session on Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) Conference of the Parties (COP7) hosted by the Tobacco Association of Zambia (TAZ) in Lusaka from July 12 to July 13, 2016.
He said the accusations by WHO and the anti-tobacco lobby that farmers or the ITGA was only a front group for the industry should be refuted in the strongest possible way.
Mr Van der Merwe further urged farmers to produce tobacco in a responsible manner, understand the requirements of the market and produce according to all compliance requirements if they were to be respected.
“We all know that tobacco is harmful to people’s health, and therefore as farmers we support sensible and evidence-based regulations to reduce consumption over time,” he said.
Agriculture Minister Given Lubinda said Zambia produces about 30, 000 tonnes of tobacco annually with the crop providing a livelihood to over 20, 000 growers and their dependants.
Mr Lubinda said despite these benefits, there was need to holistically reflect on the desirable and undesirable effects of the crop to the people, the economy and the environment.
He said the global community should be committed to tobacco control through the FCTC, adding that financial hurdles such as economic benefits of production and the high cost of cessation programmes had stymied some efforts.
TAZ president Anthony Ford said in 2015, about 26,000 growers had registered with the Tobacco Board of Zambia (TBZ) out of whom about 98 per cent were small-scale farmers.
“However, we must not rest on our laurels as we are up against the anti-smoking lobbists who are well-funded and well-organised to fight tobacco.
“As a country we have the potential to increase production and export earnings. However, it is important that we work as a team under ITGA and be able to speak with one voice against various forces affecting the tobacco industry,” Mr Ford said.