Malawi has taken a step further to enhance sustainability of tobacco growing to protect the crop from its challenges among others, its exclusion from international trade agreements and plain packaging as per the anti-smoking campaign by the World Health Organization (WHO).
Joined by Tanzania, Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Zambia, the coalition known as Tobacco Coalition (T5) fears that the FCTC, plain packaging, heavy taxes and prohibition of production due to health concerns raised by developed countries are reducing the global demand for tobacco and thereby negatively affecting the economies of developing countries.
Speaking during the official opening of the T5 workshop in Lilongwe, Minister of Agricuture Irrigation and Water Development Dr Allan Chiyembekeza said tobacco is the crop Malawi cherishes and which the country cannot afford to ignore.
"Tobacco is our largest agricultural export product, even if it covers less than three percent of our agricultural land, it is very labour intensive and provides more jobs per unit area than any other crop.
"Even if tobacco finished products are deemed a risk for health, tobacco production sustains the livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of people and farmers with support from merchants and financial institutions have invested considerable amounts of resources to produce the crop in full respect for the environment and social rights," said Chiyembekeza.
He said government acknowledges the complexity of tobacco and wants to have a broad consultative approach to deal with it.
Although there is a strong anti-tobacco smoking campaign from the developed countries, Chiyembekeza hinted that "Malawi too would like to continue benefiting from it as a legal commodity while at the same time protecting public health" and it is in this regard that government would continue informing and civic educating the consumer on the dangers of tobacco and its products thereby giving them the freedom of choice.
However, the minister said government will also be promoting tobacco production and protecting it from the negative effects of imbalance and poorly informed tobacco control legislation adopted by countries which import tobacco.
"One particular concern for us is the current threat to exclude tobacco from international trade agreements and to treat it in a special way, differently from other products which may effect health or the environment. This is not only fair but also risks becoming a precedent for other excessively restrictive legislation," he said.
He said the coalition will give chance to member countries come up with collective in tackling issues facing tobacco leaf.
Tobacco Control Commission (TCC) Chief Executive Officer Dr Albert Changaya said the coalition has an agreement to recognize tobacco as being key to the economies,
Improve and enhance the sustainability of the tobacco crop, note with concern the efforts by some entities to marginalize and curtail tobacco growing and be mindful of the efforts by some entities to exclude tobacco from international trade agreements.
"It is noted that there is an increased threat based on a concerted plan to eliminate the industry through increasingly regulatory proposal based on exclusion, the normalisation and prohibition," said Changaya.
International Tobacco Growers Association president Francois Van Det Merwe too took a swipe at the concerted plan to eliminate the industry saying a lot of farmers from the developing countries survive on tobacco farming.
"We don't have to make decisions from Geneva but they have to come to redeveloping countries and see how it is benefiting the communities, all that is needed is education and not banning the farming," he said.
The outcome of the Lilongwe meeting with serve as an input to the Malawi position on the World Health Organization Framework Convetion on Tobacco Control 7th Conference of parties that will take place in India towards the end of 2016.
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