Africa-Press – Kenya. World Health Organization and other health stakeholders have reunited in the campaign on the importance of growing sustainable nutritious crops instead of tobacco.
This year’s World No Tobacco Day theme is “We need food, not tobacco.” World Health Organisation aims at raising awareness of creating alternative crop production and marketing opportunities for tobacco farmers.
WHO director general Dr Tedros Ghebreyesus who spoke on May 24, said tobacco still occupies thousands of acres that could be put to more productive use.
The stakeholders said the move would help the farmers to provide for their families and should be implemented in different countries. They said there is an urgent need for legal measures to be taken to reduce tobacco growing.
They said tobacco growing is resource intensive and requires heavy use of pesticides and fertilizers which contribute to soil degradation. Land used for growing tobacco then has a lower capacity for growing other crops, such as food, since tobacco depletes soil fertility.
Tobacco farming has a far more destructive impact on ecosystems compared to other agricultural products. They called on the government and policymakers to help develop suitable strategies to enable market conditions for tobacco farmers to shift to growing food crops.
WHO will award Migori county government for helping transition more than 1,000 farmers from tobacco farming to other crops. The award is in commemoration of World No Tobacco Day in Migori.
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