Status of tobacco production and trade in Africa

Overview

In 2018 alone, over 3.5million hectares of land were harvested for tobacco. Tobacco growing is destroying our environment and threatening our health. As regulations tighten in middle- and high- income countries, tobacco companies are increasingly targeting African countries to scale-up tobacco leaf production. In Africa, tobacco crop yields increased by 10% from 2012 to 2018. Its impact is felt far beyond the 8 million people it kills with disease every year it also threatens the Earth’s resources, contributes to poverty, and exposes tobacco farmers to health risks. Farmers are often trapped in arrangements that lead to a vicious circle of debt, unable to get a fair price for their product. On top of that children from poor households miss school to be employed in tobacco farming to boost the family income.