57 NGOs call for reduction of smoking and tobacco cultivation in Tanzania

An appeal to the Tanzanian president by a coalition of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) highlights the many health, social and environmental costs of tobacco use and cultivation in Tanzania. It recommends several strong measures to move the country away from tobacco and its economic system.

Despite having ratified the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) in 2007, Tanzania is the only East African country that has not implemented a tobacco control programme since then. To make up for this delay, an international coalition of health, environmental and social and human rights organisations has appealed to the Tanzanian president in an open letter.

The Multiple Costs of Tobacco Use and Cultivation in Tanzania

This open letter first draws up a picture of the economic, health, environmental and social situation of tobacco cultivation and use in Tanzania[1].

With 17,200 annual deaths in this country, the health cost of tobacco is proving to be exorbitant for public finances. With 32,% of cancer cases attributed to smoking in Tanzania, the costs of cancers attributed to tobacco alone are estimated at US$40 million (€37.2 million). The costs of tobacco-related cardiovascular diseases are estimated at US$140 million (€130 million). These amounts do not take into account the human cost of deaths and disabilities attributable to tobacco, and which put into perspective the US$50 million (€46.5 million) in taxes collected on tobacco products.

There tobacco culture, which is very widespread in Tanzania, is one of the other black spots. The environmental impact of this crop on soils, forests, biodiversity, rains and water resources is particularly highlighted. With children making up around 45% of its workforce, tobacco cultivation also represents a violation of the Law of the Child Act of 2009. This crop is also harmful in that it exposes its workers to excessive doses of nicotine – the equivalent of 50 cigarettes/day – and to “green tobacco disease”. It also exposes their families to toxic substances (phytosanitary products and nicotine) that these workers carry on their bodies, clothes and shoes.

Recommendations to implement several concrete measures

Several concrete measures are suggested by this coalition of NGOs to put an end to this situation:

• Submit to Parliament a law to comply with the FCTC, which should have been implemented since 2017.
• Ban shisha and all new tobacco and nicotine products. The ban on shisha, however, was announced by the Tanzanian authorities in 2016[2], is still not effective. The government having renewed a similar intention for Zanzibar in June 2023[3], NGOs are urging him to make this ban effective throughout the country as soon as possible.
• Assist small-scale tobacco farmers to transition to other economically viable alternative crops, in line with Articles 17 and 18 of the FCTC.
• Raise taxes on tobacco at 75 % of the sale price, as recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO), instead of the current 30 %, one of the lowest rates in Africa.

The NGO coalition also stresses the need for Tanzania to end tobacco industry influence in order to comply with Article 5.3 of the FCTC, which protects public policies from tobacco industry interference. Ranked 14^th The country most subject to tobacco industry interference, according to the Global Tobacco Industry Interference Index 2021, Tanzania has reportedly been pressured to delay implementing a tobacco control policy and to maintain low taxation of tobacco products.[4].

Keywords: Tanzania, NGOs, CCLAT, tobacco cultivation, shisha

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