Bangladesh wants to end tobacco cultivation in its territory

The Bangladesh government, which has been ambivalent on the issue of tobacco, now seems determined to achieve a tobacco-free generation by 2040. Stopping tobacco cultivation on its soil would be one of the first significant steps in this new direction.

It was during a meeting dedicated to a tobacco-free Bangladesh that the Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change announced the Prime Minister's intention to end tobacco cultivation in the country.[1]. This decision represents a real turning point in Bangladesh's policy, which has so far been very attentive to the expectations of the tobacco industry. The main reason given for this orientation is that tobacco would prevent the country from achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) set by the United Nations (UN).

Tobacco growing: a toxic and unprofitable practice

The decision to end tobacco cultivation would be supported by financial incentives to encourage farmers to convert to other economically viable types of crops. Along with achieving the SDGs, the other stated objective is environmental protection, with tobacco cultivation being particularly greedy in natural resources. This decision is fully in line with the theme planned by the World Health Organization (WHO), which specifically concerns the need to convert tobacco crops into food crops.[2].

Tobacco cultivation also exposes agricultural workers – especially women and children – to green tobacco disease which cause nausea, dizziness, vomiting, diarrhea and many other symptoms, with poisoning being proportional to exposure. Added to these reasons is the low profitability of tobacco farms, contrary to what the manufacturers are suggesting. For all these reasons, tobacco growing constitutes a real obstacle to the economic and environmental development of a country, as well as a perpetual threat to public health.

An opening in the fight against smoking

There have been several signs in recent months of renewed interest in tobacco control in Bangladesh. A three-day conference on “Tobacco-Free Bangladesh” organized in May 2022 by the Parliamentary Forum for Health and Wellbeing, in association with the Shurokkha Foundation and Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids (CTFK-Bangladesh), brought together around 40 MPs[3].

Multiple op-eds have since appeared in the press calling for Bangladesh to become a tobacco-free country, including by Qazi Kholiquzzaman Ahmad, an economist, development activist and convener of the National Anti-tobacco Platform.[4]. So many initiatives supported by the Bangladesh Anti-Tobacco Alliance (BATA), a historic player in the fight against smoking. Recently, under the impetus of the Prime Minister, initiatives in favor of a tobacco-free Bangladesh have multiplied on the part of the Bangladeshi authorities, attesting to a paradigm shift.

Approaches so far divergent according to the ministries

It is common for different ministries within a government to have very different attitudes towards the tobacco industry, depending on their remit. Health and environment ministries are usually at the forefront of tobacco control, while finance, trade or industry ministries are generally more pro-industry. This trend seemed very exacerbated in Bangladesh, where several ministers and cabinet members did not hide their presence on the board of directors of cigarette companies, nor their links with the manufacturers[5]The coming months will allow us to judge, particularly with regard to the application of Article 5.3 of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, whether this trend has been reversed in Bangladesh.

Keywords: Bangladesh, tobacco cultivation, SDGs, green tobacco disease

©Tobacco Free Generation

M.F.

[1] Minister: Govt strives to end tobacco cultivation in Bangladesh, Dhaka Tribune, published January 15, 2023, accessed January 18, 2023.

[2] We need food, not tobacco – focus of World No Tobacco Day 2023, WHO, published November 7, 2022, accessed January 18, 2023.

[3] 40 MPs for achieving tobacco-free Bangladesh by 2040, Dhaka Tribune, published May 21, 2022, accessed January 18, 2023.

[4] Qazi Kholiquzzaman Ahmad, Do we need stricter tobacco control?, The Daily Star, published June 16, 2022, accessed January 18, 2023.

[5] Abdullah SM, Wagner-Rizvi T, Huque R, Kanan S, Huque S, Ralston R, Collin J. 'A contradiction between our state and the tobacco company': conflicts of interest and institutional constraints as barriers to implementing Article 5.3 in Bangladesh. Tob Control, Epub ahead of print: [01/27/2022]. doi:10.1136/tobaccocontrol-2021-057142.