Tobacco as an obstacle to the development of developing countries

Low- and middle-income countries (developing countries), faced with pressing development challenges, often overlook the health and economic risks of smoking, the effects of which are largely underestimated.

More and more evidence is accumulating that tends to demonstrate that Smoking and poverty are closely linked. In other words, whether it is its culture, its trade or its consumption, Tobacco still an obstacle to development.

We realize that Low-income people have higher smoking rates than the rest of the population. Smoking among the poorest people means higher health-related expenditures, a substantial drop in productivity, and resources that could be allocated to other expenditures, such as education and food. In India, for example, it is estimated that 15 million people are pushed into poverty due to tobacco use^[1].

Tobacco growing is also an extremely expensive activity, due to the quantities of chemicals it requires, but also because of the quantities of work it demands. To cultivate one hectare of tobacco leaves, approximately 3000 hours of work per year and per person^[2], compared to 265 for the same area of corn, representing 11 to 12 hours of work per day^[3]. For these reasons, Tobacco growing is the source of debt for many farmersIn many countries, out-of-school children represent a significant share of the workforce, increasing the risks of generational poverty.

Tobacco growing is extremely harmful to health, especially due to daily exposure to chemicals. Thus, 48% tobacco farmers in Brazil reported identifying health problems related to pesticides within their family. Green tobacco disease is also a very worrying occupational disease.

Finally, at the national level, smoking represents an enormous health cost, due to premature deaths, illnesses, and the reductions in productivity that it induces. In Côte d'Ivoire, the economic cost of tobacco amounts to nearly 100 million euros, including health-related expenses and productivity losses. 9,000 Ivorians die each year because of tobacco. In its Article 17, the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control emphasizes the need to propose economically viable alternatives to tobacco growing.