According to the latest analysis by the World Health Organization (WHO), although global tobacco leaf production has decreased by almost 19% between 2012 and 2024, production on the African continent has increased by nearly 9%.
During the same period, African spending on cigarette imports more than doubled, rising from 833 million dollars (approximately 715 million euros) to 1.77 billion dollars (about 1.52 billion euros), according to the United Nations health agency (UN).
The data released by the WHO indicates a trend that the organization considers alarming: African countries are increasing the production and export of raw tobacco leaf while simultaneously spending considerably more on the acquisition of manufactured cigarettes.
The report details that in 2024, Africa contributed about 11% of global tobacco leaf production, totaling 639 thousand tons. Continental production is highly concentrated, with the five largest producers—Zimbabwe, Malawi, Tanzania, Mozambique, and Uganda, in descending order—responsible for the majority of tobacco produced on the continent.
The WHO highlighted that the East African region alone accounts for almost 90% of all African tobacco leaf production.
According to the WHO, tobacco cultivation involves the consumption of land, water, and other natural resources that could be used for food production or the development of sustainable livelihoods. This cultivation is linked to soil degradation, exposure to pesticides, deforestation, and greenhouse gas emissions generated during the curing process of the leaves.
Additionally, tobacco farmers face direct health hazards. These include green tobacco disease, caused by nicotine absorption through the skin when handling moist leaves, as well as exposure to pesticides and tobacco dust.
The organization lamented that in certain low- and middle-income nations, children from impoverished families drop out of school to work in tobacco cultivation, thereby helping to supplement family income.
Vinayak Prasad, head of the WHO Tobacco-Free Initiative, stated that this situation transcends the mere issue of tobacco control, encompassing health, trade, environment, and development. He affirmed that cultivation exposes workers and families to serious health risks, harms the environment, and can trap farmers in cycles of debt.
From an economic perspective, the WHO study questions the idea that tobacco is economically essential for most countries. Prasad clarified that tobacco leaf export revenues represent more than 1% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in only a small number of economies, such as Zimbabwe and Malawi. In most other countries, the economic contribution of tobacco production and trade is limited, while social, environmental, and health costs remain high.
In this context, the UN agency recalled that under Articles 17 and 18 of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, member states are encouraged to foster economically viable alternatives for tobacco producers and workers, thereby protecting human health and the environment from the negative effects of this cultivation.