Seeds Of Change In Kenya As Farmers Lead Way On Tobacco-Free Farms
In Kenya, a trailblazing sustainable agriculture project has helped hundreds of farmers move away from the harmful practice of growing tobacco, in favour of a healthier alternative, the UN said on Wednesday.
2022-03-28 20:11:07 - VI News Staff
The initiative, supported by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Health Organization (WHO), in cooperation with the Kenyan authorities, is helping to “move the needle” on ending the global tobacco epidemic, said WHO.
Easy Solution
Kenya is the first country to participate in the scheme, which offers training to tobacco farmers so that they can switch to alternative crops that are easier to harvest, such as beans.
So far, growers have sold 135 tonnes of beans to the World Food Programme (WFP), delivering them significantly more income, than they earned from tobacco farming.
Growing beans has the added advantage that they are full of iron, which helps to counter numerous heath and development problems among children and pregnant women.
“The project has seen farmers’ health improve, increased school attendance from children previously working on the farms, and better crops for the environment replacing tobacco,” WHO said.
Addicted To Nicotine
The UN health agency pointed out that tobacco growing accounts for less than one per cent of Kenya’s economy.
But its farmers and their families are exposed to serious health risks from the nicotine that is absorbed through the skin when handling wet tobacco leaves, exposure to heavy use of pesticides, and to tobacco dust.
“Right now, my kids have time for homework, but during tobacco farming, they did not”, said long-time tobacco grower Alice Achieng Obare, one of hundreds of farmers in Kenya’s southwestern Migori county who have moved away from tobacco.