The World Health Organization (WHO) wants to help a growing number of tobacco farmers change crops in order to strengthen food security for the poorest populations. The WHO accuses the tobacco industry of trapping farmers in a vicious cycle of debt, leaving them with little choice over prices and product quality.
The organization is all the more concerned that, according to it, tobacco companies are increasingly establishing themselves in Africa, with an increase of nearly 20% of tobacco plantations across the continent since 2005. The program was launched, with the green light of the authorities, in Kenya where 2,040 farmers were helped in one year and should support by the end of 2024 some 5,000 people.