Nairobi: July 7, 2016-
The Government of Kenya has expressed commitment to work with CTCA to facilitate tobacco farmers to transit from tobacco growing to other economically viable alternatives. This revelation was made during a fact finding mission jointly carried out by the CTCA and the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare of Kenya on the implementation of Article 17 and 18 of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC). A series of consultative meetings are currently under way with the various key government stakeholders to establish the status of implementation for article 17 and 18, as well as the most appropriate strategies for implementing the same.
Article 17 of the WHO FCTC obliges parties to promote ‘economically viable alternatives for tobacco workers and growers’ who want to escape the cycle of poverty and negative health effects caused by tobacco farming. Article 18 on the other hand urges parties to protect the environment and health of persons in respect of tobacco cultivation and manufacture. It is against this backdrop that the Ministry of Health and social welfare Kenya has sought CTCA’s technical assistance for purposes of fulfilling its obligations under these two articles.
The key actors so far consulted have all expressed their commitment to fulfilling their roles in the entire process. The Acting WHO country Representative Dr. Nathan Bakyaita hailed CTCA for the efforts put in to support countries implement evidence based tobacco control strategies as guided by the WHO FCTC. He emphasized the need to document best practices so that the lessons learnt can be fully utilized as bench marks.
Dr. Alice J.O. Yalalla, Director for Health at the Ministry of EAC, Labor and Social Security stressed the need for using an integrated approach to ensure that all the key actors are involved in establishing a comprehensive alternative livelihood program, not just for Kenya, but also the other countries in the EAC region. She concurred with the officials at the Ministry of Devolution that in the case of Kenya, it is imperative that the country governments in the tobacco growing regions are fully involved right from the start.
Ms. Anne Onyango, Director for Agriculture with the Ministry of Agriculture said her ministry is ready to work with CTCA and the ministry of Health and Social Welfare to support the farmers to move from the cycle of poverty that they have been trapped in for years due to the exploitation by the Tobacco Industry. The officials at the Ministry Agriculture emphasized the need to establish a clear marketing and value chain mechanism if the farmers are to embrace the identified alternative enterprises.
The Tobacco Control Focal Person at the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare Ms. Dorcas Kiptui reiterated her personal commitment and that of her Ministry to supporting the farmers transit to other viable alternatives. She hailed CTCA for the support rendered to her government.
CTCA’s Agro Economist Ms. Florence Kabugo said CTCA has the required technical expertise but needs the support and commitment of the government officials to be able to provide the required assistance. She said the Centre plans to work with both the governments of Kenya and Uganda to establish a mechanism that can be replicated by other countries in supporting farmers to transit from tobacco to other economically viable alternatives. She said the process will be fully documented and shared with all the stakeholders.
One of the key outcomes of the fact finding mission is a road map for developing and promoting Economically viable Alternative Agricultural enterprises to tobacco in Kenya. There are about 50,000 tobacco farmers in Kenya mainly in Eastern and Western counties as well as the Nyanza Regions.