As the world grapples with a plethora of challenges like a dog chasing its tail, from conflicts to climate change and the relentless COVID-19 pandemic, another crisis lurks in the shadows, quietly fanning the flames of global food scarcity. World No Tobacco Day 2023 brings to the forefront the alarming consequences of tobacco cultivation, casting a smoky haze over the interconnected issues of food security, public health, and environmental degradation. With a staggering 349 million people choking on acute food insecurity, it’s high time we snuff out the damaging effects of tobacco production that not only burns through economies but also leaves a bitter taste of death and destruction.
1. Tobacco: A Deadly Harvest Stifling Food Production
•Tobacco’s greedy tendrils sprawl across 3.2 million hectares of fertile land in over 124 countries, hogging valuable real estate that could be used for cultivating sustenance.
•This gluttonous crop, responsible for claiming over 8 million lives annually, diverts essential resources away from food production, turning our stomachs with its wastefulness.
2. Lighting the Fuse on Acute Food Insecurity
•Like a lit match sizzling towards a powder keg, 79 countries worldwide find themselves teetering on the precipice of acute food insecurity.
•Most of these nations, primarily low- and middle-income countries, bear the brunt of this crisis, with over 30 located on the African continent.
•The tobacco industry’s relentless expansion onto fertile lands only adds fuel to the fire of this already dire situation.
3. Going up in Smoke: Startling Trends in Tobacco Cultivation
•From 2005 to 2020, global tobacco cultivation receded by a mere 15.8%, while in Africa, it blazed ahead with an alarming increase of 19.8%.
•In the lands of Southeast Asia, tobacco holds sway, with India, Indonesia, and Bangladesh puffing up the figures.
•These trends serve as an ominous smoke signal, urging us to extinguish tobacco farming and ignite sustainable food production instead.
4. Choking the Health of Farmers and the Vulnerable
•Tobacco cultivation poses a noxious threat to the well-being of farmers and their families, with women and children suffering the most severe consequences.
•Like innocent lambs caught in a smoke-filled room, children, with their lower body weight, fall prey to the nicotine seeping through their delicate skin.
•Safeguarding the health of these vulnerable groups necessitates a united effort to stub out tobacco cultivation.
World No Tobacco Day 2023 ignites a fervor among governments, organisations, and individuals worldwide to snuff out tobacco cultivation and ignite the embers of sustainable food production. By extinguishing this harmful habit and redirecting resources towards nourishing crops, we can douse the flames of acute food insecurity, save lives, and inhale a future where health and sustainability reign supreme
5. Smoke Signals of Environmental Destruction
•Throughout its lifecycle, tobacco exhales toxic fumes, poisoning our planet and inflicting harm on all living beings.
•Tobacco farming, like an insatiable beast, gobbles up resources, degrading soil quality with its ravenous appetite for pesticides and fertilizers.
•These lethal chemicals escape into our waterways, tainting lakes, rivers, and the very elixir of life itself.
•Land once earmarked for tobacco growth now lies barren, choking on its own diminished fertility, unable to nurture other crops like food.
•With tobacco farming contributing to approximately 5% of global deforestation, the NOx, SOx and CO2 emissions further exacerbate the blaze of climate change.
6. Unmasking the Tobacco Industry’s Dirty Tricks
•Like a snake slithering in the grass, the tobacco industry hides its deceitful farming tactics behind a smokescreen of misinformation.
•These crafty maneuvers aim to divert attention from the industry’s hand in exacerbating global food insecurity, health crises, and environmental devastation.
•World No Tobacco Day acts as a beacon of truth, exposing these wicked ploys and igniting awareness and action.
To wraps it up, World No Tobacco Day 2023 ignites a fervor among governments, organisations, and individuals worldwide to snuff out tobacco cultivation and ignite the embers of sustainable food production. By extinguishing this harmful habit and redirecting resources towards nourishing crops, we can douse the flames of acute food insecurity, save lives, and inhale a future where health and sustainability reign supreme. It’s time to flick the ashes of the tobacco crisis aside and sow the seeds of progress and well-being for generations to come.
(The author is a Engineer | Educator | Volunteer. The views, opinions, facts, assumptions, presumptions and conclusions expressed in this article are those of the author and aren’t necessarily in accord with the views of “Kashmir Horizon”.)
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