‘Urgent need for alternative livelihoods for tobacco growers’

There is an urgent need to promote alternative livelihoods for the growers and workers of tobacco, tendu leaf and cigar leaf, according to a declaration adopted at WHO’s global tobacco control conference attended by representatives from around 180 countries.

About 1,500 delegates along with other observers participated in the six-day COP7 of the World Health Organisation Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) held at Greater Noida.

Accusing the tobacco industry of trying to mislead by generating a perception that the Convention is against the farmers, a top official of the Convention Secretariat said it was against the tobacco industry and not the agriculturists. 

The Delhi Declaration, which has been submitted to the Convention, noted that “there is an urgent need to promote alternative livelihoods for tobacco growers and workers, tendu leaf growers and cigar leaf growers as a response to the expected gradual reduction in global tobacco consumption and promote regional and international cooperation for reaching this objective”.