Bandara Shashika, Kadungure Artwell, Nhamo Nhamo, Nyashanu Tendai, Chamunorwa Ashley, Drope Jeffrey, Hunt Matthew, Adams Alayne, Lencucha Raphael
Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Department of Family Medicine, McGill University, Montreal, Canada.
Training and Research Support Center, Harare, Zimbabwe.
PLOS Glob Public Health. 2025 Jun 30;5(6):e0004805. doi: 10.1371/journal.pgph.0004805. eCollection 2025.
Tobacco continues to be viewed as a path to economic development by some governments, including Zimbabwe, despite widespread knowledge of tobacco's negative consequences for users, farmers and the environment. Zimbabwe is one of the top five tobacco producers in the world and the largest tobacco producer in the African region. Zimbabwe's focus on tobacco production creates difficulties for the implementation of the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC) which it signed in 2014. Our objective was to understand the political economy of tobacco in Zimbabwe, which can inform the implementation of WHO FCTC. We conducted 23 interviews with government, non-governmental, para-statal and other stakeholders in Zimbabwe's tobacco sector. The findings illustrate intersecting issues that make tobacco a complex policy issue in the country. Interviewees indicated that WHO FCTC implementation faces barriers due to tobacco being an important economic commodity. Specifically, interviewees highlighted the prioritization of tobacco in government strategic plans and as a priority agricultural crop. Additionally, lack of alternatives and debt obligations makes it challenging for smallholder farmers to shift away from tobacco. However, findings indicate that tobacco production is facing rising challenges including tobacco use among youth, deforestation and farmer health, poverty and debt making the supply and demand measures of the WHO FCTC even more crucial. These challenges may be starting points to engage with the government in order to encourage strategies to move away from tobacco as a key economic commodity.
尽管人们普遍了解烟草对使用者、农民和环境的负面影响，但包括津巴布韦在内的一些政府仍将烟草视为经济发展的途径。津巴布韦是世界五大烟草生产国之一，也是非洲地区最大的烟草生产国。津巴布韦对烟草生产的重视给其2014年签署的《世界卫生组织烟草控制框架公约》（WHO FCTC）的实施带来了困难。我们的目标是了解津巴布韦烟草的政治经济学，这可为《世界卫生组织烟草控制框架公约》的实施提供参考。我们对津巴布韦烟草行业的政府、非政府、半官方和其他利益相关者进行了23次访谈。研究结果揭示了一些相互交织的问题，这些问题使烟草成为该国一个复杂的政策问题。受访者表示，由于烟草是一种重要的经济商品，《世界卫生组织烟草控制框架公约》的实施面临障碍。具体而言，受访者强调了烟草在政府战略计划中的优先地位以及作为优先农作物的地位。此外，缺乏替代方案和债务义务使得小农户难以放弃烟草种植。然而，研究结果表明，烟草生产正面临越来越多的挑战，包括青少年吸烟、森林砍伐以及农民健康、贫困和债务问题，这使得《世界卫生组织烟草控制框架公约》的供需措施变得更加关键。这些挑战可能是与政府接触的起点，以鼓励采取战略措施，不再将烟草作为关键经济商品。
