LIFE for Betty Masango from Munhenga Farm in Domboshava has been transformed over the past three years. Her lifestyle has changed and she is a proud owner of two commuter omnibuses and a lorry. Her fortunes changed when she joined resettled farmers that ventured into the lucrative tobacco production, but as she dreams big in Domboshava, little does she know elsewhere in the world plans are being mooted to restrict and eventually stop the use of tobacco products. Imagine one season after putting 10 hectares under the golden leaf, Masango wakes up only to find she has nowhere to sell her crop. On May 31 Zimbabwe joins the world in commemorating the World No Tobacco Day. The day was set aside by the World Health Organisation (WHO) after the realisation that the average tobacco related deaths per year were on the increase. In order to protect present and future generations from the devastating health, social, environmental and economic consequences of tobacco consumption and exposure to tobacco smoke, WHO has put in place a framework aimed at minimising the use of tobacco. The WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC) is a treaty adopted by the 56th World Health Assembly on May 21 2003. It became the first WHO treaty adopted under article 19 of the WHO constitution. The treaty came into force on February 27 2005. So far, 180 countries have joined up for the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) with Zimbabwe signing in March 2015. Among its obligations, the treaty commits countries to ban or restrict tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship and to place large graphic health warnings on cigarette packs. The treaty also commits members to implement measures to protect non-smokers from second hand smoke, increase the price of tobacco products to discourage its use, eliminate the illicit trade of tobacco products as well as regulate the content of tobacco products and require public disclosure of ingredients. It also proposes that governments should assist tobacco producers, assuming that they will be under long-term impacts with the reduction. According to the framework, the tobacco industry should be held responsible for the health and environmental harms related to tobacco growing and all activities connected with tobacco growing and the supply chain, and for ensuring respect for human rights for those working in connection with tobacco growing and the supply chain. With Zimbabwe now a signatory and tobacco production having created a form of livelihood for farmers, will the legislation not affect the farmers that depend on the production of the crop? Tobacco is the largest non-food crop by monetary value in the world. With crops such as maize, wheat and cotton fast losing their lustre and farmers shunning the growth of this crop, if tobacco production is banned what would become of them? The tobacco production sub-sector, a former preserve of white farmers, has grown over the years with production levels rising from an all-time low of 48,8 million kilogrammes (kg) in 2008 to 215, 7 million kg last season. The number of growers in the country has risen to nearly 80 000. Thousands of people are employed in the tobacco industry from farm level to the by-products production level and tobacco contributes 20 percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The sector accounts for 40 percent of exports and supplies 63 percent of raw materials for agro industries. The country exports 98 percent of semi-finished tobacco products, with the rest being consumed locally. Players in the tobacco production sector have formed the Smokers Health Protection and Awareness Programme International (SHAPPI) group with the aim to mobilise support against the anti-tobacco campaign. The SHAPPI executive director, Jeffrey Takawira said the onslaught against tobacco production was unfair and not practical. “It is not practical to abruptly order agro-based economies such as Zimbabwe to stop producing the crop as this will have negative effects on the economy,” he said. “They are saying people are dying from smoking and we are also saying if you stop us from growing tobacco, more people will die from hunger.” It is still a long way though before the total ban of the use of tobacco products comes into effect, but still strategies should be put in place to cushion farmers and the country in the event it comes. The country cannot afford any ban or restrictions on tobacco as it is heavily dependent on revenue from of the crop. Should we take solace in the meantime that countries such as America have not yet signed the treaty; it might take long for the ban to take effect.