The Battle for Hearts and Lungs

In this two-part series for the BBC World Service, Sue Armstrong investigates the growing pressure on developing countries as tobacco companies battle for the hearts and lungs of new smokers.

At the same time, some poorer tobacco growing countries like Malawi are becoming ever more dependent on tobacco as a cash crop. How do they resolve the dilemma between health and wealth?

This is a question of personal interest to Sue Armstrong, since her own grandfather was chairman of Imperial Tobacco in India in the early 1900s. And her father - a doctor and long-time pipe smoker – used to grow his own tobacco in his garden. Finally convinced by the medical case against tobacco, he gave up smoking in the 1970s.

In much of the rich world, smoking is on the wane in the face of rising taxes on cigarettes, bans on promotion and lawsuits against tobacco companies. Less than 21% of British people and 24% of Americans now smoke - the lowest rates on record. But elsewhere, smoking is exploding.

The World Health Organization predicts that tobacco will kill more than eight million people worldwide each year by 2030, with 80% of these premature deaths in low- and middle-income countries. Tobacco companies produce more than five trillion cigarettes a year - enough for 830 cigarettes for every person on earth.

In India, 195 million people smoke or chew tobacco and there are nearly a million tobacco-related deaths a year.

And in China more than 300 million people smoke. That is equivalent to the entire population of the US, and one third of the world's smokers.

In part one, we hear about Malawi's growing dependency on tobacco as a cash crop, with at least 80,000 subsistence farmers now growing tobacco.

Malawi's government has tried to introduce minimum prices, but small farmers like Elson Matope hardly cover their costs, and continue to live on less than a dollar a day, despite supplying the raw material for one of the richest industries in the world.

First broadcast on 27 August 2010

Bolga Naba proposes water transport system for the North

Bolgatanga, Aug, 30, GNA - The Paramount Chief of the Bolgatanga Traditional Area, Naba Martin Adongo Abilba III has called on government to consider a pragmatic programme designed to factor in an effective water transport system to northern Ghana, under the Savannah Accelerated Development Programme.

He suggested that the Volta Lake and its tributaries could be developed well into proper routes for transporting passengers and heavy and bulky goods with ease from the south to northern Ghana and parts of the Brong Ahafo Region.

Already, there is an existing transportation system on the Volta Lake from Akosombo to Yape in the Northern region. However, it has not been developed to do large scale commercial business such as carting heavy duty equipment and goods to the Yape wharf.

Naba Abilba said this in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) at his Palace in Bolgatanga, after successfully chairing the Upper East Region turn of the Meet the Press series held in Bolgatanga on Friday.

He observed that the road network to the three northern regions consistently deteriorate at a very fast rate because there is so much activity involving heavy loads of cargo trucks on it,

He noted that such bulky goods could be transported by water transport instead of the use of roads, which reduces the life span of the roads.

The Paramount Chief noted that the roads, which were built to the north in the late 90s with a 20 to 30 year life span guarantee, could not even last more than 10 years and government had to pump huge sums of money to do maintenance work.

He attributed the sharp deterioration of the road network partly to too much pressure and over usage, as well as other factors, including shoddy work as a result of poor supervision.

"After five years of construction, these roads have developed potholes", he added.

Naba Abilba said government should consider the proposal for the water transport system for the north seriously, adding that apart from the destruction of the roads, the water transport would help in the development of the area.

He further proposed the construction of an in-land port in the northern region to promote brisk business with neighbouring countries like Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger and Togo which would also help to foster a stronger bond of friendship.

He said government could source for funds from these countries for a successful implementation of the Volta Lake water transport project and cited the West Africa Gas Pipeline, as one of such collaborations and network that has been successfully implemented in the sub-region by different nations.

He said the fight against poverty can be achieved through an affirmative action such as the establishment of the Savannah Accelerated Development Programme and getting those programmes truly implemented.

Naba Abilba was of the view that an alternative transport system would open up the three northern regions to other market potentials and investments, saying that, most often, business interests are scared from doing business in the north because of the huge freight charges.