Evidence map›Paper›PMID 32525201›Full record

ArticleHealth policy and planning2020

Shifting from tobacco growing to alternatives in Malawi? A qualitative analysis of policy and perspectives.

Raphael Lencucha, Takondwa Moyo, Ronald Labonte, Jeffrey Drope, Adriana Appau, Donald Makoka

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Health policy and planning, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
6citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

6 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Article
  3. Article
  4. Article
  5. Article
  6. An Overview of the Policy and Market Landscape of Tobacco Production and Control in Mozambique.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021
    Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors.

Raphael LencuchaFaculty of Medicine, School of Physical and Occupational Therapy, Hosmer House, 3630 Promenade Sir William Osler, Montreal, QC H3G 1Y5, Canada.
Takondwa MoyoCenter for Agricultural Research and Development, Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Lilongwe, P.O. Box 219, Malawi.
Ronald LabonteSchool of Epidemiology and Public Health, University of Ottawa, 600 Peter Morand Crescent, Ottawa, Ontario K1G 5Z3, Canada.
Jeffrey DropeAmerican Cancer Society, Economic and Health Policy Research, Atlanta, 250 Williams Street Atlanta, GA 30303, USA.
Adriana AppauPolicyWise for Children and Families, 609 14 St NW #402, Calgary, AB T2N 2A1, Canada.
Donald MakokaCenter for Agricultural Research and Development, Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Lilongwe, P.O. Box 219, Malawi.

Funding

The Political Economy of Tobacco Farming in Low-and Middle-Income CountriesR01TW010898 · FIC · UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT CHICAGO · PI DROPE, JEFFREY · 2017 to 2021
$1.5M
Building Research and Capacity on the Economic Policy-Tobacco Control Nexus in AfR01DA035158 · NIDA · AMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY, INC. · PI DROPE, JEFFREY · 2012 to 2016
$1.3M
FIC NIH HHS R01 TW010898NIDA NIH HHS R01 DA035158
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Tobacco is the primary export commodity in Malawi and an important contributor to foreign earnings. The entrenchment of tobacco interests within government has partly explained why Malawi has lagged in its efforts to address the health consequences of tobacco and has been a vocal opponent of global tobacco control. Despite the extensive historical and entrenched relationship between the economy of Malawi and tobacco production, there have been important shifts at the highest policy levels towards the need to explore diversification in the agricultural sector. There is explicit recognition that alternatives to tobacco production must be pursued. This study provides an analysis of the policies and perspectives that characterize contemporary government approaches to tobacco and alternatives in Malawi by interviewing key government officials working on tobacco policy and reviewing recent policy documents. This research finds that there is openness and movement towards reducing tobacco growing in Malaw, including efforts to reduce tobacco dependency. Rather than a singular tobacco policy discourse in the country, there is a somewhat conflictual set of policies and perspectives on the future of tobacco in Malawi. Informing these policies and perspectives is the interplay between the economics of agricultural production (tobacco vs other crops), global markets (ranging from the ability to generate export earnings to the inability to compete with wealthier countries' non-tobacco crop subsidies) and the lack of developed supply and value chains other than those created by the transnational tobacco industry. The implications for government policy supporting a move away from tobacco dependence are not straightforward: there is a need to fill the supply chain gap for alternative crops, which requires not only strong intersectoral support within the country (and some challenge to the residual pro-tobacco narratives) but also international support.

Indexed as

AgriculturePolicyTobacco IndustryHumansMalawiNicotianaagricultureInstitutionsMalawitobaccotobacco control

Identifiers

PMID32525201
PMCPMC8060983

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.