A report by the World Health Organization (WHO) released today revealed that Brazil has the third largest tobacco-growing area in the world and Mozambique the eighth.

According to the WHO report, on the pretext of World No Tobacco Day on May 31, with 357,230 hectares, Brazil leads the Americas region and is, with China and India, responsible for more than 55% of the world's tobacco production, continuing to maintain its production without increasing the area under cultivation.

Mozambique, with a cultivated area of 91,469 hectares, is third in the African region, after Zimbabwe (112,770 hectares) and Malawi (100,962).

However, the WHO urges governments "to stop subsidizing tobacco growing and to support more sustainable crops that could feed millions of people".

"Tobacco is responsible for eight million deaths a year, but governments around the world spend millions supporting tobacco farms," says WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus in the report.

The organization also points out that tobacco cultivation is a "global problem", with the focus on Asia and South America, "but the latest data shows that tobacco companies are expanding into Africa".