The International Tobacco Growers’ Association (ITGA) held its 35th Annual General Meeting (AGM) in an online format for the first time in its history.

According to ITGA, this new experience presented a unique opportunity to open up the session to a wider range of participants. As a result, the event attracted 174 attendees from four continents and 24 countries.
The AGM 2020 kicked off with the Finance Committee on 18 Nov, a closed session for ITGA members only, followed by the Issues Day on 24 Nov. The Issues Day was opened by Malawi’s Minister of Agriculture, Robin Lowe, who welcomed the opportunity to debate the challenges and prospects that growers will face in the future as “the world is going through one of the most dramatic experiences in a lifetime” with the global pandemic and deepening economic crisis.
ITGA’s President, Abiel Kalima Banda, emphasised the resilience of the tobacco sector and the importance of collaboration throughout the supply chain, while Antonio Abrunhosa, ITGA’s CEO, reinforced the mission of the Association, as “the only world voice of tobacco growers, to defend the growers from the effects of new regulations that are putting ever more pressure on their daily activities”.
The panel consisted of 14 speakers that covered a wide range of topics, including a global tobacco market overview, innovations for sustainable agriculture, social and environmental good practices among many others.
The Issues Day also included representatives from major tobacco manufacturers, merchants and suppliers such as Vuk Pribic, Leaf Supply Chain Due Diligence Director at Japan Tobacco International, Carlos Palma, Sustainable Agriculture Global Manager at British American Tobacco, Lea Scott, Vice-President of Agronomy Services at Universal Leaf Tobacco Co., Gary Foote, Head of Global Sustainability at Alliance One International.
From growers perspective, presentations were delivered by Przemyslaw Noworyta, UNITAB Secretary General, who discussed the future of tobacco growing in the European Union, Heliodoro Campos Castillo, Manager of the National Tobacco Fund in Colombia (FEDETABACO), who presented the case of resilience of tobacco growing in Colombia, and Mayiwepi Jiti, Founder and President of Zimbabwe Integrated Commercial Farmers Union who shared her view on the agricultural labor practices and challenges in the country.
ITGA’s president, Mr Banda, highlighted that child labor is one of the main issues affecting the supply chain's sustainability and the problem was addressed by Karima Jambulatova, Executive Director at ECLT Foundation and Nadia Fengler Solf, Manager at the Growing Up Right Institute.
ITGA’s vice-president, José Aranda, gave the closing remarks for the day enhancing “the importance of working together in collaboration with the public sector as each and every one of us plays an important role in keeping the sector steady”.