Going up in smoke: The case of British American tobacco in Kenya

Faced in the developed world by increasing restrictions on cigarette advertising and sales, and with declining markets, the tobacco transnationals are opening up new markets in developing countries, where they face few controls and little health education. As cigarette sales increase in the Third World, so does the evidence of an increasing incidence of smoking-related diseases. This paper considers the case study of BAT (Kenya) Ltd, a subsidiary of the London-based transnational, which since 1974 has encouraged both local leaf production and increased cigarette sales in Kenya. We examine: (1) the relationship between BAT (K) and the Kenya state, the recruitment of farmers into the leaf growing scheme, how BAT (K)'s directorships interlock with those of other leading Kenyan firms and the implications of these for the company's power and influence; (2) BAT (K)'s marketing strategies, how successful they have been, and how they compare with codes of conduct agreed in developed countries; and (3) we estimate the likely success of possible strategies to combat the smoking hazard in Kenya. We conclude that although BAT (K) might make minor concessions to the 'health lobby' in Kenya, it is sufficiently powerful, and the leaf growing programme is given sufficient Government support, as to make fundamental changes unlikely in the near future.