Educational Media Reviews Online

Since its attainment of independence from Great Britain in 1964, the African nation of Malawi has had a completely tobacco-dependent economy. Approximately 70% of Malawi’s export earnings are ascribed to tobacco sales. With multinational tobacco retailers pressing for higher production, world tobacco prices have declined, putting incredible pressures on the already impoverished Malawi.

This film examines the alarming extent of Malawi’s tobacco dependence and systematically studies the factors contributing to this entrenched reliance. The tenant workers who harvest the tobacco cannot afford to send their children to school, and consequently put their children to work on the tobacco farms. The film examines how farmers have cut down healthy forests in order to grow and sell more tobacco, even at the low market price. The film demonstrates how tobacco farming has contributed to Malawi’s food crisis by crowding out food crops.

Malawi’s change to a greater diversity of crops, however, is problematic. The country has deep-rooted institutions and mechanisms for tobacco production that cannot be easily eschewed or converted. While multinational tobacco companies make contributions to curb child labor, organizations such as the Malawi Economic Justice Network state that this is not enough. The documentary also briefly discusses the birth of such humanitarian organizations.

What adds another dimension to Malawi’s dilemma is the World Health Organization’s treaty set to curtail global tobacco use. Malawi is dependent upon a global rise in demand for a crop that denigrates global health.

Up In Smoke is concise, yet it fully and fairly analyzes the impact of globalization in this setting. It is an excellent film for sparking debate among younger audiences, and is highly recommended to anyone high school age and over.