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Background and objective

British American Tobacco (BAT) has historically enjoyed a monopoly position in Kenya. Analysis of recent tobacco control debates and a case study of BAT''s response to the emergence of competition in Kenya are used to explore the company''s ability to shape public policy and its treatment of tobacco farmers.

Design

Analysis of internal industry documents from BAT''s Guildford depository, other relevant data and interviews with key informants.

Results

BAT enjoys extensive high‐level political connections in Kenya, including close relationships with successive Kenyan presidents. Such links seems to have been used to influence public policy. Health legislation has been diluted and delayed, and when a competitor emerged in the market, BAT used its contacts to have the government pass legislation drafted by BAT that compelled farmers to sell tobacco to BAT rather than to its competitor. BAT was already paying farmers less than any other African leaf‐growing company, and the legislation entrenched poor pay and a quasi‐feudal relationship. BAT''s public relation''s response to the threat of competition and the ministers'' public statements extolling the economic importance of tobacco growing suggest that BAT has manipulated tobacco farming as a political issue.

Conclusions

The extent of BAT''s influence over public policy is consistent with the observations that, despite ratifying the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, progress in implementing tobacco control measures in Kenya has been limited. The benefits of tobacco farming seem to be deliberately exaggerated, and an analysis of its true cost benefits is urgently needed. Tobacco farmers must be protected against BAT''s predatory practices and fully informed about its activities to help them have an informed role in policy debates. As image, particularly around the importance of tobacco farming, seems key to BAT''s ability to influence policy, the truth about its treatment of farmers must be publicised.Driven by the recent expansion of transnational tobacco corporations (TTCs) across many low‐ and middle‐income countries, the burden of tobacco''s health effect is shifting. It is predicted that, by 2030, 70% of the estimated 10 million global deaths from tobacco will occur in developing countries.¹ In this context, sub‐Saharan Africa (SSA) offers an opportunity for global health, being the only region in the world where primary prevention of the tobacco epidemic remains possible.² However, with TTCs investing heavily in the region during the last decade and with evidence of rapidly rising consumption, particularly among youth,³ this window of opportunity is closing rapidly.Implementation of comprehensive regulatory measures is required to prevent further escalation of the epidemic in SSA, and the World Health Organisation''s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) provides excellent opportunities in this regard. The African nations recognised this in pressing unanimously for a comprehensive treaty while simultaneously acknowledging the need to find an alternative income for countries dependent on tobacco farming, notably Zimbabwe and Malawi.^2,3 Tobacco farming represents a unique dimension to the tobacco control debate in SSA, and previous analyses of tobacco industry documents suggest that the tobacco industry has attempted to hijack such debates by presenting tobacco control as a “first world” concern that would lead to economic destabilisation and exacerbate poverty and malnutrition among tobacco‐growing countries.⁴ By contrast, a growing body of evidence suggests that tobacco farmers face considerable financial and health risks from growing tobacco.^{5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12}As African nations seek to implement the provisions of the FCTC, tobacco control legislation will have to be developed and enacted, providing opportunities for the tobacco industry to influence policy. The fact that Kenya has signed and ratified the FCTC¹³ while (as detailed below) efforts to implement legislation consistent with the treaty have been unsuccessful amid persistent reports of BAT influence¹⁴ highlights the possible barriers. Hence, there is an urgent need to understand the tobacco control policy environment in Africa, including the relationships between tobacco farmers and TTCs, which are clearly integral to this. However, there remains a dearth of research in this area. This paper seeks to address this gap by examining British American Tobacco''s (BAT) policy influence in Kenya.BAT merits particular attention as it is the dominant player in SSA, with a market share of over 90% in 11 countries.³ The selection of Kenya reflects its significance to BAT''s operations in Africa, the role it seems to have in BAT''s efforts to influence policy regionally¹⁵ and the nature of Kenyan tobacco politics.After an introduction to the origins and character of BAT''s political influence in Kenya and an overview of recent tobacco control debates in the country, this paper uses a case study of the company''s response to an emergent competitor, Mastermind Tobacco Kenya (referred to in the documents as MTK or MTCo), to examine BAT''s influence on policymaking. The paper therefore aims to shed important light on issues critical to the development of tobacco control across SSA.     

Anion binding involving pi-acidic heteroaromatic rings

Anions are essential species in biological systems and, particularly, in enzyme-substrate recognition. Therefore, the design and preparation of anion receptors is a topical field of supramolecular chemistry. Most host-guest systems successfully developed are based on noncovalent (ionic and hydrogen-bonded) interactions between anions and ammonium-type functionalities or Lewis acid groups. However, since the past 5 years, an alternative route toward the synthesis of efficient anion hosts has emerged, namely, the use of "anion-pi" interactions involving nitrogen-containing electron-deficient aromatic rings, as the result of several favorable theoretical investigations. In this Account, the state of the (new) art in this growing area of anion-binding research is presented and several selected examples from our work and that of other groups will be discussed.     

Wastes as co-fuels: the policy framework for solid recovered fuel (SRF) in Europe, with UK implications

European Union (EU) member states are adopting the mechanical-biological treatment (MBT) of municipal solid waste (MSW) to comply with EU Landfill Directive (LD) targets on landfill diversion. We review the policy framework for MSW-derived solid recovered fuel (SRF), composed of paper, plastic, and textiles, in the energy-intensive industries. A comparatively high calorific value (15-18 MJ/ kg) fuel, SRF has the potential to partially replace fossil fuel in energy-intensive industries, alongside MSW in dedicated combustion facilities. Attempts by the European standards organization (CEN) to classify fuel properties consider net calorific value (CV) and chlorine and mercury content. However, the particle size, moisture content, and fuel composition also require attention and future studies must address these parameters. We critically review the implications of using SRF as a co-fuel in thermal processes. A thermodynamic analysis provides insight into the technical and environmental feasibility of co-combusting SRF in coal-fired power plants and cement kilns. Results indicate the use of SRF as co-fuel can reduce global warming and acidification potential significantly. This policy analysis is of value to waste managers, policy specialists, regulators, and the waste management research community.     

Studying single-wall carbon nanotubes through encapsulation: from optical methods till magnetic resonance

Encapsulating fullerenes, magnetic fullerenes, 13C isotope enriched fullerenes, and organic solvents inside SWCNTs enables to yield unprecedented insight into their electronic, optical, and interfacial properties and to study SWCNT growth. In addition to customary methods of their studies such as e.g., optical absorption or Raman spectroscopy, these efforts enables to employ electron spin resonance (ESR) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. Encapsulated C60 fullerenes are transformed to inner tubes by a high temperature annealing. The diameter distribution of the inner tubes follow that of the outer ones and their unique, low defect concentration makes them an ideal model system for high resolution and energy dependent Raman studies. The observation of Raman modes of individual inner-outer tube pairs allows to measure the inner-outer tube interaction strength that is also well described theoretically. Reversible closing and opening of SWCNT can be studied in a diameter selective manner by encapsulating C60 and transforming it to an inner tube. The growth of inner tubes can be achieved from 13C enriched encapsulated organic solvents, which shows that the geometry of the fullerene does not play a particular role in the inner tube growth as it was originally thought. In addition, it opens new perspectives to explore the in-the-tube chemistry. Growth of inner tubes from 13C enriched fullerenes provides a unique isotope engineered heteronuclear system, where the outer tubes contain natural carbon and the inner walls are controllably 13C isotope enriched. The material enables to identify the vibrational modes of inner tubes which otherwise strongly overlap with the outer tube modes. The 13C NMR signal of the material has an unprecedented specificity for the small diameter SWCNTs. Temperature and field dependent 13C T1 studies show a uniform metallic-like electronic state for all inner tubes rather than distributed metallic and isolating behavior. A low energy, 3 meV gap is observed that is tentatively assigned to a long sought Peierls transition in the small diameter SWCNTs. Encapsulating magnetic fullerenes, such as N@C60 and C59N opens the way for local probe ESR studies of the electronic properties of the SWCNTs.     

Automated class testing using threaded multi-way trees to represent the behaviour of state machines

Extensive test data is required to demonstrate that “few” errors exist in software. If the process of software testing could be carried out automatically, testing efficiency would increase and the cost of software development would be significantly reduced. In this paper, a tool for detecting errors in object oriented classes is proposed. The approach uses a state-based testing method. The method utilises state machines in order to produce threaded multi-way trees, which are referred to as inspection trees. Inspection trees can be used to generate test cases and parse test results files. This allows us to determine whether the classes under test contain errors. The algorithms for the creation of inspection trees and the examination of the test results file using an inspection tree are described in the paper. This revised version was published online in June 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Paradigms for the design of interactive drama

The essential purpose of drama, whether it is theatre, film or television, is to evoke subjective experience in its audience. The advent of interactive digital television opens up many new possibilities for the structure and presentation of drama and the way in which people may engage with it. However, the design of interactive, computer-based environments requires theoretical and practical bases that are largely new to the dramatic arts. This paper describes research which is exploring the convergence of ideas and design models from a range of traditional sources including HCl, psychology, the performing arts and media production for this new media form. It starts by reevaluating two traditional dramatic paradigms, Stanislavski's Realism and Brecht's objectivity, and contrasts them with Boal's spect-actor paradigm in which audiences become direct participants in the drama. Although existing technology cannot enable a faithful computer based implementation of the spect-actor paradigm, the model may be approachable in various ways and thus provides a useful goal for designers of interactive drama. The realities of designing and producing interactive drama are illustrated with a practical example. The paper concludes with a discussion of the implications of the work for the design of interactive drama.     

Earthmoving Productivity Estimation Using Linear Regression Techniques

The problem of accurate estimation of earthmoving productivity has intrigued many researchers for many years, but there is yet no model that will predict the output of such operations with a satisfactory degree of confidence for all situations. The problem is exacerbated by the occurrence of hauler bunching that results in many deterministic models overestimating productivity. Systems analysis methods can be used, such as queuing theory or simulation, but they are generally impractical to the average site planning engineer. This paper investigates the results obtained from over 140 separate earthmoving operations taken from four different highway construction projects. Initially, the effects of bunching are determined, and many factors that influence productivity are identified. To investigate the relationships between earthmoving operating conditions and both productivity and bunching, and to develop a deterministic model that will enable earthmoving operations to be planned for many different situations with relative ease, stepwise multiple regression techniques are used. The results indicate that there is a strong linear relationship between operating conditions and productivity.