Data on Youth and Tobacco in Africa
Through our Data on Youth and Tobacco in Africa (DaYTA) program, DG seeks to advance tobacco control efforts by gathering accurate data on tobacco use among 10- to 17-year-olds in Kenya, Nigeria, and the DRC. In collaboration with partners in governments, civil society, and academia, the DaYTA program will empower decision-makers to make timely, data-driven policies that, in turn, can lead to a healthier populace.
DG’s Data on Youth and Tobacco in Africa (DaYTA) program—a three-year, $4 million program supported by The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation—seeks to advance tobacco control efforts by gathering easy-to-access data on tobacco use among 10- to 17-year-olds in Kenya, Nigeria, and the DRC.
Because young people shape trends, markets, and systems, accurate data on tobacco use among African youth is essential in regional tobacco control efforts. This data is especially important because African countries have some of the youngest populations in the world; in Nigeria, for example, 52% of the population is younger than 18.1
Further complicating this dynamic is how prevalent use of tobacco products is among young people; one cross-sectional study conducted in eight African countries found that in some places more than 36% of adolescents between 13 and 15 years old reported having smoked cigarettes.2 Therefore, actions taken today will impact not only young people’s future selves, but also the health and wellbeing of their country and region going forward.
Unfortunately, available data on tobacco use among youth is often either outdated (as is the case in Nigeria and Kenya) or doesn’t exist (in the DRC). Therefore, policymakers’ ability to make data-informed decisions to advance tobacco control policies is significantly limited.
Through the implementation of our Tobacco Control Data Initiative (TCDI) program, DG has become increasingly aware of the limited data on adolescent tobacco use. Three specific types of data that we know to be missing are:
- Data about out-of-school adolescents and females,
- Data on certain age groups, and
- Tobacco products included in surveys are limited.
Through the DaYTA program, we are seeking to fill these data gaps as well as any others that are identified in the process. Once this data has been collected and verified, it will be integrated into the country-specific TCDI dashboards and shared with partners and stakeholders.
- National Population Commission (NPC) [Nigeria] and ICF. 2019. Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey 2018. Abuja, Nigeria, and Rockville, Maryland, USA: NPC and ICF.
- Chido-Amajuoyi, O. G., Fueta, P., & Mantey, D. (2021). Age at Smoking Initiation and Prevalence of Cigarette Use Among Youths in Sub-Saharan Africa, 2014-2017. JAMA network open, 4(5), e218060-e218060.
Share
Related Posts
From Data Gaps to Impact: Key Insights from the VIFAA Program
Over the last six years, Development Gateway: an IREX Venture, together with its partners AfricaFertilizer (AFO) and Wallace & Associates, collaborated to implement the Visualizing Insights on Fertilizer for African Agriculture (VIFAA) Program, which created dashboards and tools that improve, manage, and visualize fertilizer data in Africa. Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) has the lowest fertilizer usage in the world, which needs to be improved to replace soil nutrients lost through crop production. VIFAA partners have worked with the public and private sectors to strengthen data collection, analysis, and use, encouraging informed fertilizer use across the region.
Enhancing Livestock Traceability in Ethiopia with Mobile Tech
Ethiopia has the largest livestock population in Africa, with over 70 million cattle, 95 million sheep and goats, and 8 million camels as of 2024, according to The World Bank. To support the effective management of this vast sector, Development Gateway (DG), through the aLIVE program, is working to enhance key livestock information systems for Ethiopia’s Ministry of Agriculture (MoA).
The Cancer-Tobacco Link: Using Data to Drive Stronger Tobacco Control Policies
As we observe World Cancer Day today, it is crucial to recognize the significant role smoking plays in the global cancer epidemic. Tobacco use is the leading preventable cause of cancer and cancer-related deaths worldwide, necessitating a dynamic, multidisciplinary approach to tobacco control interventions. DG’s Tobacco Control Data Initiative (TCDI) contains country-specific websites designed to