I N T E R N AT I O N A L D E V E LO PM E N T R E S E A R C H C E N T R E

POLICY BRIEF

Addressing conflicts between public health and tobacco production

SUMMARY

The influence of the tobacco industry is asignificant factor in delaying implementation

of the World Health Organisation FrameworkConvention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC). Much of its focus is on low- and middle-incomecountries (LMICs), where most of the world’stobacco is grown and where growth inconsumption is greatest. The result is a fear oftobacco control that is unwarranted. Research

results show that the concern among policy makersthat tobacco-control measures are in conflict witheconomic and agricultural development isunfounded. There is a false perception thatalternative livelihoods must be in place before anyfurther action is taken to implement tobacco-control measures at the national level. Policysolutions exist to advance both tobacco control and rural development objectives.

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Inside this policy brief:

n Tobacco-production related myths, generated by the tobacco industry, that slow downtobacco-control efforts

n Research findings from LMICs that refute these myths

n Recommendations that advance both tobacco-control policy and rural development

THE DETERMINANTS OF TOBACCO LEAF DEMAND

Tobacco Industry Myth:

Measures to control tobacco use will suppress globaldemand and drive down prices for tobacco leaf, therebyprovoking a livelihood crisis among tobacco farmers.

Research Findings:

• Overall consumption of tobacco products will actuallyincrease for the next several decades, driven by thegrowth in population and rising rates of tobacco usein low- and middle-income countries.

• Consequently, the global tobacco leaf market willremain substantial enough to sustain the currentgeneration of tobacco farmers, most of whom sell aproduct that goes into global markets.

• Corporate strategies of a monopolistic industry(among other factors such as government subsidiesand population growth) carry much more weight indriving demand for and production of tobaccoglobally and in particular national contexts.

• The real source of vulnerability of tobacco farmers tofluctuations in demand and falling farm-gate prices fortobacco leaf has to do with their weak bargainingposition in the leaf marketing chain and not due totobacco-control measures.

TOBACCO FARMING CONDITIONSIN LOW- AND MIDDLE-INCOME COUNTRIES

Tobacco Industry Myth:

Tobacco farmers are currently relatively prosperous andtobacco farming poses no significant risks that cannotbe mitigated.

Research Findings:

• Comprehensive cost calculations (that included thecost of unpaid family labor) often demonstrate thattobacco farming rarely generates a net gain and oftenleaves farmers indebted to tobacco companies.

• Tobacco farming is extremely labour intensive and, as a result:

– Child labour is frequent and leads to missededucational opportunities for children;

– Women’s unpaid labor is dedicated to tobaccofarming rather than producing food or independentlygenerating income and resources for the family.

• The tobacco crop generates many unique and seriousoccupational health hazards, including green tobaccosickness, exposure to exceptionally high levels of toxicagrochemicals and respiratory problems from dryingand storing tobacco leaf.

• Tobacco farming in LMICs causes severeenvironmental damage, including deforestation, landand soil degradation, pollution of waterways and ahost of other ecosystem disruptions.

ECONOMICALLY SUSTAINABLE ALTERNATIVES TO TOBACCO

Tobacco Industry Myth:

There are currently no economically sustainablealternatives to tobacco farming for small-scale farmers,particularly in low- and middle-income countries.

Research Findings:

• Where support for smallholder agriculture wasnonexistent or had been reduced (particularly as aresult of structural adjustment programs), manyfarmers felt they had little choice but to turn totobacco where the industry provides the missingmarket infrastructure and extension services needed.

• Despite this challenge, many other crops, cropcombinations, farming systems and livelihoodstrategies offer better opportunities for farmers.

• Although the current generation of tobacco farmerswill not be affected by tobacco-control measures,given the harsh nature of the work, it will beimportant for governments to help farmers transitionto alternative crops.

• The transition will require a national vision forsustainable rural development. Such a vision shouldinclude support for market infrastructure andextension services for alternative crops that werepreviously missing. Furthermore, access to publicfinancing for tobacco-farming transitions is justified,and can be financed in part through domestic taxeson the consumption of tobacco and, where it exists,the removal of public funding for tobacco cultivation.

• The active participation of farmers and otherstakeholders in the development of new options iskey to success. n

2 POLICY BRIEF: TOBACCO CONTROL AND TOBACCO FARMING

Context and Importance of the ProblemDespite the unarguable merits of tobacco control, imple-mentation of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) is only just beginning in many countries. The slow pace of implementation costs countless lives andimposes economic hardship on governments faced withrising health-care costs and lost opportunities to invest insustainable development. There is no time or need to delay.1

The influence of the tobacco industry lobby on govern-ments and policy makers has been a significant factorbehind delays in implementation of the FCTC. Strategiesused for decades by the tobacco industry to dilute, delayand defeat tobacco control in high-income countries arenow being redeployed successfully in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) where most of the world’stobacco is now grown and where growth in tobacco con-sumption is greatest. The thrust of their strategy is to cre-ate a fear of tobacco control among policy makers wherethere should be none. Despite evidence to the contrary,industry representatives claim that:

n Measures to control tobacco use will provoke a livelihoodcrisis among tobacco farmers and workers in the industry;

n Tobacco farmers are currently relatively prosperous andthat tobacco farming poses no significant risks that cannot be mitigated;

n There are no economically sustainable alternatives totobacco farming for smallholder farmers, particularly inlow- and middle-income countries.

These myths have created among some governments andpolicy makers the false perception that alternative liveli-hoods must be in place before any further action is takento implement tobacco-control measures in their country.Nothing could be further from the truth. Policies fortobacco control can proceed without affecting the liveli-hood of tobacco farmers. The creation of economically sus-tainable alternatives to tobacco farming can proceed inparallel, in the interest of improving livelihoods and pro-tecting the environment. There are many good reasonswhy governments should promote both tobacco-controlpolicies and the development of economically sustainablealternatives for tobacco growers, as outlined below.

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Farmer in Kushtia (Bangladesh) applying pesticide totobacco plants while children weed the field.

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1. This policy brief is drawn from D. Buckles, N. Lecours and W. Leppan. 2014. “Reframing the Debate on Tobacco Control andTobacco Farming”. The concluding chapter in W. Leppan, N. Lecoursand D. Buckles (eds). 2014. Tobacco Control and Tobacco Farming:Separating Myth from Reality. London: Anthem Press and IDRC.

Why the industry claims are myths

Industry investment analysts and health organizations alikeconfirm that despite substantial progress in implementingdemand-reduction measures in many countries there is noindication of an impending rapid decline in global demandfor tobacco leaf. While a number of high-income countrieshave been successful at reducing consumption, this hasbeen more than offset by the growth of consumption inlow- and middle-income countries where populationincreases and aggressive tobacco marketing have stimulatedan expansion of the global market. A recent study suggeststhat in the most optimistic scenario, the number of smokersworldwide could go down from 794 million in 2010 to 523 million in 2030 (a drop of 34 percent). In the absence ofsubstantial further tobacco-control measures, the numberwould actually grow (by almost 10%) to 872 million2. Ineither case, the global market will remain significant duringthe lifetime of the current generation of tobacco farmers.

Negative impacts of tobacco-control measures on farmerlivelihoods could only happen in a closed national economywhere all of the tobacco produced is consumed in the countryand there are no exports or imports of tobacco – a scenarionot seen, nor likely to be seen in any country. In fact, the vastmajority of farmers in low- and middle-income countriesproduce for the global market and are consequently unaf-fected by demand-reduction measures in their own coun-tries3. The drivers of demand and prices for tobacco leaf, acentral concern of tobacco farmers and policy makers alike,lie elsewhere and are grounded in the business model of thetobacco industry. These include:

n Lowest labor costs and weakest environmental standards: Tobacco farming is more labor intensive thanmost other crops and, in the case of flue-cured tobacco,requires large amounts of fuel wood from forests. Thebusiness model of the tobacco industry has been to seekout the lowest farm labor costs and weakest environmen-tal standards it can find in environments suitable fortobacco cultivation. This has prompted a rapid shift intobacco production from high-income countries to low-and middle-income countries with cheap labor and weakor poorly enforced environmental policies and programs,especially with respect to forests and soil resources. Today,90% of commercial tobacco leaf is grown in LMICs, com-pared to much lower rates only a few decades ago.

n Vertical integration: The tobacco industry is a verticallyintegrated supply and marketing chain bound through afew common owners of subsidiary companies and con-tracted farmers. This has created a market with few buyers

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Family harvesting tobacco, São Lourenço do Sul, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.

Wood collected from the hillsides of the Chittagong HillTracts (Bangladesh) and floated down the MatamuhuriRiver feeds the kilns for tobacco grown along the riverbank.

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2. Mendez, D., O. Alshanqeety and K. E. Warner. 2013. “The PotentialImpact of Smoking Control Policies on Future Global SmokingTrends.” Tobacco Control 22(1): 46–51.

3. Even in China, where a lot of the lower-quality tobacco producedis only consumed locally, and in the absence of more effective tobacco-control policies, the factors that explain the imminent reduction in demand for lower-quality leaf have to do with the increased competition from higher-quality tobacco imports, occurring as a result of China joining the World Trade Organization(Hu, T., Z. Mao, H. Jiang, M. Tao, and A. Yurekli. 2007. “The role of government in tobacco leaf production in China: national and local interventions.” International Journal of Public Policy 2 (3/4):235–248).

4 POLICY BRIEF: TOBACCO CONTROL AND TOBACCO FARMING

(a handful of transnational corporations) and many sellers(hundreds of thousands of largely unorganized tobaccofarmers). Under these monopolistic conditions, the buyerscan play sellers in different settings, regions and countriesoff against one another, to lower their costs. Through con-tract farming the tobacco companies can also dictatewhat, how and when tobacco leaf is supplied, and pass offto farmers the risks of overproduction in one place andlosses due to climate variability and environmental degra-dation in another. Vertically integrated companies can alsoshift costs and income between company branches andcountry subsidiaries in order to avoid corporate taxes andmaximize profits at selected stages in the value chain.

n Declining public investment in smallholderagriculture: Decades of structural adjustment policies andunequal trade regimes have undermined national andinternational investment in diversified smallholder agricul-ture. This decline and reorientation of investment shiftedproduction in many low- and middle-income countries toexport crops favoring economies of scale (large farms) andthe lowest price on the global market for raw materials. Theresulting decline in domestic agricultural markets, govern-ment extension support and market infrastructure has leftsmallholders with few meaningful choices, a vacuum thetobacco industry filled through its monopoly practices.

Recognition of the underlying drivers of global demand fortobacco leaf and price volatility affecting today’s tobaccofarmers helps to put the industry in perspective, and examinethe harsh realities of tobacco farming. Tobacco farming as it is practiced in LMICs today does not lift farmers out ofpoverty. The profitability of tobacco farming quickly evapo-rates into losses once even the most basic costs such aslabor and inputs are factored into the calculation of netgains. Instead, many tobacco farmers are trapped by theaccumulation of debt, the exploitation of child labor and the selling of false hopes for seasons to come. Meanwhile,exposure to unique occupational health hazards is borne bythe entire family, field workers and neighboring communi-ties. The mining of soils and forests to fuel the tobacco industry adds to exploitation, vulnerability and dependence.Due to these features, the world-wide tobacco pandemic isrightly seen not only as an important health issue but also adevelopment issue holding back the creation of income and savings normally expected from a viable farming operationand general advancement of the rural economy.

The measures required to curb tobacco consumption arerelatively well understood. They are based on solid evi-dence collected over many years and in many differentcountries regarding, for example, the introduction of highertaxes on tobacco products, legislated health warnings ontobacco packs, bans on advertising, promotion and spon-sorship, and the creation of smoke-free environments. The same cannot be said of the information and knowl-

Farmers in Kushtia (Bangladesh) unhappy over lowerprice than promised in their contract.

Air curing of tobacco leaves in a home, Ayrtaroun, South Lebanon, 2012.

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6 POLICY BRIEF: TOBACCO CONTROL AND TOBACCO FARMING

edge available about the conditions for a tobacco farmingtransition. While research has shown that there exist a vari-ety of context-specific alternatives to tobacco, less is knownabout how to scale-up these initiatives in the context ofthe sector-wide challenges facing smallholder farmers as awhole. This uncertainty increases the complexity of policyinterventions, not because there are no alternatives totobacco farming but rather because the goal is long-termdevelopment of a strong and diversified agricultural econ-omy. Pitting tobacco-control policies against farmers andthe legitimate search for better livelihoods is actually a falsedilemma promoted by the tobacco industry with a singlepurpose – to undermine the national and internationalconsensus on the urgency of tobacco control as both apublic health and a development policy.

Implications and RecommendationsThe issues that should form the core of government poli-cies for tobacco control and tobacco farming revolvearound the need to urgently address the public healththreat posed by the tobacco epidemic and, in parallel, create the conditions for the development of sustainable

alternatives to tobacco farming suitable for smallholderagriculture. The policy implications and related recommen-dations are fourfold.

n Strong domestic tobacco-control policies. These can be pursued aggressively by all tobacco exporting andimporting nations, knowing that global demand fortobacco leaf is likely to continue at current or higher levels for some time. This demand shelters the liveli-hoods of the current generation of tobacco farmers fromdomestic policy change.

n Strategic public investment in market infrastructure,technical assistance and access to financing. Evidencefrom a variety of settings shows that many other crops,crop combinations, farming systems and livelihoodstrategies can offer better opportunities for farmers.However, the market guarantee provided through con-tract farming and supply management remains com-pelling for farmers with limited access to marketinfrastructure and financing. The challenge for atobacco farming transition is to overcome the efforts ofmany years of decline in agricultural markets and lim-ited government investment in smallholder agriculture.Access to public resources is necessary, especially in theform of credit financing, technical assistance and the

Woman in Kushtia (Bangladesh) feeding the fire of atobacco kiln with rice straw; a 60 to 70 hour process.

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development of local and regional market infrastructure.As adjustment to new cropping systems and productmarkets takes time, creativity and resources, govern-ment support for access to start-up capital and theincremental costs of the transition period is also justi-fied. While this is not easy for resource-poor govern-ments, much can be done through different ministriesand levels of government by coordinating the use ofexisting agricultural policies and programs. Nationalfood acquisition and school feeding programs designedto provide a social safety net for the food insecure whilealso stimulating smallholder food production are exam-ples. It can also be financed in part by the gradual with-drawal of public funding for tobacco farming.

n Diversification, not substitution. While substitute cropsare likely to be essential components of economicallysustainable alternatives to tobacco growing, singlecrops are not magic bullets and are unlikely to be theanswer for smallholders in most regions where tobaccois currently grown. The reasons for this are twofold. First, it is technically difficult and costly to simply insertanother monocrop into the same space as tobacco andin the same season without first improving the soil.Tobacco is notoriously hard on the soil, not only deplet-ing nutrients and soil organic matter but also exacerbat-ing weed infestation, soil erosion, soil pollution andsalinization. Second, a focus on the direct substitution ofanother crop limits the range and diversity of croppingsystems and livelihoods options farmers can consider. A focus on crop and livelihood diversification ratherthan a single substitute crop offers more scope for innovation and the use of all resources available, including minor seasons, marginal soils, value-addedproduction and off-farm employment.

n A national vision for sustainable agriculture. Efforts tofoster a transition out of tobacco farming cannot be dis-connected from the national system of food production,agricultural land use and rural development withinwhich tobacco farming is embedded. The experience oftransition in high-income countries suggests that alter-natives to tobacco farming framed only in terms of theinternational competitiveness of single agricultural com-modities would likely displace smallholder farmers fromthe land, not help them develop as food and incomeproducers. Furthermore, the single criterion of interna-tional competitiveness reduces agricultural policy to

trade policy rather than support for the more complexfunction agriculture plays in most low- and middle-income countries such as food security, the sustainableuse of natural resources and the development of localenterprise. A national vision for sustainable agriculture,and efforts to overcome the effects on smallholder agri-culture of decades of declining government support areconsequently key to the tobacco farming transition.

Developing a national vision for sustainable agriculture,promoting livelihood diversification and investing in market infrastructure, technical assistance and access tofinancing are complex policy undertakings. Article 17 ofthe FCTC provides a constructive and modest space forthe tobacco-control community and health ministries toplay a supportive role to ministries of agriculture, the envi-ronment, labor, finance and rural development with themandate to pursue these goals. It can also help thetobacco-control community build the alliances needed tocounterbalance the current influence of the tobaccoindustry on government policy, and create buy-in fromtobacco farmers engaged in the legitimate search for better livelihoods. In this process, tobacco farmers shouldnot be blamed for growing tobacco or treated as passivevictims of an all-powerful industry. Rather, the task is toengage the tobacco-farming community and other stake-holders in the development of better options. Only thencan countries set themselves on a track towards a fair andorderly transition consistent with the goals of tobaccocontrol and socio-economic development. n

Farmer harvesting bamboo from a former tobacco field in Kenya.

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Non-Communicable Disease Prevention (NCDP)International Development Research Centre (IDRC)PO Box 8500, Ottawa, ON Canada K1G 3H9

For further information, please visit www.idrc.ca or www.idrc.ca/ncdpor send us an email at ncdp@idrc.ca

idrc.ca

Tobacco Control and Tobacco FarmingSeparating Myth from RealityEdited by Wardie Leppan, Natacha Lecours, and Daniel Buckles

This book exposes the myths behind tobaccoindustry claims that implementing policies aimedat curbing tobacco consumption will negativelyaffect farmers – particularly in low- and middle-income countries – and that no economicallysustainable alternatives exist.

The bulk of the world’s tobacco is produced in low- andmiddle-income countries. In order to dissuade these countriesfrom implementing policies aimed at curbing tobaccoconsumption (such as increased taxes, health warnings,advertising bans and smoke-free environments), the tobaccoindustry claims that tobacco farmers will be negatively affected

and that no viable, sustainable alternatives exist. This book,based on original research from three continents, exposes themyths behind these claims.

Part 1 takes on the claim that demand-reduction measuresnegatively impact farmers. It examines the trends of globalleaf demand and studies the national determinants of leafdemand in two tobacco-growing countries – Malawi andLebanon. The findings show that there will be no majorreduction in global demand for tobacco leaf in the short tomedium term and that the tobacco industry controls andmanipulates demand at the national level, independently ofthe effects of tobacco-control measures.

The myth around how profitable tobacco farming is for small-scale farmers is taken on in an extensive survey of theliterature in Part 2. The review shows that tobacco is not themost lucrative crop for small-scale farmers in the vast majorityof cases and that it imposes many serious negative socio-economic, health, and environmental impacts on tobaccofarmers and their communities.

Part 3 presents recent thinking and experience with thetransition from tobacco to other crops in Bangladesh, Kenyaand Brazil. The findings counter the industry’s claim that noeconomically sustainable alternatives exist for small-scalefarmers in low- and middle-income countries.

A concluding chapter summarizes and broadens argumentsmade throughout the book regarding the true drivers ofglobal demand for tobacco leaf, the sources of farmervulnerability and dependency on tobacco production and theconditions needed for an economically sustainable transition.

To order: Print copies of Tobacco Control and Tobacco Farmingare available through Anthem Press (www.anthempress.com/tobacco-control-and-tobacco-farming) or you can downloadan electronic copy from the IDRC website at www.idrc.ca/tobaccobook.

Tobacco Control

and Tobacco FarmingSeparating Myth

from Reality

Edited by Wardie LeppanNatacha Lecours Daniel Buckles

IDRC’s Non-Communicable Disease Prevention (NCDP) programfunds research with the goal to inform and enable the adoption andeffective implementation of policies and programs that prevent non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in low- and middle-incomecountries. Our focus is on the “best-buys” that reduce NCD risk factors:strategies that are low-cost for countries but have a high impact onimproving population health.