BANGLADESH: Growing interest in tobacco farming
Friday, April 22, 2011
Chittagong1 April 2011 (harun) - Large groups of farmers in Bangladesh are switching from rice cultivation to tobacco farming, creating concerns about possible food shortages, according to the government and anti-tobacco lobbyists
Recently, I went to kakara in chowkaria of Chittagong district, where I found a large tobacco land beside Matamuhori River. They were farming paddy near about 10-12 years ago before tobacco. But now 95% villager is in tobacco farming and they are thinking that its profitable 1:10 than rice but “Many farmers later understand that it is not profitable business but they cannot leave it as they cannot repay the loans they have taken from the companies,” said BATA’s Alam
Falling profits have been blamed for farmers’ conversion to tobacco cultivation, according to Syed Mahbubul Alam, secretary of local NGO Bangladesh Anti-Tobacco Alliance (BATA).
Tobacco companies are recruiting farmers with free seeds, fertilizers, insecticides and “whatever we need for cultivation”, said farmer abdullah from kakara.
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Tobacco companies buy the crop, guaranteeing a steady demand and prices. “We do not have to be worried about the [sale] of the products as companies take this from our [farms],” said tobacco farmer Bablu Mia, from the same village.
Growth
Tobacco has been cultivated in Bangladesh since the 1970s.
Though researchers have little official data, they say tobacco cultivation has significantly expanded in recent years, with one local study estimating the growth at 68 percent from 2007 to 2009, with the current trend pointing even higher.
“As some parts of the world...ban tobacco cultivation, Bangladesh might be an attractive destination of international tobacco companies,” said Farida Akhter the executive director of Ubinig, a local NGO also fighting tobacco cultivation.
According to the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics, the total land used for tobacco cultivation in 2007-2008 was almost 30,000 hectares (ha), which yielded 40,248 tons.
While steadily growing, such production uses only a fraction of the country’s cultivable land (eight million ha), and is still minor compared to the 32 million tons of rice produced in the same year.
But official figures may not accurately capture the growing interest in tobacco farming, Aminul Islam Sujon, project coordinator of local NGO Work for Better Bangladesh, warned.
“The original figure is five times higher than the government figure,” he said.
Walking through kakara village in Chittagong District, it was not hard to find recent converts. abdullah abandoned rice farming for tobacco eight years ago, while it has been four years since Madar Mia made the switch.
Number of smoked tobacco users
presents the population totals corresponding to the prevalence estimates on
smoking status in table 4.1 by gender and residence. The estimated number of current adult
tobacco smokers was 21.9 million: 19.9 million smoked on a daily basis and 2 million on a
non—dai|y (occasional) basis; 21.2 million were males and only 0.7 million were females; 16.6
million smokers belonged to rural areas and 5.3 million to urban areas. The number of daily
smokers was 19.9 million (19.3 million were male and 0.6 million were female). The estimated
number of non—smokers was 73.5 million among whom 4.4 million were former daily smokers
and 69 million were never daily smokers.
Tobacco has been cultivated in Bangladesh since the 1970s.
Though researchers have little official data, they say tobacco cultivation has significantly expanded in recent years, with one local study estimating the growth at 68 percent from 2007 to 2009, with the current trend pointing even higher.
“As some parts of the world...ban tobacco cultivation, Bangladesh might be an attractive destination of international tobacco companies,” said Farida Akhter the executive director of Ubinig, a local NGO also fighting tobacco cultivation.
According to the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics, the total land used for tobacco cultivation in 2007-2008 was almost 30,000 hectares (ha), which yielded 40,248 tons.
While steadily growing, such production uses only a fraction of the country’s cultivable land (eight million ha), and is still minor compared to the 32 million tons of rice produced in the same year.
But official figures may not accurately capture the growing interest in tobacco farming, Aminul Islam Sujon, project coordinator of local NGO Work for Better Bangladesh, warned.
“The original figure is five times higher than the government figure,” he said.
Walking through kakara village in Chittagong District, it was not hard to find recent converts. abdullah abandoned rice farming for tobacco eight years ago, while it has been four years since Madar Mia made the switch.
Number of smoked tobacco users
presents the population totals corresponding to the prevalence estimates on
smoking status in table 4.1 by gender and residence. The estimated number of current adult
tobacco smokers was 21.9 million: 19.9 million smoked on a daily basis and 2 million on a
non—dai|y (occasional) basis; 21.2 million were males and only 0.7 million were females; 16.6
million smokers belonged to rural areas and 5.3 million to urban areas. The number of daily
smokers was 19.9 million (19.3 million were male and 0.6 million were female). The estimated
number of non—smokers was 73.5 million among whom 4.4 million were former daily smokers
and 69 million were never daily smokers.
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