Related Papers
Costs, revenues and profits: an economic analysis of smallholder tobacco farmer livelihoods in Malawi
Raphael Lencucha, Jeffrey Drope, Ronald Labonte, Fastone Goma
Background The preservation of the economic livelihood of tobacco farmers is a common argument used to oppose tobacco control measures. However, little empirical evidence exists about these livelihoods. We seek to evaluate the economic livelihoods of individual tobacco farmers in Malawi, including how much money they earn from selling tobacco, and the costs they incur to produce the crop, including labour inputs. We also evaluate farmers' decisions to contract directly with firms that buy their crops. Methods We designed and implemented an economic survey of 685 tobacco farmers, including both independent and contract farmers, across the 6 main tobacco-growing districts. We augmented the survey with focus group discussions with subsets of respondents from each region to refine our inquiries. Results Contract farmers cultivating tobacco in Malawi as their main economic livelihoods are typically operating at margins that place their households well below national poverty thresholds, while independent farmers are typically operating at a loss. Even when labour is excluded from the calculation of income less costs, farmers' gross margins place most households in the bottom income decile of the overall population. Tobacco farmers appear to contract principally as a means to obtain credit, which is consistently reported to be difficult to obtain. Conclusions The tobacco industry narrative that tobacco farming is a lucrative economic endeavour for smallholder farmers is demonstrably inaccurate in the context of Malawi. From the perspective of these farmers, tobacco farming is an economically challenging livelihood for most.
Challenges Facing FCV Tobacco Farmers in India and Tanzania: An Empirical Scrutiny
2017 •
Maige Mwasimba
Agriculture is regarded as a dominant activity for individual and governments development. Agriculture has played a great role to change the economies and development in substantial magnitude. Despite of being a gear to development, agriculture is prone to many challenges that hold it down. FCV tobacco farming is non exceptional on facing these challenges. Smallholder farmers are more challenged by these difficulties than large-scale farmers. Low and Medium Income Countries (LMICs) are also suffering more than Large Income Countries (LICs) when it comes to FCV tobacco growing. Researchers were eager to know specific challenges facing FCV tobacco farmers of India and Tanzania as discover whether these two countries are experiencing the same challenges. And also to know whether the challenges common to these two countries are also common to other countries growing FCV tobacco.
Developing Country Studies
Gender Disparities in Expenditure of Income from Tobacco in Urambo District, Tanzania
2013 •
Timothy Petro Chombo
A history of peasant tobacco production in Ruvuma Region, Southern Tanzania, c.1930-2016
2018 •
Herbert Ndomba
Developing Country Studies Gender Disparities in Expenditure of Income from Tobacco in Urambo District, Tanzania
Kim Kayunze
Advance in Biological Research
Tobacco Production Practice of Smallholder in Bilate, Wolaita and Hawassa tobacco farms, Ethiopia
2020 •
Daniel A B E B E Geletu
This study was conducted tobacco growing farmers' house hold in the Wolaita ,Bilatte and Hawassa tobacco farms in Southern Nations, Nationalities and peoples' Regional state, Ethiopia. The objective of the study was to investigate socioeconomic and technical factors that affect tobacco production smallholder tobacco producers at southern Ethiopia. In conducting the research, data relevant to the study were collected from both primary and secondary sources. Prior to interviewed back ground information and secondary data were collected from extension section of each tobacco development farm. Two peasant associations (PAs) were selected totally 30 sample farmers were randomly selected from each district based on tobacco production potential. Surveys were used to measured like area of plots with tobacco plants, household farming practiced at present and in the past, other crop species planted before, labor source, farm size and input. The findings from this study point to several recommendations for research, extension, and policy makers. The study recommended technologies to mitigate farmer's labor shortage, regularly revised price of green tobacco price policies, good relation with local administrator and training of smallholder tobacco producers that would increase number of tobacco producers.
Journal of Agricultural Extension and Rural Development
Effect of contract tobacco farming on the welfare of smallholder farmers in Angonia District, Mozambique
2017 •
Isaac Mambo
Tanzanian economic review
Agricultural Inputs and Efficiency in Tanzania Small Scale Agriculture: A Comparative Analysis of Tobacco and Selected Food Crops
2013 •
Ernest Ngeh Tingum
In this study an attempt is made to compare the efficiency in tobacco leaf production with three other cereals - maize, ground nut and rice - commonly grown by Tanzanian small scale farmers. The paper reviews the prevalence of tobacco use in Africa with that of the developed world; while there was a decline in the latter there appears to be an increase in the former. The economic benefit and costs of tobacco production and consumption in Tanzania are also compared. Using a nationally representative large scale data we were able to observe that modern agricultural inputs allotted to tobacco was much higher than those allotted to maize, ground nut and rice. Using A Frontier Production approach, the study shows that the efficiency of tobacco, maize, groundnuts and rice were 75.3%, 68.5%, 64.5% and 46.5% respectively. Despite the infusion of massive agricultural input allotted to it, tobacco is still 75.3% efficient-tobacco farmers should have produced the same amount by utilizing only ...
Journal of development and agricultural economics
A comparative analysis of technical efficiency of smallholder tobacco and maize farmers in Tabora, Tanzania
2015 •
Ernest Ngeh
The Impact of Contract Farming on Smallholder Tobacco Farmers’ Household Incomes: A Case Study of Makoni District, Manicaland Province, Zimbabwe
2017 •
Lighton Dube
This purpose of this paper was to assess the impact of contract farming on household income. The study used primary data collected using a structured questionnaire from a random sample of 98 smallholder tobacco farmers in Makoni district of Zimbabwe. The study found that despite contract farmers selling on average 1.6 times the number of bales sold by non-contract farmers, they only realised an average income that was 1.4 times higher than that realised by non-contract farmers. The study also found that tobacco farming is the major source of livelihood for farmers in Makoni district contributing on average 73% of the households’ annual income. Using a Tobit regression model, the study found that being a contract farmer does not have a significant effect on the share of tobacco income to total household income. The factors that significantly and positively influence the share of tobacco income to total household income are gender of the farmer, access to extension on tobacco producti...
