Willingness to Stop Growing Tobacco in Uganda

Abstract

PURPOSE Tobacco use is the leading cause of premature death worldwide. One aspect of tobacco control is convincing farmers to stop tobacco production. We assessed the willingness of tobacco farmers in Uganda to stop growing tobacco. METHODS We conducted a cross-sectional interview survey with an interviewer-administered questionnaire. Participants were active tobacco farmers in 12 villages of Kanungu district (N = 528) and were interviewed in 2013 to assess their willingness to stop growing tobacco. RESULTS Most farmers (61.7%) grew tobacco only as a cash crop with no supplemental income. A total of 198 farmers (37.5%) were willing to stop growing tobacco. Ninety-two respondents cited coffee as a potential replacement crop for tobacco and 106 mentioned rice. Barriers to growing replacement crops were that tobacco is highly profitable (n = 172) and that the soil (n = 175) and/or weather (n = 22) cannot sustain any crops other than tobacco. Willingness to stop growing tobacco was 1.32 times as likely among farmers who said that tobacco use causes respiratory diseases and 1.16 times as likely among farmers who received less than less than $300 USD from tobacco sales in the previous season. Agreeing that tobacco is profitable decreased the likelihood of willingness to stop growing tobacco by 36%. CONCLUSION Only one in three farmers were willing to stop growing tobacco. To increase their willingness to stop growing tobacco, farmers must be educated on the health consequences of tobacco and we must demonstrate to farmers that other crops may be more profitable than tobacco.

Deteriorating Quality of Life and a Desire to Stop Growing Tobacco Among Virginia and Burley Tobacco Farmers in Thailand

“…Tobacco farmers with an economic quality of life below or equal to the mean had 5.4 times more desire to quit growing tobacco than those with a higher average economic quality of life. This finding is consistent with previous research, 2 , 15 , 17 which found that tobacco farmers who faced the problem of lower income from tobacco cultivation than in the past and had learnt that the income from growing tobacco is not economically cost-effective compared with other alternative crops had a greater chance of quitting tobacco cultivation. By contrast, it was found that tobacco farmers with an above-mean environmental quality of life had a 4.6 times greater desire to quit growing tobacco than tobacco farmers with lower or equal environmental quality of life than the mean.…”

“…According to the results of this study, most Virginia and Burley tobacco farmers in Thailand had the below-mean quality of life in almost every aspect, especially in social, spiritual, family, and economic quality. In line with a number of findings, 2 - 5 the majority of tobacco farmers do not earn enough money from tobacco leaf sales to offset the cost of production, especially labor, which is the major factor causing them to become poor, in debt, and have poor living standards. However, major tobacco farmers still rated their health as having a high level of quality.…”

“… 14 These efforts, however, have not been easy to achieve because tobacco farmers need encouragement to stop growing it for a variety of reasons. The following characteristics were found to be associated with tobacco farmers who had the opportunity to grow alternative crops to replace tobacco farming: obtaining high education, 15 decrease in household income from tobacco cultivation, 2 perceiving that tobacco cultivation can be harmful, 2 , 15 having knowledge of tobacco crop replacement, 15 recognizing the inefficiencies of growing tobacco compared with alternative crops, 2 , 15 and believing that there will be a stable market for purchasing alternative crops to replace tobacco. 16…”

A Comparative Study on the Health Problems and Substance Abuse among the Tobacco Farmers and Non-Tobacco Farmers in Hassan District, Karnataka

“…Owing to the health risks due to tobacco growing and the effects consumption of tobacco, finding an alternate crop is the need of the hour. [ 9 10 ]…”

Analysis of technical efficiency and its determinants among tobacco producers in Uganda: An application of data envelopment analysis

“…These include the flue-cured Virginia, dark-fire cured tobacco and the burley tobacco. The burley and dark-fire cured tobacco varieties perform well in areas with high rainfall and structured silt loam soils while the flue cured Virginia does well in regions with 800F during the day and 600F at night (Karemani and Nuwaha, 2019). Incidentally, Kiryandongo district has high rainfall and well-structured silt loamy soils and thus, a possible reason for widespread dependence on dark-fired cured tobacco variety (Karemani and Nuwaha, 2019).…”