Tobacco Cultivation in Bangladesh

Bangladesh has recently emerged as a significant producer and supplier of tobacco leaf across the world.[1] However, there has been a lack of scientific research on the nature, extent and consequences of tobacco cultivation in Bangladesh. Recent developments and govt. measures suggest that Bangladesh may emerge as an export-oriented tobacco cultivation hub in future.

The extent of tobacco cultivation

There has been conflicting reports about the extent of tobacco cultivation in Bangladesh.

As per a study by the Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS)[2], Bangladesh is currently the 14^th largest tobacco producing country in the world in terms of total areas cultivated. The country is 12^th in the world in terms of total quantity of tobacco leaves produced and accounts for 1.3 percent of the total tobacco production in the world.

The data from Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) offices and other sources frequently contradict when it comes to the total area used in tobacco cultivation. For example, in a report published in Bangla Tribune on 14 January 2019[3], the DAE officials of Nilphamari district claimed that the tobacco cultivation, that year, decreased by 458 acres of land. In the same report, local farmers claimed that tobacco cultivation almost doubled compared to the previous year.  However, there are also reports that some farmers indeed switched to alternative crops from tobacco cultivation.[4]

The World Bank, in its report titled Bangladesh: Overview of Tobacco Use, Tobacco Control Legislation, and Taxation[5], cited the Statistical Yearbooks of Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics and argued that,

“The acreage devoted to tobacco growing in Bangladesh has been falling steadily for most of the past three decades, before rising sharply in 2010… In 2011-2014, the area was around 120,000 hectares, but then decreased to 105,000 hectares in 2017-2018. Tobacco leaf production increased from about 40,000 tons in 2000-2009 to about 80-90 thousand tons in 2011-2018.”

The report also analyzed the influence of govt. incentive on tobacco leaf cultivation,

“Over recent years, however, tobacco leaf exports have grown much more rapidly, the result of a 10% incentive on exports provided by the government as part of an export diversification program begun in 2003. Much of the recent rise in the quantity of tobacco grown in Bangladesh is accounted for by these increased exports, with the share of exported tobacco rising from about 2.5% in 2000 to early 34% in 2009. In 2008, the export incentive was eliminated. In the 2010/11 budget, the government imposed a 10% duty on tobacco leaf exports in an effort to discourage tobacco growing. In 2017, the government imposed 25% export duty on tobacco aiming to discourage their production and consumption as the items are injurious to health; however, in 2018 this export duty was reduced to 0%.”

Since tobacco cultivation inevitably leads to soil degradation[6], tobacco cultivation tends to shift from one area to another within decades. According to the study published in BIDS, British American Tobacco Company is the first company to start tobacco cultivation in Bangladesh in 1970s. Due to availability of water from Teesta river, abundant woods for tobacco curing, and fertile land, Rangpur region first emerged as tobacco hub in the country. Once the fertility of Rangpur tobacco hub started declining, tobacco cultivation was shifted to Kushtia region by the companies. Though Kushtia is still the largest tobacco hub of Bangladesh (followed by Lalmonirhat and Nilphamari), since 2000, due to shortage of firewood, tobacco cultivation started shifting to Chittagong Hill Tract districts by the river Matamuhuri.   

In a study titled Factors Associated with Cultivation of Tobacco in Bangladesh: A Multilevel Modeling Approach, published in International  Journal  of Environmental Research and Public Health on 15 June 2020, it was found that “the following variables shape most farmers’ decisions to cultivate tobacco: older age, less education, tobacco firms’ short-term financial support of growing tobacco, greater ease of selling tobacco products at market, better access to credit (also provided by the tobacco companies), and farmer’s perception about higher profits from tobacco cultivation compared to other crops.” The study was conducted on 220 farmers of Kushtia, a well-known tobacco hub in the country.   

There is a strong allegation that the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) is not doing enough to discourage farmers from tobacco cultivation and to introduce profitable alternative crops to make the switch. According to a news article[7], while tobacco company agents are very actively engaging farmers in tobacco cultivation, giving technical support and loans, the DAE officials are rarely doing the opposite, as they are supposed to. In a 2007 study titled Tobacco cultivation and poverty in Bangladesh: Issues and potential future directions[8], the authors mentioned that

“The farmers who participated in this study lamented that extension workers rarely if ever visit the fields these days; rather, they themselves have to go to the agriculture office in the event of a problem. The number of extension workers is also far below the requirement”

It should be noted that as of December 2020, Bangladesh does not have any law to regulate tobacco cultivation. According to Section 12 of Smoking and Tobacco Products Usage (Control) (Amendment) Act 2013,

“DISCOURAGING    THE    PRODUCTION    AND    USAGE    OF    TOBACCO   AND   RELATED   CROPS   - For   motivating   in   gradually   discouraging the production and use of tobacco products and for the purpose of   discouraging   the   establishment   of   tobacco   products   industry,   and   production  and  cultivation  of  tobacco  crops  the  Government  will  formulate  necessary policy.”[9]

Tobacco Cultivation: A Threat to Sustainable Development

Tobacco cultivation has emerged as a considerable threat to sustainable development in Bangladesh. Tobacco Atlas report has blamed tobacco cultivation for 31 percent deforestation in Bangladesh. Half the forests in south-eastern districts of Bangladesh have been lost to tobacco cultivation in the past century, according to Centre for International Forestry Research.[10] With the current growth rate of tobacco cultivation, it will threaten the food security of the country. This is because from 2000 to 2016, the arable land of Bangladesh decreased 68,690 hectares each year while tobacco cultivation increased from 94,568 hectares in 2009 to 127,379 hectares in 2014-15.[11] Tobacco cultivation also causes damages to the lands as it needs three times more Urea and insecticides than the food crops.[12]  Moreover, tobacco growers frequently engage their family members including their wives and underage children in cultivation and processing activities[13], unknowingly putting them under serious health hazards. For their longer involvement with tobacco farming and processing they are affected with cancer, abdominal problems, chest and neck pain, reproductive problems and other health hazards. Besides, the children   are also affected with Green Tobacco Syndrome for their involvement in tobacco processing. Classes, as well as extra-curricular activities of schools, are also frequently hampered due to bad smell from nearby tobacco fields or use of school playgrounds of the educational institutions for tobacco trading.[14]

Misuse of Subsidized Fertilizer in Tobacco Farming

The government- subsidized chemical fertilizers meant for encouraging cultivation of different food crops are also being used for tobacco cultivation. In a report published in the Daily Star on 14 February, 2018, fertilizer dealers welcome tobacco farmers, as they buy it for ready cash unlike poor farmers of other crops who purchase fertiliser on credit and pay after the crop harvest.[15]

Tobacco Industry Influence in the Ministry of Agriculture

The Ministry of Agriculture has been identified as one of the ministries vulnerable to tobacco industry interference in the Tobacco Industry Interference Index in 2019. 

According to the 2018 Tobacco Industry Interference Index[16], the then- Agricultural Secretary was members of British American Tobacco CSR Committee and participated in its activities. British American Tobacco Bangladesh (BATB) has a partnership with the Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) since 2005 to jointly run Integrated Pest Management (IPM) Clubs. BATB has introduced Integrated Pest Management (IPM) Clubs and Farmers’ Field Schools (FFS) in collaboration with the Department of Agriculture Extension to educate their farmers about the adoption of Good Agriculture Practices. BATB claimed that through the 53 IPM clubs it established, 53 FFS sessions have been completed. Such a partnership with BATB runs contrary to the WHO FCTC Article 5.3. The Ministry of Agriculture’s Pricing Advisory Committee consults with the tobacco companies about tobacco leaf pricing policies.

Bangladesh: An Emerging Tobacco Supply Hub?

The recent spike in tobacco cultivation and promotion of tobacco export indicate that Bangladesh may emerge as a regional as well as global tobacco supply hub. This contradicts with the declaration from the Prime Minister of Bangladesh in 2016 that Bangladesh is going to a tobacco-free country by 2040.

Bangladesh is the 8^th largest cigarette market in the world. The country also has thriving bidi and smokeless tobacco industries. Due to the high prevalence of tobacco use (irrespective of cigarette, bidi and smokeless tobacco), the domestic need for tobacco leaves has always been considerably high.

In 2018, Japan Tobacco Inc. entered the tobacco market of Bangladesh through an astounding US$1.47 billion acquisition deal of the tobacco business of Akij Group (Akij), the then second largest tobacco company in Bangladesh. In the same year, while declaring the national budget for FY 2018-19, the govt. eliminated 25 percent export duty on tobacco export which is still in place, as of January 2021.

Japan Tobacco’s colossal investment and subsequent aggressive marketing adds to the need of domestic marketing. The decision of the govt. to offer exemption on tobacco export duty inevitably encouraged tobacco cultivation and tobacco processing industries. As a result, following the JTI investment and govt.-offered exemption, the backward linkage sub-sectors of tobacco industry are also on the rise. On December 23, 2020, Bangladesh Export Processing Zones Authority (BEPZA) signed an agreement with Asian Tobacco (Pvt.) Ltd to establish a modern cigarettes and tobacco processing plant in Ishwardi Export Processing Zone with an investment of $2.0 million[17].

The data of Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) also shows that tobacco export from Bangladesh is increasing rapidly. In June 2020, despite the pandemic, the tobacco export increased by 24 percent compared to the same time of previous year.[18] In July 2019, it was reported that tobacco export increased by 12.31 percent compared to the previous year.[19] As per EPB website, in 2015-16 FY, export revenue from tobacco stood at US$ 54.98 million which increased to US$ 80.36 million in 2019-20 FY. In Commodity-wise Data of Countries (July-June 2019-2020) of Export Promotion Bureau, Bangladesh exported tobacco and manufactured tobacco substitutes to 47 countries including Belgium, the UAE, Netherlands, Italy, South Africa and the USA.[20]

Anti-tobacco activists of Bangladesh have already criticized the promotion of tobacco as export product. In a press conference that took place in June 2018, National Professor Brig Gen (Retd) Abdul Malik, founder and president of National Heart Foundation of Bangladesh, termed the promotion of tobacco export as ‘unethical’, and said, ‘To encourage the people of other countries in consuming our cheap tobacco products is unethical. Our vision is to build not only a tobacco-free Bangladesh, but also a tobacco-free world.’[21]

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