The Economic Cost of Tobacco Farming in Bangladesh

Ghulam Hussain Akm, Abu Shara Shamsur Rouf, Shafiun Nahin Shimul, Nigar Nargis, Tara Mona Kessaram, Syed Mahfuzul Huq, Jagdish Kaur, Md Khairul Alam Shiekh and Jeffrey Drope
Additional contact information
Ghulam Hussain Akm: Department of Economics, University of Dhaka, Dhaka 1000, Bangladesh
Abu Shara Shamsur Rouf: Department of Pharmaceutical Technology, University of Dhaka, Dhaka 1000, Bangladesh
Shafiun Nahin Shimul: Institute of Health Economics, University of Dhaka, Dhaka 1000, Bangladesh
Nigar Nargis: American Cancer Society, Atlanta, GA 30303-1002, USA
Tara Mona Kessaram: World Health Organization, Dhaka 1000, Bangladesh
Syed Mahfuzul Huq: World Health Organization, Dhaka 1000, Bangladesh
Jagdish Kaur: WHO South East Asia Regional Office, Delhi 110001, India
Md Khairul Alam Shiekh: National Tobacco Control Cell, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Government of Bangladesh, Dhaka 1000, Bangladesh
Jeffrey Drope: School of Public Health, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL 60607, USA

IJERPH, 2020, vol. 17, issue 24, 1-21

Abstract: The extent of tobacco cultivation remains substantially high in Bangladesh, which is the 12th largest tobacco producer in the world. Using data from a household survey of current, former, and never tobacco farmers, based on a multi-stage stratified sampling design with a mix of purposive and random sampling of households, this study estimated the financial and economic profitability per acre of land used for tobacco cultivation. The environmental effects of tobacco cultivation on land and water resources were estimated using laboratory tests of sample water and soil collected from tobacco-cultivating and non-tobacco cultivating areas. The study finds that tobacco cultivation turns into a losing concern when the opportunity costs of unpaid family labour and other owned resources, and the health effects of tobacco cultivation are included. Tobacco cultivation poses a significantly high environmental cost that causes a net loss to society. Nevertheless, the availability of unpaid family labour and the options of advanced credit as well as a buy back guarantee from the tobacco companies attract farmers to engage in and continue tobacco cultivation. Therefore, supply side interventions to curb the tobacco epidemic in Bangladesh need to address major drivers of tobacco cultivation to correct the wrong incentives and motivate tobacco farmers to switch to alternative livelihood options.

Keywords: economic cost of tobacco farming; environmental cost of tobacco farming; alternative livelihoods (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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