Production has grown 73% in the last 14 years, and there are no signs that it will slow down. The newspaper The Daily Star explains that tobacco cultivation is very profitable, but has many negative effects on the health of both smokers and farmers, as well as on the environment. It is one of the main causes of carbon emissions and deforestation. It also has negative effects on water, contaminated by pesticides.
Rome (/Agencies) – Although Bangladesh has set itself the goal of being a tobacco-free country by 2040 – a goal supported by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and the common front of mayors that was formed in 2023 on the occasion of a demonstration in Cox’s Bazar – in the last five years tobacco production per hectare has increased by 21 percent, which rises to 73% if the last 14 years are considered. Today, World No Tobacco Day, the Bangladeshi newspaper The Daily Star dedicates a long article to this topic. The increase indicates the extent to which large companies are targeting tobacco cultivation because they consider it much more profitable than others. However, this entails numerous health risks – not only for smokers – but also for the environment, especially soil and water.
Production growth in recent years has been constant and there have been no stagnations or falls. According to some DAE (Department of Agricultural Extension) officials, this is possible thanks to the introduction of high-yielding varieties of tobacco plants, along with intensive use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides. In fact, these crops require greater use of this type of products, with serious effects on environmental conditions and the health of farmers, notes a report published in 2017 by the WHO. In 2016, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina committed to establishing tobacco control laws and aligning the country with the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, approved in 2003. However, although the effects of tobacco are known, tobacco on the health of those who regularly consume it – cardiovascular diseases, tumors and respiratory diseases -, the impacts of its production on the environment are almost unknown. The effects include loss of soil fertility, water pollution and air pollution, on such a scale that their combined effect constitutes a much greater risk than the production of any other crop. Tobacco is also a major cause of carbon emissions and deforestation: 300 cigarettes are equivalent to 1 tree.
Bangladesh is the twelfth largest tobacco producer in the world as of 2020, according to data from the University of Bath, United Kingdom. In 2022/2023, 65,227 tonnes of tobacco were grown on 26,475 hectares (65,421 acres) of land – 1 percent of the country’s arable land. And although the sector is good for the Bangladeshi economy, because it is one of the main sources of tax contributions thanks to the large volume of raw tobacco exported, it also carries high risks. Among them, the uncontrolled use of pesticides, which together with the natural characteristics of the plant change the natural composition of water and soil. “As farmers often over-apply chemical fertilizers and pesticides supplied by big tobacco companies to obtain higher yields, the soil loses fertility and nearby water becomes toxic, as shown in a scientific study conducted in Kushtia, a major tobacco-producing district. tobacco,” he says. The Daily Star.
The effects on water are not irrelevant either. According to a 2022 WHO report, a single cigarette requires approximately 3.7 liters of water in its life cycle: cultivation, production, transportation, use and disposal. Water use is up to 8 times higher than that of crops such as tomatoes and potatoes. One kilogram of unproduced tobacco would provide one person with drinking water for a year. Another effect is the killing of aquatic animals. “The 2015 study in Kushtia shows that several hazardous wastes, such as 1,3-dichloropropene and aldicarb sulfoxide, toxic sulfonic elements that come from pesticides, can enter drainage aquifers and surface water and cause the water is toxic,” he continues The Daily Star. For example, the Halda River, in the south of the country, has been contaminated by tobacco crops in the area and this has compromised the life of some species of fish.
Local farmers say they are aware of the risks described above. The Daily Star interviewed seven of them in Bandarban and Khagracchari and all of them confirmed the negative effects on the environment and their health. “However, they are attracted to growing tobacco because of the high profit margin compared to other crops, which is made possible by the money, inputs and technical support of tobacco companies,” the newspaper notes. And those profits , according to a study by the Policy Research Institute, are 30 percent higher than those who grow other crops. Furthermore, these farmers are “contracted” and depend on large companies, first of all British American Tobacco (BAT), main player in the sector, with almost 52,000 farmers hired in 2023, compared to 30,000 in 2018, according to data from the same company, which confirms the trend registered in the country.
Add Comment