Tobacco Agriculture

Tobacco farming in South Africa is estimated to contribute only 1% of the total farmworker labour force.

biohazard icon

Tobacco farming has negative effects on the environment, farmworkers, and farmers themselves.

This page shows that, despite the tobacco industry’s claims, tobacco agriculture is not a major source of employment in South Africa or economic development in rural communities, since tobacco farm labour has declined, primarily as a result of advances in mechanisation. Next, we discuss tobacco agriculture’s harmful impact on the environment, particularly deforestation and the associated soil damage. Finally, we look at Malawi as an example of the tobacco industry exploiting vulnerable small-scale tobacco farmers.

A one page fact sheet with the key information from this page is available here.

To learn more about the data and methods used on this page click here.

In South Africa, there are no reliable estimates of the number of farm workers employed in tobacco agriculture. The tobacco industry, however, presents some figures whose origin is unknown. Since the tobacco industry has been shown to intentionally falsify data

, any figures they provide should be viewed with caution. 

Even using the tobacco industry’s estimates, tobacco farming comprises only a small share of South Africa’s total agricultural employment. In 2017, the tobacco industry reported employing 8,000 to 10,000 farm workers,

approximately 1% of the country’s total of 757,628 workers involved in all forms of agriculture. When compared to South Africa’s total employment number in 2017 (16.1 million), tobacco agriculture only contributed 0.06% of total employment.

agriculture workforce infographic
bullet list icon

Field crops (e.g. maize, soya beans, sunflower seeds, wheat, and sugar cane) represented 15% of the agricultural workforce (123,977 field crop farm workers).

bullet list icon

Tobacco is a field crop, and overall tobacco farming represented just over 1% of the total agricultural workforce (10,000 workers) in 2017.

Fruits and vegetables (e.g. potatoes, oranges, grapes, and apples) represented 35% of the agricultural workforce (268,740 fruit and vegetable farm workers).

bullet list icon

Animal farming represented 21% of the agricultural workforce (162,116 animal farm workers).

bullet list icon

Mixed farming (growing of crops combined with farming of animals) represented 25% of the agricultural workforce (185,863 mixed farming farm workers).

bullet list icon

Agricultural services and fertiliser production represented 3% of the agricultural workforce (16,962 workers).

More government-sanctioned and independent research is needed on tobacco agriculture in South Africa. The figures above come from the tobacco industry, which is the only primary data source publicly available. The data could not be supplemented by the current Census of Commercial Agriculture in South Africa,

since they do not collect sufficiently granular data on the kinds of field crops grown.

Tobacco-industry Funded Alliance Supports

Relatively Few Emerging Black Farmers


One of the primary South African groups purporting to support Black farmers is the South Africa Tobacco Transformation Alliance (SATTA). SATTA is an umbrella interest group funded by British American Tobacco South Africa (BATSA) and includes the Black Tobacco Farmers Association (BTFA), Limpopo Tobacco Processors (LTP), and the Tobacco Producer Development Trust (TPD). SATTA states that it supports Black tobacco farmers with training, mentorship, and a market to sell their products “in order to become self-sustained commercial farmers”.

However, the amount of transformation in the industry is limited: SATTA supports 125 black tobacco farmers who have 173 hectares of the 5,000 hectares of tobacco farmed in South Africa (i.e. 3.5% of South Africa’s total tobacco crop).

SATTA echoes messages that are well-known talking points from the tobacco industry, as they have recently been vocal about the threat of illicit tobacco production and its impact on emerging Black farmers.

However, SATTA has not specified how Black farmers are negatively impacted by illicit cigarettes or why this issue would be of importance to them. In summary, SATTA seems to echo many talking points of the tobacco industry while their impact supporting Black farmers remains unclear.

Globally, farmers are switching from tobacco to growing other, more profitable crops, despite tobacco industry claims that there are no economically sustainable alternatives to tobacco for small-scale farmers.

In fact, the tobacco industry is often the main reason that switching crops is difficult.

The case studies below show that the tobacco industry locks farmers into tobacco growing by replacing the government’s role in providing market infrastructure, influencing government policy-makers, offering farmers unfair tobacco-growing contracts when they are financially most vulnerable, and keeping farmers’ land suitable to growing only tobacco. Therefore, governments need to create conditions that are economically conducive for farmers to switch to alternative crops.

Case Studies


Malawian government needs to shake off the grip of the tobacco industry

Relative to the size of its economy, Malawi is one of the largest tobacco producers in the world. Most tobacco production (95%) comes from smallholder farms.

Tobacco companies in Bangladesh use a range of tactics to maintain tobacco farming

Many tobacco farmers in Bangladesh want to leave tobacco but cannot, due to a range of tactics used by the tobacco industry.

“Tobacco-Free Farms” and Kenya’s Success in Supporting the Switch to Alternative Crops

Tobacco-Free Farms was launched in 2022 and is a joint United Nations initiative between the World Health Organization, Food and Agriculture Organization, World Food Programme, and the UN Capital Development Fund, in conjunction with the Ministry of Health and Ministry of Agriculture in Kenya and County Departments of Health and Agriculture. The initiative supports tobacco farmers to switch to alternative livelihoods.

Economic Returns of Tobacco are Lower than Alternative Crops in Uganda

In Uganda, profits earned from growing tobacco are lower than the four alternatives of maize, rice, beans, and cassava, with cassava being the best viable alternative to tobacco.

Tobacco harms the environment by causing deforestation that threatens plant and animal biodiversity, as well as through leaching soil nutrients and spilling toxic pesticides and fertilisers into soil and water systems.

Ref 20

Facts About Impact of Deforestation


bullet list icon

Forest reserves have been harmed by farmers clearing woodlands for tobacco farming and chopping down wood for tobacco curing.

bullet list icon

In Tanzania, 11,000 ha of forests are lost annually to tobacco production. This equates to over 15,000 soccer fields of forest lost each year.

Facts About Impact on the Soil


bullet list icon

Tobacco drains more nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium than other crops. This effect leaves the soil unsuitable for growing other crops.

bullet list icon

Cultivating and curing tobacco requires significant quantities of pesticides and fertilisers that leach into soil and water systems, causing harm to ecosystems and people.

bullet list icon

Most cigarette butt ingredients are not biodegradable and need light to break down, which can take 10 years.

bullet list icon

There are hundreds of thousands of cigarette butts polluting the ocean; 1 cigarette butt in 1 litre of water for 1 day will kill 50% of fish exposed to that water for 4 days.

Facts Tobacco and Deforestation


bullet list icon

Deforestation is one of the largest contributors to carbon emissions and climate change, and loss of biodiversity is another serious consequence in countries in Central America, South America and Southern Africa.

bullet list icon

About 90% of tobacco agriculture in Africa occurs in the Miombo ecosystem, the world’s largest contiguous area of tropical dry forests, that includes Tanzania, Malawi, and Zimbabwe. Tobacco in this region is primarily grown by small-scale farmers who lack access to the technical knowledge and technology available to farmers in developed countries. As a result, these farmers tend to rely on clearing fertile virgin land to expand production. In the Miombo ecosystem, tobacco-related deforestation accounts for up to half of the total annual loss of forests and woodlands.

bullet list icon

Tobacco farmers and producers refer to the drying of tobacco-leaf as “curing”. A commonly used method is “flue curing”, which requires flue-curing barns that are heated by externally fed fire-boxes. Small-scale tobacco farmers typically supply these fire-boxes with wood cut from shrinking indigenous forests. 

bullet list icon

In Malawi, tobacco production accounts for the largest share of agricultural land, and in a 2008 study, farming was estimated to have caused up to 70% of national deforestation. During the most rapid period of growth in tobacco farming (1972-1991), national forest cover declined from 45% to 25%.

The tobacco industry often presents tobacco farming as a lucrative economic endeavour for vulnerable smallholder farmers. However, tobacco farming is a challenging livelihood for most smallholder farmers in countries like Malawi.

Executives of tobacco corporations take home huge salaries. Meanwhile, Malawian farmers are often caught in unfair contractual agreements, earn little profit, and regularly pull their children out of school to provide additional farm labour. The share of export price received by Malawian tobacco farmers has also decreased over time. The average price received by farmers as a percentage of the export price fell from 32% in 2004 to 18% in 2019.

Malawian Farmers in Financial Distress

After Signing Contracts with the Tobacco Industry


Malawian farmers struggle with cycles of debt and financial distress, and these are exacerbated by the tobacco industry. This pattern is also apparent in other African countries such as Zimbabwe and Kenya.

It may be occurring in South Africa, but there is a lack of data on farmer experiences.

bullet list icon

The tobacco industry encourages Malawian farmers to sign contracts under which tobacco corporations provide seeds, fertilisers, and chemicals on credit, and in return, farmers guarantee to sell the corporations their harvest at the end of the season. However, farmers who use this credit system are not adequately informed about the contract terms (such as interest rates and price guarantees), leaving them with much less profit than anticipated.

While contract farmers generally earn higher profits than independent farmers (see the graph below), contract farmers are at risk of falling into debt-bondage cycles due to the uneven bargaining relationship with tobacco companies. When an unexpected negative event occurs, such as drought, farmers may fail to pay off their loan and end up taking on more debt with the tobacco company, which is carried over into the next growing season. Although this arrangement exploits small-scale farmers, they continue to enter into these contracts due to scarcity of credit.

bullet list icon

In addition to the debt-bondage cycle, farmers may be discouraged from breaking free of these contracts, as independent farmers’ tobacco may receive a lower grade or a lower price, and they may have their tobacco purchased only after that of the contract farmers.

Tobacco Farmers

Struggle With Low Profits


Perceived Tobacco Profit Per Acre Vs Profit Per Acre Adjusted for Household Labour in Malawi (2013/2014)


Independent farmersContract farmers-100.00.0100.0200.0300.0400.0500.0600.0700.0USD/Acre-37.3224.3417.0630.1

Source: Lencucha, R. et al. (2017)

bullet list icon

The figure compares farmers’ average profit when the usually unreported household labour is included in the profit calculation versus when it is not (for instance, if a family member helps out on the farm but is not paid for their work). Each household member’s labour is priced at the national rural minimum wage (in the 2013/14 season, approximately $4 USD per day). With labour’s inclusion, independent farmers’ profitability on average becomes negative, while contract farmers’ average profitability drops by nearly two-thirds.

bullet list icon

This result shows that for many Malawian smallholder tobacco farmers, both independent and contracted, their perceived profits far exceed their actual profits (after they account for household labour costs). Independent farmers make average annual profits of $417 USD/acre, and contract farmers average annual profits of $630 USD/acre. When we also account for the household labour costs, profits reduce to $224 USD/acre for contract farmers and an operating loss of $37 USD/acre for independent farmers. Given that Malawian farmers have small tracts of land allocated to growing tobacco (on average, 2.8 acres for contract farmers and 1.6 acres for independent farmers), the average overall profits that these farmers make each year place them below national poverty thresholds and are considerably less than average annual profits from crops such as soya beans ($644 USD/acre).

Tobacco Industry

Benefitting From Child Labour


tobacco farm child labor

It has been estimated that over 80,000 children work as unpaid farm labourers in Malawi, which prevents these children from attending school and breaking out of the poverty cycle. Moreover, children are particularly prone to green tobacco sickness due to their relatively small size.

While children have been harmed by tobacco farming, tobacco corporations have benefitted from saving an estimated $507 USD million through unpaid child labour from 2001 to 2014 in Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, and Zambia.

Tobacco CEOs Earn Millions

While Farmers Struggle to Survive


Over the 2014 growing season, smallholder (independent and contracted) Malawian tobacco farmers made $170 USD in profit on average. This pales in comparison to the earnings of top tobacco industry executives.

For example, in 2014, Philip Morris International’s CEO received 13 million US dollars in compensation. The executive’s salary can be over 76,000 times that of the average Malawian tobacco farmer’s as a function of the impoverishing, unpaid labour provided by tobacco farmers’ households.