How tobacco farming is speeding up deforestation in the hills
Tobacco farming keeps requiring fresh logging after every harvest, and farmers turn to the local forested areas as a free source of fuelwood. BAT is the main player in the tobacco farming scene in the hills
Climbing down from the Chimbuk hill towards Betchhara Bazar on the bank of the Sangu river, we stopped at the sight of some bamboo houses and sheds by the side of a spring. It was a little far from the asphalt road. In the scorching late-April sun, we started walking through the crop fields.
The otherwise beautiful valley had hundreds of acres of land under tobacco cultivation. As it was late April, some fields had already been harvested, and some were awaiting harvest. Under the shed were bales of tobacco, wrapped in tarp marked UN refugee agency, possibly bought from some second-hand market in Cox's Bazar.
There, we met Kaw Sain Marma (30) and his octogenarian grandfather under a shed beside some tobacco fields. Kaw Sain's father and grandfather grew tobacco for seven to eight years. Kaw Sain himself cultivated it for three years.
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While any agricultural farming requires clearing of forests in the hills, tobacco farming is 'special', in the sense that it keeps requiring fresh logging after every harvest. Tobacco companies only collect dried tobacco leaves from the farmers. In order to keep production costs under control, local farmers turn to the local forested areas as a free source of fuelwood.
"One round of curing (drying) requires 25-30 mounds of wood for the Gold Leaf company's tobacco," said Kaw Sain.
The British American Tobacco (BAT) is known as the 'Gold Leaf Company' by the local farmers. BAT is the main player in the tobacco farming scene in the hills, although other companies are also active in the region.
"Company's tobacco needs burning (meaning curing with fire in a kiln). Local tobacco can be processed this way (pointing at the bales bundled and kept under the shed)," Kew Sain said.
"The wood comes from the jungle," the farmer said. This explained the heaps of tree trunks stored in the vicinity.
Much of the hill tracts, categorised as Unclassed State Forest, is out of the jurisdiction of the country's Forest Department, and are already susceptible to logging at the whims of locals and the administration. Tobacco farming is hastening the process of deforestation.
The impact of tobacco farming, however, is not limited to deforestation alone.
Philip Gain, a researcher and director of the Society for Environment and Human Development (SEHD) said, "Tobacco replaces croplands in the hills that could otherwise be used for food production for the local people. Apart from over-exploiting forest resources, this threatens the food security of the hill communities – ethnic and Bangalis alike. Besides, the chemicals used in tobacco farming pollute the creeks – the main source of drinking water for such communities."
"To me, tobacco farming in the hills should be banned."
The irony is, BAT - the organisation that has sped up deforestation in the hills - has received national recognition for special contribution to tree plantation, including the prestigious Prime Minister's National Award for five years.
When British American Tobacco Bangladesh was contacted for their comment on the findings of this story, they did not reply to our queries.
Green turning grey
Only two decades back, with lush forest covers and small-scale jum (shifting) farms scattered here and there, Bandarban's remote trails looked rather enigmatic and attractive. The landscape started to change fast in the mid-2000s, and forest covers were razed to make room for various economically profitable activities and industrial farming.
Towards the end of the decade, the most popular trail to Boga Lake and Keokaradong peak, known as the jhiri path among the trekkers, saw widespread cultivation of tobacco on the bank of the hill stream. It was an unusual sight in the mysterious forested valleys of our Bandarban hills.
Fast forward to 2024, tobacco has spread literally everywhere in the hill district, thanks to tobacco companies' – multinational and local – aggressive promotion.
Apart from the cultivation being very taxing on soil fertility, tobacco leaves need to be dried in a kiln, requiring a lot of fuelwood, which comes from all categories of forests that act as a "free" source of fuelwood.
Some locals say more trees are felled in the hill tracts for tobacco than brick kilns.
According to farmers, the generous inflow of cash and other agricultural inputs such as fertilisers, pesticides and seeds from tobacco companies, as well as a higher return, have changed the traditional farming scenario in the hills into such cash-driven, environmentally devastating practice.
The money trap
In the beginning, tobacco companies paid a lot of money in advance to the farmers to introduce them to tobacco farming.
"How much money do you need? The Gold Leaf company asked. The farmer would say, sir, we need Tk1 lakh this year. The company would give the money without asking," Kyanu Marma said, sitting on a bench in the veranda of a small shop-cum-restaurant in Betchhara Bazar in Rowangchhari.
Tobacco farming began in his area about 15 years back, Kyanu informed. The cash-strapped farmers were keen to get the company money. Many spent it in injudicious ways or for meeting non-farming needs.
The loans soon became a burden. To repay the company's loan, they had to take high-interest loans from mahajans. "Many farmers are now struggling to get out of this loan-trap," said Kyanu's son, the shopkeeper.
Tobacco companies promote the cultivation of hybrid varieties to increase production. But this also necessitates higher inputs, requiring more investment for the farmers. Even water is needed in higher quantities.
"We have to irrigate Gold Leaf field six to seven times in a season, or else it will get damaged," Kyanu said.
Once the farmers engage in the cultivation of tobacco on a regular basis, the company reduces its financial input. The company now gives Tk15 thousand to Tk20 thousand for farming on an acre of land, said Kyanu. Now, the farmers have to collect the primary investment money from local money lenders or Mahajans.
For a Tk1 lakh loan – locally called dadon – the interest is a whopping Tk50 thousand after a six-month period.
As tobacco cultivation ends in six months, farmers now have to repay the loan at the end of the season, and Mahajan hands out new loans for the paddy or jum season that starts around June.
"Because of this, I can't cultivate much land. I only do a little for sustenance," Kyanu said. He added that the soil suffers due to higher fertiliser and pesticide use and it takes around four years for the soil to recover after tobacco.
Burdened by the loans, some farmers are now turning their backs on farming tobacco for the companies.
Kaw Sain said he had also decided not to grow tobacco anymore. Growing tobacco requires a lot of resources – labour, agricultural inputs and fuelwood, and the need soars in the case of hybrid varieties promoted by the companies. He says he cannot keep up with the labour demand.
"Those with many family members can grow tobacco with more ease because they can save money on labour," he said.
So, is tobacco farming seeing a significant decline in the hills? Not quite.
When tobacco started showing a declining trend in recent times in the area, the companies started offering a better rate. The result can be seen everywhere in the hill district, as acres and acres of land still remain under tobacco cultivation. When cultivation stops in one area, it sprouts up in another.
However, according to the Bandarban Agricultural Extension Department, tobacco cultivation is slowly but steadily decreasing in the district.
The seven upazilas of the district had 4,085 ha of land under tobacco cultivation in 2009-2010. By last year, it had come down to 1,246 ha. In the last four years, the overall production of tobacco decreased to 3,110 metric tons from 3,904 metric tons.
"We are reducing tobacco cultivation by 50 to 60 ha on average every year. The government has a target to end tobacco farming by 2040," M M Shah Newaz, the deputy director of the Department of Agricultural Extension, Bandarban, told The Business Standard.
He says sugarcane can turn as much profit as tobacco. Shah Newaz also mentioned that in FY2023-24, the department, in collaboration with Bandarban Hill District Council and district administration, has distributed mustard, maize and peanut seeds among 200 farmers as an alternative crop to tobacco.
