Tobacco Growers Ready to Take the Lead on Sustainable Measures in Agriculture

By the International Tobacco Growers Association

This March, the International Tobacco Growers Association (ITGA) gathered its Asian members to discuss in depth the increasing challenges growers are facing, in this continent. The demand for tobacco products keeps falling in many markets, adding more frustration to the already difficult situation farmers are facing as new trends in tobacco products also present a threat to the squeezed margins growers are getting for their products, taking into account that some of these products require a much lesser quantity of tobacco.

Other important issues were raised at the meeting where delegates from Azerbaijan, India, Indonesia, Philippines, and Thailand joined other stakeholders alongside regional and national government officials.

In a written message, Indonesia’s minister of agriculture pointed out the importance of this commodity to the Indonesian economy and also the high employment involved in the crop which, jointly with cloves, represents more than 4 million direct jobs and more than 6 million including related industries. The government highlighted its continuous support to the growth of the sector and the improvement of good agriculture practices

The meeting covered information related to tobacco products’ supply and demand and consumption trends. The global market for tobacco and tobacco products have suffered some changes and, the prediction made by Antonio Abrunhosa, ITGA c.e.o., some years ago that the growth of consumption in China would compensate the world decline has proven to no longer the case, as consumption is also showing signals of declining in China. According to Abrunhosa, one of the main challenges of the sector is the illicit market which in some markets like Brazil and South Africa can go up to 40%.

Consumption trends show that 20% of the world population still smokes and because of consumers’ average increase in income, the value of tobacco has increased, too. China represents 46% of the world consumption even though a slight decline of 2% was detected in 2015. In 2016 for the first time, the volume growth in Indonesia was negative.

Global leaf production data also shows a trend of decline. Talking about main varieties, the only one showing some increase is the oriental type while the production for FCV virginia has come down. On the burley variety, Malawi drives the global trend, in spite of substantial sways in production due to climatic conditions. Oriental has slightly increased its production in Greece due to the need for heated cigarettes, which require more of this variety. Finally, according to Abrunhosa, the main challenges for the sector can be summarized in future regulation, alternatives to tobacco products. and public health approach towards alternatives and the growth of illicit trade which represents more than 10% of the market, globally. Nevertheless, current trends on tobacco show that the market remains large, with almost a billion consumers.

Given these trends, Abrunhosa advised the delegations present at the meeting to alert their governments for the need to do research on viable complementary or alternatives crops to tobacco to reduce the dependence of their businesses and their economies on tobacco, thus, ensuring the sustainability of their farms.

Talking about the future of tobacco products in Asia, Adhitya Nungroho, from Euromonitor International, pointed out the decline in volume. Data shows how all regions are showing signals of declining, but value is expected to grow due to the increase in  consumers’ income. Cigarettes in South Asia in 2017 vs 2018 , will go down with Thailand at the top of this trend (11%) and Vietnam being the only country to experience some increase. Consumers’ trends will be marked by the growth of heated tobacco products, which will be significant in countries like Japan and China. The product may also have some impact in Indonesia but not so relevant, as the country has a very specific product, kretek, which is the favorite of Indonesian consumers.

On behalf of the Indonesian Tobacco Community Alliance (AMTI), Budidoyo Siswoyo, insisted on the strong commitment of the sector with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) approved by the United Nations (UN). In his speech Budidoyo said, “Growers work in line with many of the sustainable development goals (SDGs) and once again, as experienced with the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) [over] more than 10 years, many efforts are being made but tobacco growers keep being excluded [from] all kinds of UN programs, even though they are a direct target and their livelihoods are at stake.  We can cite here a number of goals and I am sure that tobacco farmers feel highly confident in terms of their levels of commitment toward sustainability in agriculture.”’

 ITGA’s delegations also took part in a field trip to where the local association, AMTI, has been working in community learning programs. In some of these programs, AMTI, working together with local partnerships has been promoting women empowerment in the villages and good agriculture practices. These programs also involve capacity building sessions, distribution of vegetables and fruit seeds, as well as training for the production of liquid fertilizers and bio pesticides as part of the healthy and organic farm education campaign.