Replacing Tobacco with Alternatives Crops for Sustainable Development: Understanding Smallholder Farmers' Perspectives in Uganda

Irene Nakamatte^1*John Ilukor^1,2Jacob K Kibwage³

• ¹Makerere University Department of Agribusiness and Natural Resource Economics, Kampala, Uganda
• ²World Bank Survey Unit, Development Data Group, Kampala, Uganda
• ³Africa Waste and Environment Management Centre, Nairobi, Kenya

Almost 5.3 million hectares of land across the globe are dedicated to tobacco, with more than 75% allocated to growing activities. However, tobacco farming is often linked with social, economic and environmental problems. Tobacco farmers are largely attracted by the ease of access to input credit and guaranteed produce markets, however, also largely challenged by tobacco's labour-intensive nature that accelerates occupational health hazards, and prolonged liquidity constraints with risk of entrapment in debt. The mixed method approach, in this study, uses the exploratory sequential approach to examine farmers' willingness to shift from tobacco farming to alternative crops. Data were collected through face-to-face and in-depth interviews in tobacco growing areas of Hoima district. Descriptive analysis and t-test was conducted to characterize tobacco farmers, the binary probit model used to examine factors influencing tobacco farmers' willingness to shift and the multinomial logistic regression used to identify crop attributes farmers prioritize while selecting potential alternatives. The majority of tobacco farmers (73%) were willing to shift to alternative crops. Farmers willing to shift to alternative crops were on average younger and had fewer household members. Having land ownership rights (p<0.01) and being female (p<0.05) had a statistically significant positive effect whereas distance to tobacco markets and access to input credit were negatively associated with farmers' willingness to shift to alternative crops (p<0.01). Farmers' preference for potentially alternative crops such as maize, rice, beans and cassava were influenced by different crop specific attributes. The study therefore suggests that strengthening land ownership rights, and increasing access to input credit and well-structured markets for non-tobacco (alternative) crops are likely to facilitate smallholder farmer transition from tobacco. Additionally, policy interventions should facilitate access to crop options with specific attributes suitable in previously tobacco grown areas as well as inclusive and appropriate technologies that reduce labour burdens, targeting the youths and women as catalysts for farmer transition to alternative crops. Lastly, the collaborative multi-sectoral approach presents strategic opportunities to address tobacco's negative economic, environmental, and health impacts leveraging coordinated efforts to achieve sustainable development and meet the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO-FCTC) goals.