Defeating attempt made to introduce tobacco cultivation for farmers in Sri Lanka through sustainable agriculture development programme: a case study of Kandy district

• Main Author: Pestheruweliyanaralalage Shehara Obin Simoni Cooray
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: European Publishing 2018-03-01
• Series: Tobacco Induced Diseases
• Subjects: WCTOH
• Online Access: http://www.journalssystem.com/tid/Defeating-attempt-made-to-introduce-tobacco-cultivation-for-farmers-in-Sri-Lanka,84472,0,2.html

Background Sustainable Agriculture Development Programme is the main corporate social investment project of Ceylon Tobacco Company (CTC). Kandy district is well known for its rich biodiversity in Kandian home gardens. A hidden strategy of the project identified as it introduce tobacco cultivation in home garden level after promoting few other cash crops & animal husbandry for selected people with subsidies and technical support. This study was carried out to reveal the need for new counter strategies to address the negative impacts of the project and mitigate those to discourage tobacco cultivation. Objective: To recommend counter measures against tobacco cultivation promotion through SADP project. Methods Case study was carried out in Kandy district where SADP has implemented. The data was collected through secondary data sources such as CTC annual report, Newspaper articles, websites, and books. The expert opinions were obtained and group discussions held with farmers to make recommendations in combating the negative impacts of SADP project. Results The recommended counter measures consists of informing government officials regarding the negative impacts of SADP, make people aware about the CTC strategies on how they persuade people for tobacco farming, make people aware on consequences of tobacco farming related economic, social and health issues in long run. Conclusions - CTC attempts to promote tobacco cultivation in home garden level for some farmers in selected communities. - The social, economic and environmental cost is high if the negative impacts of SADP are not mitigated.