| Summary: | Background
The FC TC took special
care to the most fragile link of tobacco production chain: the tobacco
leaf producer. Articles 17 and 18 require countries to adopt specific
policies to identify more profitable and healthy
product diversification mechanisms.
Brazil is the third
largest producer in the world and the largest exporter of tobacco leaf, with
144,000 producer families distributed in the South region. Of the
590,000 tons of tobacco produced in 2016, 85% was exported, which means that the
continuity of this activity depends on the world´s demand, impacted by the
accelerated FCTC implementation.
The Program was
created in 2005 and its objective is to articulate a set of public policies and
programs (credit, guaranteed purchase, distribution, etc.) to reduce farmers´
dependence on tobacco leaf production. The Program is operationalized through
public grants, for which local organizations and cooperatives submit projects
to provide technical assistance to farmers. By 2017, 11 thousand families were covered.
Methods
Interviews were
conducted by Ministry of Agrarian Development in 2011 and 2013 with 250 families assisted by the Program, with
questions on family and production profiles, health issues, productivity,
income, etc. The research allowed evaluating the impacts of the work developed
by the organizations benefited by the public grants.
Results
>Households not producing
tobacco anymore (2011-2013): 6,5% to 10,2%
>Income grows: R$ 1.8 thousand to R$ 2.3 thousand
>76% of family farmers wish to leave tobacco growing. Why?
-
23.2% hard work
-
22.7% low financial income
-
20.8% health problems
- 13.5% use of agrochemicals
Conclusions
The data shows that the
Diversification Program had a positive impact on the family incomes. However,
the lack of marketing networks and the lack of
articulation with public marketing policies are still an obstacle, as the
purchase of tobacco leaf is guaranteed by the tobacco industry.
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