What is happening to KP’s tobacco farmers?

In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s four-district cluster of Charsada, Mardan, Swabi, and Charsadda, tobacco is a lifeline. The local economies in these districts are heavily dependent on tobacco farming. In fact, most of the 50,000 hectares where tobacco is grown in Pakistan are concentrated in this little square of KP. 

Tobacco is a massive industry in Pakistan. It is one of the rare crops in which Pakistan has a competitive advantage. Both the quality and yield of Pakistani tobacco is significantly better than the world average. A big portion of the tobacco procured by manufacturers in Pakistan comes from these four districts. Large players like Pakistan Tobacco Company (PTC) and Phillip Morris as well as dozens of smaller local tobacco manufacturers depend on the health and productivity of the tobacco crop. 

But all is not well in Pakistan’s tobacco belt. Last week marked a major escalation between the province’s tobacco growers and the buyers that provide their crop to tobacco companies. The farmers are concerned the tobacco supply chain has become beholden to middlemen who use grading (quality checks) and unfair pricing to keep the growers down. 

Growers say the system benefits middlemen while pushing small-scale farmers into losses, particularly after a season of weather-related crop damage.