UNB, Dhaka :
PROGGA (knowledge for progress), an anti-tobacco campaigner, has asked the tobacco industry to end its exploitation of tobacco farmers and the government to support farmers who want to quit tobacco cultivation for other viable options.
In a statement on Wednesday ahead of the World Food Day, the anti-tobacco body said transitioning out of tobacco will not only ensure better future for the farmers in Bangladesh, but will also help address the food security concerns created by tobacco farming.
“Though the tobacco industry claims to have the best interest of Bangladesh’s farmers in mind, the reality is that the tobacco industry values only its own profits – often at the expense of our farmers,” it said.
The PROGGA said: “Bangladesh’s tobacco farmers often live in extreme poverty, bound to the potentially deadly life of tobacco farming, without viable alternatives.
“It’s time for the tobacco industry to end this exploitation of our tobacco farmers and for the government to support the transition of our
tobacco farmers to alternative and sustainable livelihoods by preparing and implementing a comprehensive guideline in the light of Smoking & tobacco products usages (control) Act, 2005 (amended 2013),” it added.
The statement further mentioned that recent statistics clearly indicates that tobacco producing lands and production both has doubled in four years. Comparing the year 2010-11 (48,867.41 hectares, Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics) to 2014 (108,000 hectare, Department of Agricultural Extension, Ministry of Agriculture.)
PROGGA (knowledge for progress), an anti-tobacco campaigner, has asked the tobacco industry to end its exploitation of tobacco farmers and the government to support farmers who want to quit tobacco cultivation for other viable options.
In a statement on Wednesday ahead of the World Food Day, the anti-tobacco body said transitioning out of tobacco will not only ensure better future for the farmers in Bangladesh, but will also help address the food security concerns created by tobacco farming.
“Though the tobacco industry claims to have the best interest of Bangladesh’s farmers in mind, the reality is that the tobacco industry values only its own profits – often at the expense of our farmers,” it said.
The PROGGA said: “Bangladesh’s tobacco farmers often live in extreme poverty, bound to the potentially deadly life of tobacco farming, without viable alternatives.
“It’s time for the tobacco industry to end this exploitation of our tobacco farmers and for the government to support the transition of our
tobacco farmers to alternative and sustainable livelihoods by preparing and implementing a comprehensive guideline in the light of Smoking & tobacco products usages (control) Act, 2005 (amended 2013),” it added.
The statement further mentioned that recent statistics clearly indicates that tobacco producing lands and production both has doubled in four years. Comparing the year 2010-11 (48,867.41 hectares, Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics) to 2014 (108,000 hectare, Department of Agricultural Extension, Ministry of Agriculture.)
