Diversification for tobacco growers: Is bamboo a solution?

IDRC funded several grants (phase 1, phase 2) to study the possible use of bamboo to replace tobacco. Tobaccotobamboo.org (not tobaccotobamboo.com) is a site devoted to present the research taking place in Kenya. TCA is trying to obtain an update as its results now take a special importance in the context of the present controversy with the International Tobacco Growers Association.

Kenya: Livelihood Diversification for Smallholder Tobacco Farmers in South Nyanza

Livelihood Diversification for Smallholder Tobacco Farmers in South Nyanza, Kenya - Phase I  Project Number 103765Start Date 2006/04/21Program Area/Group SEP | GEH Subject Terms TOBACCO | SUBSTITUTE PRODUCTS | CROP DIVERSIFICATION | INCOME GENERATION Area Under Study Sub-Saharan Africa | East Africa | Kenya Project Type Research Project Project Sub-Type Application Project Status Closed Administrative Unit Ottawa Regional Office Area ESARO Responsible Officer Leppan, Wardie ODA Sector Industrial Crops/Export Crops Canadian Collaboration No     Duration (months) 36 Extension (months) 0 Project Completion Date 2009/04/29 Legal Close Date 2009/08/13     Total Funding 351688     Abstract Most of Kenya's tobacco production takes place in the South Nyanza region, where the land under tobacco cultivation has increased rapidly and often at the expense of traditional food crops and livestock activities. An IDRC-funded meeting on tobacco farming by smallholders in October 2005 (103351) raised a number of concerns about the negative environmental, social, health and economic impacts of tobacco production. The workshop resulted in the proposal for this project. Researchers will compare tobacco and non-tobacco farmers in terms of livelihood strategies and investigate the sustainability of replacing tobacco with giant bamboo. This will be accompanied by a market analysis for bamboo and other alternative crops. The final output will be community action plans for livelihood diversification. This project is one of a number of projects, ongoing and planned, that will tackle the issue from different perspectives. While this project aims to replace one cash crop with another, a recently approved project in Bangladesh (103435) focuses on moving into diversified food production. A potential project in Malawi will help farmers diversify, but without replacing tobacco altogether. The researchers from the three projects will meet regularly to compare notes and generate lessons learned.  Post-Project Summary Researchers carried out a household survey of 210 tobacco-growing and 230 non-tobacco-growing farmers (total: 440) in four districts of South Nyanza region, mainly, Migori, Suba, Kuria and Homa Bay. The survey covered socioeconomic characteristics, land tenure, household assets and livelihoods, household income and expenditure, and reasons for participating or not participating in tobacco production. Questions specific to tobacco farmers concerned curing and marketing problems, the costs and profits associated with tobacco farming, child labour, and the impact of tobacco farming on health, the environment and the production of other crops. A second component of the study involved on-farm testing of two species of bamboo, giant bamboo (Dendrocalamus giganteus) and common bamboo (Bambusa vulgaris). Researchers monitored the performance of a total of 2 451 bamboo seedlings on 120 experimental sites under the same natural conditions that farmers grow tobacco. The survey results revealed that the main reason for not growing tobacco was religious. The main reason for growing tobacco was to improve the family's standard of living. In fact, however, tobacco farmers and non-tobacco farmers showed no significant differences in terms of ownership of livestock and basic household assets, and non-tobacco households tended to enjoy better quality housing. The annual net income of non-tobacco farmers was significantly higher than that of tobacco farmers. Low returns from tobacco were attributed to the cost of inputs, poor grading systems, pests and diseases, drought, soil erosion, labor shortages and outbreaks of fire during the curing process. Tobacco farmers spent more money on medical/healthcare services than non-tobacco farmers; non-tobacco farmers spent more money on education. Children were involved in all stages of tobacco production, to the detriment of their education. Tobacco farmers allocated less land for food crops and woodlots. The heavy demands of tobacco production on environmental services have resulted in the destruction of forest cover (including indigenous tree species), increased erosion, and declining soil fertility. Preliminary findings from the bamboo component indicate that the crop can be grown under the same conditions as tobacco, with minimal inputs in terms of labour, fertilizer, pesticides and wood fuel. Farm gate prices for bamboo were expected to be four to five times higher than those currently obtained from tobacco from a given acreage of land. A large proportion of farmers (93.6%) expressed willingness to adopt bamboo as an alternative to tobacco production. The project findings were validated in a workshop held in Migori town (November 2007) and attended by 138 farmers, district agricultural officers and researchers. Four community-based bamboo farming groups were formed, with technical support provided by the research team, and local government agricultural officers integrated sessions on bamboo into their farmers' field days. During the last six months of the project, research focused on developing community action plans for enabling farmers to shift from tobacco to bamboo production; offering basic training in bamboo utilization (treatment, processing technologies) and disseminating project outputs through presentations, reports, publications, policy briefs. Project reports can be seen in full on the project website (www.tobaccotobamboo.org). Work continued in a second phase (105791). Bamboo Production : Livelihood Diversification for Smallholder Tobacco Farmers in South Nyanza, Kenya - Phase II  Project Number 105791Start Date 2009/12/18Program Area/Group SEP | GEH Subject Terms TOBACCO INDUSTRY | CROP DIVERSIFICATION | BAMBOO Area Under Study Sub-Saharan Africa | East Africa | Kenya Project Type Research Project Project Sub-Type Policy Project Status Active Administrative Unit Ottawa Regional Office Area ESARO Responsible Officer Leppan, Wardie ODA Sector Crop Substitution Canadian Collaboration No     Duration (months) 36 Extension (months) 0 Planned Completion Date 2012/12/18     Total Funding 382000     Abstract During the first phase of this project (103765), researchers conducted a market analysis for bamboo and bamboo products, compared the livelihoods of tobacco and bamboo farmers, and produced a series of community action plans for livelihood diversification. The results of the studies indicated that tobacco farming did little to improve farmers' living standards, that bamboo did well under the same conditions as tobacco, and that there is a huge potential market for bamboo products. However, further research is needed on the infrastructure to support this potential market. In this phase, researchers will focus on assessing cooperative marketing systems and identifying best practices; undertaking feasibility studies and developing business plans for five bamboo products; establishing bamboo nurseries; conducting an environmental audit of tobacco farming in the region and evaluating the potential of two additional bamboo species. Recipient Institution(s) South Eastern University College Acronym SEUCO Street Address KWA VONZA | Kitui | Kenya, 90200 Mailing Address 170 | Kitui | KENYA, 90200 Website http://www.seuco.ac.ke  There is no information on this site Institution Type Public Geographic Scope National UN Organization No Component Number 001 Research Status Active Institution Country Kenya Researcher Name Dr. Jacob Kibwage Recipient Institution(s) Maseno University College Acronym MUC Mailing Address Private Bag | Maseno | Kenya Institution Type Educational Geographic Scope National UN Organization No Component Number 001 Research Status Closed Institution Country Kenya Researcher Name Jacob K. Kibwage Legal Disclaimer : Use of this information shall be at the user's own risk and under the condition that IDRC is not liable for that use or its results.