Bulgaria encourages tobacco growers to switch production

The Bulgarian authorities have granted 36 million euros to farmers who agree to switch from tobacco cultivation to food production. This agricultural transition is also the focus of the upcoming World No Tobacco Day on 31 May.

Although Bulgaria is heavily subjugated to the pressures of the tobacco industry and that it knows one of the strongest Smoking prevalence in Europe[1], the authorities of this country have understood that tobacco cultivation is less profitable than other crops. This commitment also stems from Article 17 of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (CCLAT), ratified in 2005 by Bulgaria.

It is in this sense that, since 2015, the Bulgarian authorities have been encouraging tobacco growers to transition to food crops through financial incentives. An argument that has become all the more crucial in these times of widespread inflation and tensions over food supplies in Europe.

Tobacco cultivation, resource-intensive and unprofitable

This year, 70.5 million levs (36 million euros) in aid will be granted to tobacco growers making the transition.[2]. To be eligible, however, farmers must have produced tobacco for at least one year during the reference period (2007-2009). The amount of aid is calculated based on the volumes of tobacco sold and the varieties grown.

Exhibitor at the green tobacco disease, very demanding in terms of labor, natural resources (water, land, wood) and chemical inputs, tobacco growing is only slightly profitable compared to other types of crops, particularly food crops. This is the message conveyed this year by the World Health Organization for the World No Tobacco Day, on May 31, under the slogan “We need food, not tobacco”. Tobacco cultivation has thus gradually shifted to low- and middle-income countries in the southern hemisphere or Eastern Europe, where labor costs are significantly lower. Disappointed by the promises of economic performance announced by the tobacco industry, some of these countries, such as Bangladesh and the Malawi, have already decided to gradually withdraw from tobacco cultivation. Financial aid and incentives are the levers usually used to implement these policies.

©Generation Without Tobacco

MF

Keywords: Bulgaria, tobacco cultivation, agricultural transition, World No Tobacco Day.

[1] WHO-Europe, European Tobacco use, Trends Report 2019, WHO, Copenhagen, 2019.

[2] Ivanova T, Bulgaria to support tobacco growers with 36 mln euro, SeeNews, published March 13, 2023, accessed March 15, 2023.