3 min read
Land Tenure: Why Who Owns the Land Determines Who Can Leave Tobacco
Tobacco farmers who own their land have options—they can switch crops, sell, or diversify. Farmers who rent or sharecrop have no options—the landowner decides. Land tenure is the invisible determinant of tobacco transition.
A tobacco farmer in Zimbabwe who owns their land can decide to stop growing tobacco and plant something else. A tenant farmer on a leaf company's land cannot—the company requires tobacco. **Land tenure is the invisible determinant of tobacco transition. The farmers who are most able to leave tobacco are the farmers who own their land. The farmers who are trapped are the ones who don't—and they are disproportionately women, the poor, and the most vulnerable.**
