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ORIGINAL ARTICLES
Global assessment of deforestation related totobacco farming
Helmut J Geist
AbstractObjectivesTo assess the global amountof forest and
woodland consumedannually for curing tobacco between 1990and 1995;
to estimate tobaccos share intotal deforestation; to rank
tobacco-growing countries by the degree of impactof tobacco
deforestation; and to indicateenvironmental criticality emerging
fromtobaccos impact on forest resources.DesignProduction of
country-specificestimates of forests/woodlands needed anddepleted
on the basis of growingstock/increment of woody biomass in-volved
and wood consumption of tobacco.Comparison of results with
secondarystatistics on forest cover, deforestation,and population
development.ResultsAn estimated 200 000 ha offorests/woodlands are
removed by to-bacco farming each year. Deforestationmainly occurs
in the developing world,amounting to 1.7% of global net losses
offorest cover or 4.6% of total nationaldeforestation.
Environmental criticalityexists or is emerging in 35 countries
withan estimated serious, high, and mediumdegree of tobacco-related
deforestation,mainly in southern Africa, middle east,south, and
east Asia, South America, andthe Caribbean.ConclusionThe hypothesis
that defor-estation from tobacco production does nothave a
significant negative eVect has to bechallenged. For empirical
validation, theglobally significant pattern of
estimatedtobacco-related environmental damageought to be included
in internationalresearch agendas on global environmentalchange, to
become an integral andrational part of tobacco control
policy.(Tobacco Control 1999;8:1828)
Keywords: deforestation, tobacco farming
IntroductionSince the late 1970s, growing concerns havebeen
expressed about the energy1 orfuelwood crisis caused by
tobaccoproduction,2 with emphasis being placed ondeforestation
caused by the outstanding rate ofsoil nutrient depletion and
considerable usageof wood. Tobacco production is considered topose
a particularly diYcult dilemma fordevelopment, as it generates a
range ofemployment, income, foreign exchange, and
other cash-contributing eVects, while thedamage to public health
and to theenvironment in the long term appears substan-tially to
outweigh the benefits.2 Very approxi-mate data for mid-1980
suggested that Virginia(flue-cured) tobacco consumes between
82.5and 175 million cubic metres of roundwoodharvested worldwide
each year for curing, andthat this translates into the equivalent
of1.22.5 million hectares of open forests orwoodlands removed
annually.2 3 Since then, noother estimations have been made to
quantifythe problem.
The Bellagio statement on tobacco and sus-tainable development
concluded that, in thedeveloping world, tobacco poses a
majorchallenge, not just to health, but also to . . .environmental
sustainability.4 Similarly, theUnited Nations Food and Agriculture
Organi-sation (FAO) has notedwithout providingdatathe consequences
of tobacco-relateddeforestation in the form of fuelwoodshortages
among rural populations in thedeveloping world.5
In contrast, reports commissioned by thetobacco industry have
sought to repudiate pre-vious acknowledgement of the problem
byplaying down the issue: Deforestation associ-ated with tobacco
curing cannot currently beconsidered a significant negative
externality.6 7
This statement contrasts with the conclusionsof a mid-1980s
consultancy study by Fraser8
on the use of wood in tobacco production andits ecological
implications, which until recentlyhas been regarded as the
definitive study. Onthe basis of wood consumption data,population
statistics, and forest density figures,this study stated: It is
important to note that ahigh proportion of the tobacco growing
areasin developing countries lie within parts of theworld
identified [by the] FAO as being in wooddeficit or prospective wood
deficit situations.8
As to the situation in the developing world(excluding China)
(figure 1), Fraser noted thatthe area of all types of forest in
most Africanand Asian countries is now below the level atwhich it
is capable of meeting the current andfuture fuelwood demand on a
sustainablebasis. This means that accelerating deforesta-tion can
be expected, with potentially seriousecological consequences.8
Although defor-estation was not explicitly calculated,
byconsidering tobacco production and forestavailability Fraser
concluded: The figures
Tobacco Control 1999;8:182818
Neuss, GermanyH J Geist
Correspondence to:Hubertusweg 90, D-41466Neuss,
Germany;[email protected]
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suggest that most Asian tobacco-growingcountries, and selected
African countries havegeneral fuelwood shortages and are
thereforelikely to experience accelerating deforesta-tion.8
The dataset on wood consumption hasrecently been updated with
data from selecteddeveloping countries for mid-1990.9
Again,deforestation was not explicitly calculated,while the concept
of a change in the economicsof fuel choice has started to pervade
much ofthe industrys rhetoric. The 1997 InternationalTobacco
Growers Association report stated:Developing countries . . . will
continue to usewood as a curing fuel because no
cost-eVectivealternative has emerged. Through theestablishment of
renewable, energy-eYcientand regularly harvestable sources in
managedtree plantations, they will, however, stabilisethe impact
they make on the deforestationquestion.9
The objective of this paper is to quantify theissue of
deforestation related to tobacco farm-ing on a global scale. Claims
thattobacco-caused deforestation is insignificantwill be
challenged. In the calculation ofestimates of deforested areas due
to tobaccoproduction, use has been made of all recentlyavailable
data on wood consumption bytobacco.10 The paper starts by outlining
theunderlying causes or driving forces ofdeforestation related to
tobacco farming.
Determinants of tobacco-relateddeforestationAmong the underlying
causes of tobacco-related deforestation are (a) the usage of woodin
the farm-based process of curing the crop,that is, drying the
leaves, and (b) the globalshift of production into low-cost
producercountries of the developing world which
typically have fragile natural environments.Not considered here,
but relevant especiallyunder tropical conditions, are the
agriculturalpractices of topping and desuckering, that is,designing
the tobacco plant as a consumerproduct that will have a high
nicotine content.The result is a uniquely high uptake of
allmacronutrients from the soil, and tobaccosregular need for
fertile (virgin) soils which areoften provided by land clearances
involvingdeforestation.2 11
Tobacco farming requires substantialamounts of wood for a
variety of purposes,such as curing, and poles and sticks for
barnconstruction. On the basis of a compilationand standardisation
of national data on woodusage, the annual global wood usage of
tobaccohas been calculated as a mean 19.9 stackedcubic metre per
tonne of tobacco (median =18.9, mode = 1.0).10 To varying degrees,
woodusage was found to be widespread in nearly alldeveloping
countries. Expressed in percentagesof global tobacco production in
the first half ofthe 1990s, major consumers of wood were
darkair/sun-cured tobaccos (15%), burley (12%),flue-cured (12%),
and oriental tobacco (9%),with fire-cured and dark, as well as
lightair-cured tobaccos being minor consumers(around 1% each).
Thus, around half of global tobacco produc-tion (3.8 million
tonnes) relied upon inputs ofwood totalling 26.6 million stacked
cubicmetres, or 11.4 million tonnes of solid wood.10
Although flue-cured tobacco accounts for only12% of the global
produce using wood, it makesup for 60% of solid wood consumed, with
fire-wood uses being the major part (table 1).
Since the mid-1960s, a global shift oftobacco production has
occurred which hasseveral socioecological consequences. Com-pared
with 1700, when nearly the entire world
Arctic Circle
Tropic of Cancer
Tropic of Capricorn
Equator
160 160 180140 140120 120100 10080 8060
60
40
20
20
40
60
0
40 40 6020 200
Areas producing flue-cured tobaccoProspective and actual
fuelwood deficits
Antarctic Circle
Figure 1 In many countries where flue-cured tobacco is grown,
fuelwood demand is not sustainable. (After Fraser. 8)
Global assessment of deforestation related to tobacco farming
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production of tobacco was concentrated inBrazil, parts of the
Caribbean, and in theChesapeake colonies of northern America,with
the breakdown of colonial rule from themid-19th century, tobacco
farming spreadnearly all over the world.1214 At present,
thequantities entering world trade originatemostly from zones of
the developing worldwhere frost-free days, a suYciently long
dryseason (allowing for harvesting and curing thecrop), and
low-cost conditions of productionare optimal. By the end of the
1990s, aroundfour-fifths of more than 120 developingcountries or
the equivalent of around 90% ofall global land under tobacco15 is
now locatedin developing nations. In general, the
naturalenvironments where tobacco is commonlygrown fall more in
highlands than lowlandsand more in dryland than humid
ecosystems(semi-arid to semi-humid climates).12 13
The general fragility of ecosystems undersuch climates suggests
the notion that tobaccofarming mostly occurs in
environmentallythreatened areas or regions at risk.
Althoughforest-covered highlands constitute criticalenvironmental
zones, in that watershedmanagement is essential to prevent
large-scale,oVsite eVects, dryland areas are are amongthe worlds
most fragile ecosystems, and aremade more so by periodic droughts
and therisk of desertification.16 Drylands cover 30%of the worlds
land area and are inhabited by alarge proportion of people who are
among theworlds poorest (and thus particularlyresponsive to growing
a cash-generating cropsuch as tobacco). An estimated 70% of
theworlds drylands are aVected by desertificationdue to land
degradation caused by climate andhuman activities. The major causes
of human-induced land degradation are considered to belarge-scale
deforestation, mainly for conversionto agricultural uses, and
overexploitation offorests and woodlands through fuelwood
collection.16 17 Relatively dry as well as uplandareas are
extremely prone to deforestation, asthey provide more favourable
conditions foragriculture than humid lowlands or rainforestzones.
The most recent tropical trend to beobserved is that deforestation
[has] pro-gressed more in the uplands than in thelowlands,17 and
that areas under dry forestsare about to turn into the most
endangeredmajor tropical ecosystem.18
From the social driving forces of tobaccofarming outlined, a
pattern of emergingcriticality could be assumed. Indicativeevidence
is provided by the following globalindicators of tobacco versus
arable land devel-opment.+ The bulk of land under tobacco (63%)
is
located in low-income countries of the(sub)tropical zones, and
the mean globalrate of tobaccos area expansion from 1982to 1996
(0.4% each year) has been exceededin these zones (2% per
year).15
+ Although during the same period of time,arable land expanded
at a rate six timeshigher than tobacco (2.4% each year), inmore
than 20 developing countries, most ofthem in the developing world
and holdingmore than half of global production, landunder tobacco
increased at even higherratesup to 10 times in
Pakistan,Philippines, China, Zimbabwe, and Malawi,for example, and
in some cases even more(such as in Zambia and Uganda).15
+ Although the present global share of landunder tobacco in all
arable land is only0.6%, it is far above average in
majortobacco-growing areas of the developingworld, such as
subtropical east Asia (1.5%)and tropical southern Africa
(2.3%).15
+ Less than half of the land under tobacco(42%) is grown with
naturally curedvarieties, using natural variations intemperature
and humidity to dry up the
Table 1 Global assessment of annual deforestation caused by wood
use in tobacco farming, 19911995
Flue-cured tobacco Fire-cured tobacco Bur Das Ori Dac Lac
All
Fuel Poles Total Fuel Poles Total Poles Poles Poles Poles
Poles
(1) Total annual global tobacco production (000 tonnes dry
weight) (%)19
4627 54 893 1094 651 114 77 7510(61.1) (0.7) (11.9) (14.6) (8.7)
(1.5) (1.0) (100)(n=82) (n=17) (n=65) (n=56) (n=37) (n=26) (n=29)
(n=118)
(2) Tobacco production using wood (000 tonnes dry weight) (% of
global tobacco production)10
895 54 893 1094 651 114 77 3778(11.9) (0.7) (11.9) (14.6) (8.7)
(1.5) (1.0) (50.3)
(n=56) (n=54) (n=56) (n=17) (n=17) (n=17) (n=65) (n=56) (n=37)
(n=26) (n=29) (n=116)
(3) Total annual solid wood required for tobacco production (000
tonnes) (%)10
6810 38 6849 560 12 571 987 2030 696 181 124 11 437(59.5) (0.3)
(59.8) (4.9) (0.1) (5.0) (8.6) (17.7) (6.1) (1.6) (1.1) (100)
(4) Additional (deficit) wood required annually for tobacco
production (000 tonnes)10
3011 17 3028 365 7 373 575 1150 404 102 67 5698
As % of total (5698)52.8 0.3 (53.1) 6.4 0.1 (6.5) 10.1 20.2 7.1
1.8 1.2 100(n=54) (n=52) (n=54) (n=15) (n=15) (n=15) (n=63) (n=55)
(n=37) (n=26) (n=28) (n=114)
(5) Sustained-yield area of woody biomass needed annually to
provide (4) (000 ha* )Natural (medium) woody biomass potential,
mostly woodlands and dry forests (000 ha* )
6022 34 6056 730 15 745 1149 2299 807 204 134 11 396
Plantation forest (000 ha* )231 1 233 40
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leaves through air and sun-curing, whereasartificially cured
varietiesthose using heatfrom external sources such as wood and
coal(fire/flue-curing)account for the majorityof global land under
tobacco (58%), andmore so in the developing world (73%).10 19
Research designASSUMPTIONS ON WOOD USAGE, DEFORESTATION,AND
AFFORESTATION
Major assumptions used to calculatetobacco-induced deforestation
are providedhere. First, unless specified as plantationforests,
wood is assumed to be commonlytaken from native forests and
woodlands, beingregarded as free goods, requiring nopayment to be
made towards the cost ofreplacement.8 Second, only where
shortageshave developed, does the market price of woodrise to a
level where investment in plantationforests becomes attractive.8
Third, investmentin plantation forestry will not take place on
asuYcient scale until most of the natural foresthas been
destroyed.8 Fourth, the percentageof tobacco farmers known to have
no privatewoodfuel plantings (58% as a global average)10
is used as the proportion of tobacco produceusing wood taken
from native forests andwoodlands. Fifth, although wood usage
anddeforestation occurs in a few tobacco-growingcountries of the
developed world (as defined bythe FAO16)that is, Romania, Japan,
andSouth Africano wood was assumed to betaken from natural
vegetation in developednations.
DEPLETION OF GROWING STOCK
Commonly expressed in solid measures, thegrowing stock (GS) of
woody biomass, which isnormally the commercially harvestable part
ofthe tree, gives the (solid) volume of woodstanding on a given
area such as one hectare(0.01 km2). If more than the increment is
cut,some of the growing stock is removed andincrement in the
following years will bereduced. If this overcutting persists, the
rateof decrease of the growing stock will accelerate,and the forest
will eventually be totallydestroyed.8 While this process could be
calledforest degradation, the focus in this paper is
ondeforestation, which means no persistent over-cutting (merely
reduction of increment), butcomplete removal of the natural
woodybiomass (depletion of growing stock).
Three major GS specifications wereavailable for a low, medium,
and high woodybiomass potential representing all majorecosystems of
the African continent.20 The(median) value of 27 (air-dry) tonnes
per hec-tare (t/ha) of medium woody biomass wasused, since this
type of vegetation is most com-mon to the natural environments
wheretobacco is grown. Other GS rates representlow woody biomass
potential, that is,wooded grasslands, shrubland, bushland
andthicket (averaging 8 t/ha), and high woodybiomass potentialhumid
tropical forests,evergreen and montane forests, coastal andgallery
forests, swamp forests, and mangrove(122 t/ha ).20 The GS rate
selected represents
the average value of 16 diVerent land-coverclasses containing
(a) low woody biomassmosaics, (b) any type of woodland, that
is,open, seasonal, dry, and moist woodlands, and(c) high woody
biomass mosaics, that is,evergreen woodland mosaics, cultivation
andforest/woodland mosaics, cultivation and forestregrowth, as well
as highland cultivationmosaics.20 The African value used is
assumedto resemble comparable growing environmentson other
continents.
MEAN ANNUAL INCREMENT
The term mean annual increment (MAI) meansthe annual increase in
the aggregate volume oftrees, commonly expressed in solid volume
perhectare. It is often used to indicate the yield,since it
represents the long-term sustainablequantity of wood which can be
harvested.8 Theaverage value of 0.5 (air-dry) t/ha per year as
amedian of 16 land cover classes20 is taken toassess the
(hypothetical) sustained-yield areaof natural medium woody biomass
required toprovide wood. For plantation forests, twodiVerent MAI
values are used to assess (hypo-thetical) plantation establishment.
The MAI oftemperate plantations is normally in the rangeof 212
m3/ha per year (the mean of 7 m3/ha istaken), and tropical
plantations normally givean MAI in the range of 624 m3/ha per
year(mean = 15 m3/ha).8
CONVERSION FACTORS USED
A stack of wood is one metre long by one metrewide by one metre
high, giving a total volumeof one (stacked) cubic metre (stm3). Due
toirregular gaps and air spaces, onlyapproximately 6070% of the
volume is madeup of solid wood, so that the weight of wood inone
stack will range from approximately250600 kg. This translates into
a mean stack-ing factor of 425 (kg) or 0.43 (tonnes).8 Anequivalent
ratio of 2.33 tonnes could thus beused to convert solid wood into
stackwood. Forcomparison, and to give a rough indication ofthe
order of magnitude involved, one stackedcubic metre of fuelwood
provides heating andcooking for one person for a year, brews
400litres of beer, smokes one tonne of fish, cures50 kg of tobacco,
or fires 3000 bricks, being athird of what is needed to build a
standardrural house.10 21
SIX STEPS TOWARDS ESTIMATING DEFORESTATION
Assessing tobacco-specific deforestation con-sists of six major
steps (table 1). The mainobjective is to translate the annual
amount ofsolid wood required (in tonnes, t), but not sup-plied from
private sources (additional or defi-cit wood), into the equivalent
area of woodybiomass needed (in hectares) and eithermanaged on a
sustainable basis (using MAI) ordeforested (using GS).
(1) Total annual world tobacco productionTo be comparable with
the most recent annual199095 FAO data on global forest-coverchange
by country, the annual production oftobacco is specified as a
five-year average for19911995 by variety grown.16 As diVerent
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tobaccos require diVerent uses of wood,tobacco data of seven
crop varietes for about120 developing countries are used.19
(2) Annual tobacco production using woodFrom crop-specific wood
requirements andnational wood consumption data, the shareand amount
of global tobacco produce makingusage of wood is derived.10
(3) Annual solid wood required for tobaccoThe national usage of
wood on a yearly basis wascalculated in stackwood and
subsequentlyconverted into solid measures, to have standard-ised
rates compared with the specification of GSand MAI. The breakdown
by usages of wood forfuel and poles allows for a crop-specific
andpurpose-specific assessment.
(4) Additional annual (deficit) wood required fortobaccoUsing
approximate values of the degree of self-suYciency in wood obtained
from farmersprivate sources, the share and amount of solidwood
originating from open, accessible(common) land and natural forests
wasderived.10 The national percentage of tobaccofarmers who are
self-suYcient in wood (forexample, 82% of Brazilian and 7%
ofTanzanian flue-cured tobacco growers havingtheir own woodfuel
plantings10) was convertedinto the equivalent of deficit wood
needed forall tobaccos and taken from commonland18% and 93% in the
case of Brazil andTanzania, respectively. For 15
developingcountries, estimates of self-suYciency exist inthe range
of 5% (Poland) to 100% (Kenya,Congo/Zaire), whereas the mean of 42%
wasapplied in all other cases.10
(5) Sustained-yield area of woody biomass neededto provide
(4)Using the MAI values as specified, the equiva-lent area of woody
biomass needed andassumed to be harvested on a sustained-yieldbasis
was calculated.
(6) Equivalent area of natural woody biomassdeforestedUsing GS
values as specified for a mediumwoody biomass potential (forest,
woodlands,vegetational mosaics), the wooded area neededand not
harvested on a sustained-yield basis,but completely removed instead
(deforested),was calculated.
ASSESSING TOBACCOS PART IN TOTALDEFORESTATION
To provide a rough indication of the order ofmagnitude involved,
national estimation valuesof tobacco-specific deforestation were
com-pared with national deforestation FAO data.16
In doing this, implicit use had to be made ofthe FAO concept of
forest cover, that is,ecosystems with a minimum of 1020% treecrown
cover (including natural and plantationforests), as well as of the
FAO concept ofdeforestation, that is, depletion of tree crowncover
(compared with the crop-specificconcept of growing stock depletion
used here).
Thus, from the divergent definitions, the dataproduced could
only be taken as a rough indi-cation and need to be crosschecked
againstreported evidence of deforestation (orotherwise verified).
The number of countriesincluded was 66, as only cases of
developingnations with FAO-reported deforestation wereincluded.
ASSESSING ENVIRONMENTAL CRITICALITY
To assess tobaccos environmental impact on anational scale,
criticality measures of forestresource availability were used.
Assuming aneed of one cubic metre of fuelwood forpurposes such as
cooking per inhabitant peryear and an annual growth of 4 m3 of
usable(solid) woody biomass in the form of stem,branches, and
twigs, which is a rather high esti-mate for dry forests and
woodlands (especiallywhen compared with 0.5 m3 of solid woodused
here20), a forested area of 0.25 ha percapita would be needed to
cover the fuelwooddemand on a sustained yield basis.17
ResultsTANZANIA
In the low-income, African nation of Tanzania(tables 2 and 3),
average annual tobaccoproduction between 1991 and 1995 was 21
645tonnes. The use of wood in the form offirewood and polewood was
prevalent for alltobacco varieties grown, that is, flue-cured(81.5%
of total production), (dark) fire-cured(18.2%), and (air-cured)
burley tobacco(0.3%). Experiments with coal in the artificialcuring
of flue have failed, and no cost-eVectivealternatives to wood have
so far beenintroduced on a large scale. Thus, 100% offlue-cured
tobacco produced uses wood. Fromthe annual rates of wood usage per
crop varietygrown (in stm3/t)flue-cured = 33.1 (fuel =33.0, poles =
0.1), fire-cured = 37.5 (fuel = 37,poles = 0.5), and burley = 5.0
(only polewood),the total stacked farmwood consumed bytobacco
amounts to 731 634 m3 or the equiva-lent of 314 603 t, that is:
((17 640 t of flue 33.1) + (3930 t of fire-cured 37.5) + (75 t
ofburley 5.0)) 0.43.
Since only 7% of the flue farmers are knownto use their own
woodfuel plantings,presumably 93% of the wood requirements forall
tobaccos (292 580 t) is taken from open,accessible natural forests
and woodlands. Ifmanaged in a sustainable manner, with nomore than
the MAI taken, this translates into585 160 ha of natural woody
biomass area(dry forests, woodlands) needed, that is,292 580
divided by 0.5, or the equivalent of19 505 ha of (hypothetical)
plantation forestarea, that is, 292 580 divided by 15. Under
theassumption that the woody biomass requiredis totally removed by
depleting GS, theamount of forests and woodlands deforested is10
836 ha, or 292 580 divided by 27.Compared with the total
deforestation of323 000 ha each year during the periodconsidered,
tobaccos share amounts to 3.4%.Deforestation caused by tobacco
farming isconsidered to be high but not serious on anational scale.
This assessment is largely con-
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firmed by indicators of environmental critical-ity such as the
share of forest in total land(36.8%) which is far above the forest
coverrequired to ensure adequate fuelwood supplies(8.4%), that is,
33.6 0.25. Although theshare of land under tobacco in 1992 to
1997(1.1%) was above the global mean (0.7%),expansion of tobacco
land was far below thatof arable land.
In the perception of Tanzanias nationaltobacco services: The
country has plenty ofuncultivated land suitable for tobacco
produc-tion . . . [and] a large potential to increase pro-duction
of flue and fire cured tobacco throughacreage expansion,22 thus
confirming thenational trend assessed. The impact oftobacco-related
deforestation will presumablybe felt more on a regional,
provincial, or
Table 2 Usage of wood in tobacco production and its impact upon
forest resources in the developing world*, 19901995
Developingcountries
Flue-cured tobaccoFire-curedtobacco Bur Das Ori Dac Lac
Woodconsumption Deforestation
(a) (b) (c) (d) (b) (d) (b) (e) (b) (e) (b) (e) (b) (e) (b) (e)
(f) (g) (h) (i) (j) (k)
Serious impact**South Korea 85.5 62.1 50 19.1 0.0 0.0 37.9 3.8
0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 272.2 58 157.9 5846 13.0
45.0Uruguay 1.4 89.3 90 15.1 0.0 0.0 3.6 3.8 7.1 3.8 0.0 0.0 0.0
0.0 0.0 0.0 7.6 58 4.4 162 0.4 40.6Bangladesh 55.0 33.4 36 17.1 0.0
0.0 2.4 5.0 61.6 5.0 0.0 0.0 0.2 5.0 2.4 5.0 128.0 58 74.2 2750 9.0
30.6Malawi 125.4 19.0 100 18.0 8.3 23.5 71.6 5.0 0.7 5.0 0.4 5.0
0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 485.4 80 388.3 14 382 55.0 26.1Jordan 2.8 100.0 50
19.1 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 11.7 58 6.8
252 1.0 25.2Pakistan 96.0 48.1 100 19.1 0.0 0.0 1.0 5.0 21.6 5.0
18.0 5.0 0.0 0.0 11.3 5.0 486.1 58 282.0 10 443 55.0 19.0Syria 18.5
26.1 50 19.1 0.0 0.0 21.0 3.8 0.0 0.0 50.5 3.8 0.0 0.0 2.5 3.8 42.3
58 24.5 909 5.0 18.2China 3049.0 89.0 0 NA 0.0 0.0 2.3 5.0 7.9 5.0
0.3 5.0 0.6 5.0 0.0 0.0 722.8 58 419.2 15 527 87.0 17.8Zimbabwe
202.3 94.7 30 28.0 0.0 0.0 5.3 5.0 0.0 0.0
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district level. Taking, for example, the area ofTabora/Urambo,
the largest flue-producingregion of the country, the area had early
beenidentified as a region at risk, if mitigation of thelosses of
natural forest cover due to tobaccowere not undertaken.23 24 In the
early 1990s, itwas reported that farmers had to travel as far as10
km to get wood, and that eVects of tobacco-related desertification
were already visible interms of forest removal, droughts,
irregularrains, and whirlwinds, which had been uncom-mon in the
area before.25 Although nearly11 000 ha of tobacco-related annual
deforesta-tion were estimated to occur on a nationalscale, the
following estimates rank higher.+ At the end of 1980, the steady
increases of
tobacco production since independence hadbeen predicted to cause
overexploitationof woodlands as high as 42 000 ha26 (the
value clearly relates to forest degradation,that is, using more
than MAI, but notdepleting GS).
+ For the agricultural season 1989 to 1990,the annual loss of
forest cover due totobacco curing (not including usages ofpolewood)
was estimated to be 13 000 ha byusing a laboratory design of one
curingprocess to arrive at a national estimate.27
Curing of tobacco was considered by Siddiquiand Rajabu27 to be
the second largest consumerof wood after the domestic sector,
producing4356 million cubic metres of carbon dioxideand 238 million
cubic metres of carbonmonoxide per season. Taken together,
thedeforestation rate and level of discharge ofpolluting gases to
the atmosphere wasregarded as a threat to the integrity of
theenvironment (figure 2).
THE GLOBAL VIEW
Considering the annual amount of woodrequired for tobacco
farming in 19901995 ona global scale (11.4 million
tonnes),halfmostly for the purpose of curing Virginia(flue-cured
tobacco)is presumably notprovided from own and legitimate sources
(5.7million tonnes), but taken from open,accessible (common) land
and native forests(table 1). Given the assumption that the natu-ral
woody biomass area is managed in asustained-yield manner, that is,
no overcutting/overexploitation occurs, tobacco farmingrequires
11.4 million ha of those types of natu-ral vegetation where tobacco
is commonlygrown (medium types of biomass potentialssuch as
woodlands, forest/woodland regrowthsand highland cultivation
mosaics). Tosubstitute the impact on native forests andwoodlands,
the equivalent (hypothetical) areaunder plantation trees is 503 000
ha.
Assuming, however, that deficit wood is notharvested from
natural vegetation in a sustain-able manner, but the growing stock
depletedinstead, the amount of natural woody biomassconsumed and
removed annually by tobacco isestimated to be 211 000 ha. As 93%
oftobacco-related deforestation occurs ingrowing countries of the
developing world, andas the decrease of 14 600 ha in the
developedworld (Romania, Japan, South Africa) isassumed to be
completely oVset by woodbrought in from sources other than
deforestingcommon lands, the amount of forest cover lostannually
due to tobacco growing (in the devel-oping world) is 196 400
ha).
Considering total deforestation, the cumula-tive global net
losses of all forested areas in thefive-year period 19901995 were
56.3million ha,16 and the global net loss of forestwas 11.3 million
ha. Thus, tobacco-relateddeforestation amounts to 1.7% of the
netamount of forest cover removed annually on aglobal scale. In
terms of the rate of total annualdeforestation (0.65% worldwide),
it washighest in the tropical zone of the developingworld,
especially in tropical Asia/Oceania(0.98%).16 Reflecting these
trends, tobaccosshare in forest removal is highest in
developing
Table 3 Environmental criticality caused by tobaccos impact upon
forest resources
Developing countries* (a) (b) (c) (d) (e)
Serious impactSouth Korea 77.2 455.7
-
countries of Asia/Oceania (3.7%) and lowest inthe Americas
(0.6%).
CRITICALITY IN THE DEVELOPING WORLD
On the basis of 66 growing countries of thedeveloping world
which were found to haveboth tobacco-induced losses of forest
coverand FAO-reported16 incidences of deforesta-tion (table 2),
tobaccos share in total annualdeforestation occurring in 19901995
isestimated to be 4.6% as a mean national aver-age (median = 0.7%,
mode = 13.9%)+ Highhigher than global mean (1.7
13.9%)+ Mediumhigher than median, but lower
than global mean (0.71.7%)+ Lowlower than median, but higher
than
half of it (0.30.7%)
+ Minorlower than half the median(
-
tobacco-related forest removal (0.6%). Amedium-to-serious degree
of deforestation bytobacco presumably exists in parts of
SouthAmerica (Argentina, Uruguay, Chile, Colom-bia), the Caribbean
(Cuba, DominicanRepublic, Haiti, Jamaica, Trinidad andTobago) and
central America (Honduras, ElSalvador, Guatemala). The situation
seemsespecially critical in Cuba and the DominicanRepublic, with
both holding large shares oftobacco in arable land and not having
sufficientforest cover. Although having small amounts ofland under
tobacco, environmental criticalitycould be assumed in Haiti, El
Salvador,Jamaica, and Trinidad and Tobago. Despite asuYcient forest
cover, looming wood scarcitydue to tobacco is likely to emerge in
Hondurasand Guatemala where tobacco land expansionhas exceeded the
growth of arable land duringthe past 15 years. Among other
developingcountries with low-to-minor degrees oftobacco-related
deforestation, only Costa Rica,Ecuador, and Paraguy show a trend
towardsemerging criticality (while no such indication isfound in
Brazil).
AFRICA
The share of African tobacco in world produc-tion has tripled
from 2% in the 1930s to 6% inthe 1990s. At present, nearly 90% of
continen-tal production originates from producer coun-tries of the
miombo zone, an ecosystem of thesoutheastern highlands bearing dry
forests andwoodlands.28 None of the annual losses of veg-etational
cover (3.0 million ha) was oVset byforest increases. Forest removal
by tobacco isestimated to be approximately 41 900 haannually. Thus,
Africa holds a medium share oftobacco-related forest removal in
deforestation(1.4%). A medium-to-serious degree oftobacco-related
deforestation exists in south-ern and eastern Africa (Malawi,
Zimbabwe,Zambia, Tanzania, Uganda, Burundi, Ethio-pia), in parts of
north Africa (Morocco,Tunisia), and west Africa (Togo, Nigeria).
The
situation seems close to criticality, however,only in parts of
the miombo-covered highlandsin southeast Africa. In Malawi, for
example,large shares of tobacco under arable land exist,with arable
land having expanded at lower ratesthan tobacco, whereas forest
cover still exists toa suYcient degree (not so in Burundi),
buttending towards criticality (figure 3). Generalwood scarcity is
already a major factor in sub-tropical north Africa (including
Algeria withminor deforestation) as well as in most oftropical west
Africa where indicators tendtowards criticality more among
Sudano-Sahelian producers such as Nigeria (includingChad and Mali
with minor deforestation) thanamong Sudano-Guinean producers such
asTogo (including Ghana, Ivory Coast, SierraLeone, Benin, Liberia,
and Cameroon withlow-to-minor deforestation). No
significantindication of tobacco-related forest removal,however, is
found in producer countries of therainforest zone such as Congo and
the CentralAfrican Republic.
ASIA/OCEANIAIn Asia and Oceania, the share of tobacco inglobal
production has been on a constant risefrom approximately 30% in the
1950s toapproximately 63% at present. The annuallosses of
vegetational cover were assumed to bepartly oVset by forest
increases in developedcountries (Australia and New Zealand, not
soin Japan), resulting in net losses of around 3.1million hectares,
and the amount of naturalvegetation removed by tobacco is estimated
tobe around 117 300 ha annually. Thus, amongthe continents,
Asia/Oceania holds the largestshare of tobacco-related forest
removal (3.7%).An estimated medium-to-serious degree
ofdeforestation due to tobacco exists in subtropi-cal climateseast
Asia (China, South Korea)and the middle/near east region (Jordan,
Syria,Iran, Lebanon), as well as in tropical climatessouth Asia
(Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka)and continental as well as insular
southeast Asia(Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam). DevelopingAsian
countries hold the largest single shareamong tobacco producers with
seriouscrop-specific deforestation. The situation seemsespecially
critical in China, Pakistan, and thePhilippines, where either large
shares oftobacco are under arable land (China,Philippines) or
recent, strong tobaccoexpansion has been experienced
(China,Philippines, Pakistan) and forest cover is lowerthan
required. The extent to which growingareas in the dry zone of the
middle/near eastregion are aVected is mainly seen as a
generalresult of their limited arable land andvegetational cover.
Criticality due to tobaccopresumably exists in Sri Lanka, South
Korea,Thailand, and Vietnam, whereas possible pres-sures emerging
from the wood use of tobaccoare not yet felt in Cambodia, Laos,
Myanmar(Burma), Malaysia, and Indonesia (withlow-to-minor
crop-specific deforestation andstill with large, forested areas).
India was notincluded because no (net) overall deforestationdue to
the dynamic growth of commercial plan-tations has been reported,16
though tobaccos
Figure 3 Several hundred hectares of natural (miombo) woodlands
were cleared in awood-energy project financed by the World Bank, to
provide wood to nearby tobacco farmsand urban users in southern
Malawi. Unfavourable prices at the time resulted in theburning of
large areas of tree cover. The area is an environmentally critical
watershed zoneof the east African Rift Valley, and is now a
government-owned plantation forested withfast-growing exotic
species, such as eucalyptus.
26 Geist
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hypothetical consumption of wooded areas(44 000 ha) by far
exceeds annual forestincreases (7000 ha).
DiscussionFrom the data presented, and in strategicterms of
tobacco control, the hypothesispromoted by the tobacco industry
that no sig-nificant negative eVects, such as deforestation,are
attributable to curing tobacco6 7 has to bechallenged. The
hypothesis turns out to bebased on a (claimed) change in the
economicsof fuel choice, made in the absence of sufficientdata to
support such a claim, for a significantproportion of the developing
world. Inaddition, the assertion is neither built upondeforestation
data nor upon any otherquantified ecological consequences. In
theview of estimation values produced here, thehypothesis is
refuted for the following reasons.+ Deforestation related to
tobacco constitutes
an issue of global relevance which could befound on all
continents, on average contrib-uting nearly 5% to overall
deforestation inthe respective growing countries of thedeveloping
world.
+ The statement, made in the mid-1980s, thatmost Asian
tobacco-growing countries,and selected African countries have
generalfuelwood shortages and are therefore likelyto experience
deforestation,8 should nowbe extended to encompass some
southernAmerican producers as well.
Although the global assessment of deforesta-tion related to
tobacco farming was estimatedto be around 200 000 ha annually
in19901995, compared with the higher valuegiven for mid-1980,
1.22.5 million ha(although using the same design),2 3 the
diVer-ence could be explained by a combination ofthe following two
factors.+ Increased eVorts of aVorestation/
reforestation together with lower rates andhigher eYciency of
wood used in curingtobaccofor example, improvements inbarn
technology, growing use of agriculturalwastes as fuel sources9could
well havereduced tobaccos roundwood consumptionand impact upon
deforestation.
+ The aggregated national data used here pro-duce generally
lower results than the globalassessments based on single
valuespreviously undertakenfor example, 55 or70 stm3/t of global
flue-cured tobacco usingwood2 3compared with a global mean ofaround
20 stm3/t used here,10 diVerentstacking factors (0.6 vs 0.43),
diVerent GSrates (70 m3/ha vs 27) and diVerent MAIrates (2 m3/ha vs
0.5).
Although the Nicotiana tabacum species isgrown in more than 120
countries, thus consti-tuting the most widely grown non-food
crop(coVee is grown in 59 countries, jute and jute-like fibres in
25, sisal in 1515) and althoughcrop-specific deforestation occurs
in develop-ing countries spread all over the continents,tobacco has
not been found to be part of theresearch agenda on global
environmentalchange during the past 10 years.
On the basis of the estimated valuesproduced, it is suggested
that an empiricalverification of the hypothetical
deforestationoutlined on a global scale should beundertaken. This
should be done by surveyingwood usage in randomly selected farms
orgrowing areas in combination with remotesensing or geographical
information systems(GIS) data. The current paradigmatic shift
inresearch on global environmental change couldbe a useful platform
for strategic involvement,especially involving the drive within
theInternational Geosphere-Biosphere Pro-gramme (IGBP) examining
natural as well ashuman dimensions of global change and mod-elling
the total earth system using a moreregion-specific and
problem-specific approach(transects, hot spots, fragile
environ-ments, regions at risk).2931
The basic principle of tobaco curingusingseveral units of
(wood-based) energy toproduce one unit of tobaccohas appliedsince
the introduction of metal flues in theaftermath of the American
Civil War and is notexpected to change drastically in
theforeseeable future.13 The recently claimedchange in the choice
of fuel economics shouldbe reviewed, in that most
ingeniousapproaches towards reducing energy and costrequirements
(in curing flue) . . . are concernedonly with modification of
existing principles inthe hope of maintaining the basic status quo
alittle longer.13 Thus, in addition to publichealth oriented
regulation of tobacco use, amajor starting point in the field of
environmen-tally oriented regulation could be to challengethe
prevailing standards of transforming greenleaves into a
pre-industrial product thatachieves a high nicotine content by
consuminglarge amounts of natural resources.
The study has been funded partly by the World Bank
projectTobacco control policies in developing countries
(Washington, DC,United States) via a short-term consultancy and, to
a largerdegree, was made possible as part of the Research Priority
Pro-gramme Social dimensions of global environmental change of
theDeutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, Bonn). The
viewsrepresented are those of the author and not of the World
Bankor DFG.
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A Philip Morris publication, describing the companys principles
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tobacco farmingGlobal assessment of deforestation related to
Helmut J Geist
doi: 10.1136/tc.8.1.181999 8: 18-28 Tob Control
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