Global Assessment of Deforestation Related to Tobacco Farming

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 19


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

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



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-

22 Geist


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

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


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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4 Bellagio statement on tobacco and sustainable develop-ment. Can Med Assoc J 1995;153:110910.

5 Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.FAO brief on multisectoral collaboration on tobacco or healthfor the ECOSOC substantive session. Rome: FAO, 1998.

6 International Tobacco Growers Association. Tobacco and theenvironment. East Grinstead, UK: ITGA, 1995.

7 International Tobacco Growers Association. Deforestationand the use of wood for curing tobacco. East Grinstead, UK:ITGA, 1996.

8 Fraser AI. The use of wood by the tobacco industry and the eco-logical implications. Edinburgh: International Forest Sci-ence Consultancy, 1986.

9 International Tobacco Growers Association. The use ofwoodfuel for curing tobacco. A report by the InternationalTobacco Growers Association. East Grinstead, UK: ITGA,1997.

10 Geist H. Transforming the fringe. Tobacco-related woodusage and its environmental implications. In: Delgado-Cravidao F, Jussila H, Majoral R, eds. Consequences of glo-balization and deregulation on marginal and critical economicsystems. Aldershot, UK: Ashgate, 1999. (In press.)



11 Geist H. Soil mining and societal responses. The case oftobacco in eastern miombo highlands. In: Lohnert B,Geist H, eds. Coping with changing environments. Socialdimensions of endangered ecosystems in the developing world.Aldershot, UK: Ashgate, 1999. (In press.)

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29 Global Change and Terrestrial Ecosystems. Global changeimpact on agriculture, forestry and soils. The work of GCTEFocus 3. Lyneham: GCTE Core Project OYce, undated.

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31 Desanker P, Frost PGH, Justice CO, et al. The Miombo Net-work:Framework for a terrestrial transect study of land-use andland-cover change in the miombo ecosystems of Central Africa.Stockholm: International Geosphere-Biosphere Pro-gramme, 1997.

A Philip Morris publication, describing the companys principles and actions to protect our water, air, and land.

28 Geist


tobacco farmingGlobal assessment of deforestation related to

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Global Assessment of Deforestation Related to Tobacco Farming