KENYA
Farmers are now back to tobacco farming after a three-year hiatus, with many once again reaping from the crop as they had done decades ago.
Back then, farmers stopped growing the crop after the biggest tobacco leaf buyer, Alliance One, closed shop in Migori County and relocated to Tanzania. Instead, many farmers opted to grow sweet potatoes and sorghum on a large-scale.
Now, farmers are returning to tobacco after new buyers — Platinum Tobacco and East Africa Tobacco — emerged. With tobacco selling at even ten times more than the sweet potatoes they had been planting, the allure is obvious.
Kenyan farmers grow two types of tobacco, Flue-STV and Fire-DSP, which are categorized depending on how they are cured after harvest.