Tobacco growing in Lebanon: A difficult situation for women and children with no security || Newspapers (Arabic)

Al-Hayat newspaper carried a report about tobacco growing in Lebanon and the main problems faced by the farmers especially at a time when Lebanese tobacco growing families are getting ready to deliver their crops to the “REGIE LIBANAISE des TABACS et TOMBACS,” the official Lebanese monopoly of tobacco products.
The newspaper indicated that around 25,000 Lebanese families are making a living from tobacco growing according to sources of the “Regie” company. These families normally include people from both sexes and from all age groups and work very hard in handling the crops. However they suffer from some serious problems such as the total lack of governmental support when it comes to provision of fertilizers and pesticides in addition to lack of health insurance, thus placing families at severe risks in case any of their members falls sick especially since they are unable to get reimbursed for medical bills.
The newspaper added that the new young generation is shying away from working in tobacco growing, thus forcing older male and female farmers to bear the additional financial burden of hiring foreign workers in order to plant and harvest the crops. This has resulted in the rise of production cost and thus farmers end up making around only USD 2,500 per year, i.e. just USD 208 US per month.
The newspaper suggested several alternatives for farmers of South Lebanon such as the production of bamboo building on the experience of Kenya or organic food production as in the case of Bangladesh.

Source: Al-Hayat