PESHAWAR: President Anjuman Kashtkaran and Tobacco Hazara Division, Rustam Khan Swati , has said that drastically growing illicit tobacco business in Pakistan is a huge threat to farmers’ livelihood because the growth of smuggled and duty evaded cigarettes effect their tobacco output.
According to a recently published Nielsen Report, illicit trade in cigarettes is growing at an alarming rate ranging from 23 to 25 percent of total tobacco market. This growth has resulted in directly damaging the livelihood of hundreds of thousands of people dependent on the tobacco crops and business in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. “Tobacco, being a highly labor-intensive crop, about 80, 000 persons are involved in its cultivation, fifty thousands are engaged in 21 factories of the tobacco industry and another one million find indirect employment”, he said.
He stressed that due to small land holdings in KP, tobacco was the only choice for farmers to earn decent money. However, exponential growth in illicit trade would deprive them of their earnings which is going to worsen the economic conditions of poor farmers.
He urged the government to take necessary steps to curb the menace of illicit trade and save the farmers from falling prey to poverty and hunger. He also thanked the government on behalf of tobacco farmers for revisiting its decision of 85% GHW which could deliver a further blow to the already crippling legal tobacco supply chain.
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