From Seed to Leaf: British American Tobacco and Supplier Relations in Uganda

Abstract

Tobacco is one of the most controversial agricultural products in the world because of the health risks it poses to producers and users. Despite this controversy, global tobacco consumption will increase from 1.1 billion ‘sticks’ or cigarettes per day in 2001 to 1.6 billion by the year 2025, according to the World Health Organization. Supply is expanding at a rate that has resulted in a worldwide glut and a corresponding decline in prices. Production grew by 59 per cent between 1975 and 1997, with most of this increase occurring in developing countries. Between 1960 and 1989, the world price for flue-cured tobacco declined in real terms by about 1.1 per cent to 1.7 per cent per year. Between 1985 and 2000 the price per ton fell 37 per cent from US$1950 to US$1221.¹