Tobacco Boom Brings A 'Curse' to Families

Source from:  Daily Nation (ke) 01/27/2010

The tobacco-growing districts of Migori and Kuria have recently sprung to life after leaf-buying companies paid out over Sh20 million to farmers. Lifestyles have changed overnight with some men marrying additional wives. Others are painting the town red, camping in bars and hotels for several days and drinking away their fortune. Unconfirmed reports say a farmer lost Sh100,000 to a prostitute who drugged him. The Sunday Nation could not trace him to give his account. But a spot check showed commercial sex workers from as far away as Kisumu, Kericho, Nakuru and Tanzania have descended on the region. Alliance One Tobacco, BAT Kenya and Mastermind Tobacco have been organising investment workshops for their more than 15,000 contracted farmers in the region. But it appears their efforts have done little to change lifestyles here. Most of the farmers still live in ramshackle houses despite earning so much from the multinationals. Alliance One, a tobacco merchant exporting leaf to Europe and other parts of the world, is educating bright children of the most successful farmers in secondary school to motivate others to take the education of their children seriously. "We plead with them to make wise investment plans. We want our farmers to lead a decent life and to continue being productive to the country's economy," said Raphael Otaalo, a manager at Alliance One. Besides sugar cane, tobacco is the main cash crop in the region where poverty levels are reported to be rising to alarming heights. But some farmers described the tobacco money as "cursed cash". "We make good plans with our families on what to do with the money before we are paid. But the moment the cash lands in our hands, priorities change and it gets finished before we have done anything," said James Mwita, 60. Women complained that their men never go back home until they have spent all the money in town. "Although women and children are the ones who provide labour in the farms, we never benefit from the cash," said a woman who asked not to be named for fear of reprisals from the husband. Enditem