Replacing tobacco with alternative crops for sustainable development: understanding smallholder farmers' perspectives in Uganda

Almost 5.3 million hectares of land across the globe are dedicated to tobacco, with more than 75% allocated to growing activities. However, tobacco farming is often linked with social, economic, and environmental problems. Tobacco farmers are largely attracted by the ease of access to input credit and guaranteed produce markets, but also largely challenged by tobacco's labor-intensive nature, which accelerates occupational health hazards and prolonged liquidity constraints with the risk of entrapment in debt. The mixed-methods approach in this study uses the exploratory sequential method to examine farmers' willingness to shift from tobacco farming to alternative crops. Data were collected through face-to-face and in-depth interviews in tobacco-growing areas of Hoima district. Descriptive analysis and a t-test were conducted to characterize tobacco farmers, the binary probit model used to examine factors influencing tobacco farmers' willingness to shift, and the multinomial logistic regression used to identify crop attributes that farmers prioritize while selecting potential alternatives. Results indicate that the majority of tobacco farmers (73%) were willing to shift to alternative crops. Tobacco farmers with willingness to shift were, on average, younger and had fewer household members. Having land ownership rights ( p < 0.01) and being female ( p < 0.05) had a statistically significant positive effect, whereas distance to tobacco markets and access to input credit were negatively associated with farmers' willingness to shift to alternative crops ( p < 0.01). Farmers' preferences for potentially alternative crops such as maize, rice, beans, and cassava were influenced by different crop-specific attributes. The study therefore suggests that strengthening land ownership rights and increasing access to input credit and well-structured markets for non-tobacco (alternative) crops are likely to facilitate smallholder farmer transitions from tobacco. Policy interventions should facilitate access to crop options with specific attributes suitable for previously tobacco-grown areas, as well as inclusive and appropriate technologies that reduce labor burdens, targeting the youth and women as catalysts for transition. Additionally, the collaborative multisectoral approach presents strategic opportunities to address tobacco's negative economic, environmental, and health impacts, leveraging coordinated efforts to achieve sustainable development and meet the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO-FCTC) goals.