WOMEN TOBACCO FARMERS IN TANZANIA: COMPARING ACTUAL AND POTENTIAL EARNINGS

This study attempts to measure women tobacco farmers’ labour input in Tanzania. A comparison is made with two other crops - maize and vegetables. For the coffee production cycle, women farmers’ output share was estimated to be 1.97 million Tanzanian shillings. Assuming alternative employment were available at a minimum wage, women tobacco farmers would earn 5.7 million Tanzanian shillings, almost a three fold increase if they did work other than farm tobacco. Besides this, 72.58% of total women’s labour for the period was earmarked for tobacco growing, while only 35.58% of total earnings are generated from tobacco production. 20.68% of women’s labour was earmarked for maize growing; on the other hand 39.20% of total revenue is generated from maize production. Only 6.74% of womens’ labour was earmarked for growing vegetables; whereas a substantial 25.22% of total revenue is generated from production of vegetables A Cobb Douglas type production was estimated, where output was regressed on labour input and acreage. While the returns from extra one-acre input were substantial and significant, returns from an extra one unit of labour yielded insignificant results. In other words, besides being hazardous to health, planting tobacco is not a worthwhile undertaking. Alternative employment should be sought. Key words : Tanzania, women, tobacco, farmers, labour input, labour output