Regulations to reduce the consumption of tobacco products have dual effects on economies. Economies that are net consumers of tobacco products experience welfare enhancing effects as a result of these regulations. However, these regulations can have adverse welfare effects among net producing economies. Many studies have explored these welfare effects on net consuming economies, whereas the impacts among net producing economies have been neglected. This research paper examined the adverse welfare effects of smoking regulations on small tobacco exporting economies with, a comparative advantage in tobacco production.

A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Humanities, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in partial fulfilment of the requirement of the degree of Master of Arts in Sociology (Coursework and Research) JOHANNESBURG / The advent of the Fast Track Land Reform Programme influenced a major shift of small scale farmers from subsistence cereal cropping to the commercial growing of tobacco. Smallholder tobacco farmers enjoyed economic prosperity in the tobacco farming sector but that prosperity was short lived. Smallholder farmers face a lot of marketing, production and policy problems within the tobacco farming industry and these problems are increasingly rendering them unproductive. Most smallholder tobacco farmers are entrapped in a ‘vulnerability context’ in which they are exposed to food and income insecurity owing to the problems which they face. However, despite the challenges which they face, smallholder tobacco farmers are largely resilient; they formulate and reformulate their livelihoods on a daily basis in endeavours to cushion themselves against the overwhelming odds. It was against this background that this qualitative study sought to explore the adaptive strategies that are pursued by smallholder tobacco farmers in response to the effects posed by tobacco mono-cropping. This study also sought to examine the factors that influenced the choice of the adaptive strategies that were pursued by those farmers as well as the factors that constrained their adaptive capacity. To meet the aims of this study, a purely qualitative methodology was adopted in which unstructured interviews and focus group discussions with smallholder farmers who were purposively selected were conducted in Hurungwe district. The study found out that smallholder tobacco farmers were highly adaptive and agricultural intensification, migration, and micro-enterprise activities were found out to be the main activities that were pursued by those farmers. The study also found out gender, income levels, educational levels, infrastructure and equipment ownership as the main factors that either determined or constrained the adaptive capacity of those farmers. Based on key findings, the researcher recommended the government and non-governmental organisations to enhance rural people’s education and credit facilities access, ensure infrastructural development in rural areas and encourage peer to peer sharing of vocational skills. / MT2017

Regulations to reduce the consumption of tobacco products have dual effects on economies. Economies that are net consumers of tobacco products experience welfare enhancing effects as a result of these regulations. However, these regulations can have adverse welfare effects among net producing economies. Many studies have explored these welfare effects on net consuming economies, whereas the impacts among net producing economies have been neglected. This research paper examined the adverse welfare effects of smoking regulations on small tobacco exporting economies with, a comparative advantage in tobacco production.

[Summary]: The larvae of Anomala opacicollis (Pér), of Melolonthid and of other Rutelid species, attack tobacco in Southern Rhodesia, and are more commonly called "whitegrubs". Whitegrubs are widespread in the sandveld areas where tobacco is grown and, at the Trelawney Station of the Tobacco Research Board of Southern Rhodesia, where this work was done, A. opacicollis was the predominant species. An account o£ the one year life cycle is given. The adults eat the leaves of various indigenous trees and an account of an experiment on the food preferences of A. opacicollis adults is given, and the main food sources in the Trelawney area are listed. An experiment is described which shows that the beetles prefer to lay their eggs in the veld or in manured broken land rather than in normal ploughed lands. The larvae are erratically distributed in lands and experiments on larval movement suggest that this is mainly due to concentration of the larvae at discrete concentrations of organic matter in the soil. The temperature and moisture condition of the top 3" of soil are found to be those which attact the larvae. It is suggested that tho larvae prefer and move to soil which contains the lowest amount of moisture which keeps the soil air spaces saturated. lt appears that the preferred temperature decreases with increasing soil moisture content and it is suggested that this is due to the respiratory requirements of the larvae. Soil pH, compaction and fertiliser content and the presence of plants do not appear to influence larval movements. A theory is developed concerning the mechanism of movements in the soil and it is suggested that, in the absence of a continuous gradient, the speed but not the direction of movement is influenced by conditions to which the larvae are sensitive. Evidence in support of thie theory is given. Studies on the survival of larvae at different soil moisture contents and temperatures show that conditions in the top 3" of soil are not likely to be lethal in spite of the high temperatures and low moisture contents found there. The relation of whitegrub behaviour to agricultural problems is discussed. Other workers published evidence indicating that early ploughed lands were attractive to whitegrubs; this is shown not to be the case and the previous evidence is re-interpreted. Such lands tend to contain concentrations of whitegrubs round the borders. The reason for this is discussed and it is suggested that lands should be ploughed early to confine whitegrub infestations in this manner. Soils low in fertility through repeated cultivation are commonly believed to contain more whitegrubs than virgin soil. However, behaviour studies suggest that it is the activity and not the size of the population which is affected by soil fertility. The time at which tobacco is planted is known to determine the extent of subsequent whitegrub damage. The reason for this is to be found in the life cycle of whitegrubs and the results of an experiment on time of planting in relation to whitegrub damage are given. Some insecticides are shown to be more repellant than others to A. opacicollis larvae and the influence of this fact on the assessment of soil insecticide effectiveness in the field is discussed. Reference is made to a method developed by the writer for the determination of insecticide effectiveness under the conditions of erratic whitegrub distribution which normally occur.