Reduce tobacco production

Bangladesh has only 0.043 hectare cultivable land per capita, which is quite insufficient to ensure food and nutrition security for its population. The country is often battered by environmental hazards. These problems are likely to intensify in future. In such a country, tobacco is being cultivated on large sections of high-quality land, which is absurd.

If we can avoid tobacco cultivation, we would be able to produce about half a million tons' extra food worth USD 200 million, which could feed more than three million people a year. In this context, I urge the government and donor agencies to step up their efforts in reducing tobacco cultivation.

M Yusuf Ali, By e-mail