Tobacco is one of the crops being cultivated by farmers during the dry months (October-May) in
areas along the Mekong Rover. It is mainly cultivated in 4 provinces, namely; 1) Kratie; 2)
Kampong Cham; 3) Kandal and Prey Veng.
A survey was conducted in the 3 major tobacco producing areas in Cambodia to obtain up-todate
information on tobacco production in the country in order to provide the necessary
information that can assist the policymakers in the formulation of relevant policy/ies to address
poverty in the rural areas and tobacco control. These included: a) socio-economic profile of
farmers; b) profitability of growing tobacco and other crops; c) marketing channels used by
tobacco farmers and their associated problems; d) farmers’ perception on whether to continue
planting tobacco or not; e) degree of consumption and expenditures on tobacco; and f) common
health problems afflicting the farmers.
A total of 985 respondents were interviewed and they were divided into 3 groups, namely: 1)
current tobacco farmers (501; b) ex-tobacco farmers (290); and 3) non-tobacco farmers (194).
The study covered 2 cropping periods for tobacco cultivation; they were year 2000 (36 months)
and year 2003 (12 months).