Harvesting Death: Do Tobacco Growers Need Financial Inclusion? An Analysis into the Monetary Problems and Prospects Enshrouding Farmers Harvesting Tobacco in Basti District, Uttar Pradesh, India

Harvesting Death: Do Tobacco Growers Need Financial Inclusion? An Analysis into the Monetary Problems and Prospects Enshrouding Farmers Harvesting Tobacco in Basti District, Uttar Pradesh, India

2011

South Asia

India

One of the most distinguishing features of third world countries is that they present a unique situation in which agriculture is often done by landless farmers. These farmers often work for the landowners in exchange for produce or money. They remain as tenant farmers and usually till patches of arable land generating enough produce that could suffice for their family. But sometimes, nature plays its tricks and these poor farmers lose whatever they had planned for. This paper tries to uncover how tobacco, which generates huge incomes for multinational companies, is a cause of monetary misery for the farmers.

Syed Aiman Raza

RazaSyed Aiman Raza is an Assistant Professor at Department of Anthropology in Shia Post Graduate College, Lucknow, India. He did his PhD in Social Anthropology from University of Delhi and was also a recipient of a doctoral fellowship from the Indian Council of Social Science and Research (ICSSR), New Delhi. His research interest lies in poverty related issues across urban and rural settings in the third world countries. Questions of everyday money practices, insurance and financial inclusion remains at the heart of his research agenda. Dr. Raza is also a part of the ongoing Microfinance Research Alliance Program of Centre for Microfinance (CMAP),which is being funded by Ford Foundation.