ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the emphasis on social and environmental concerns in contract tobacco-farming schemes in Tanzania. It argues that the cigarette companies’ engagement in corporate social responsibility (CSR) and the promulgation of strategies in relation to social and environmental concerns are influencing the governance of the global tobacco value chain, the organisation of the contractual system in Tanzania and the content of the contract. In order to ensure compliance with crucial CSR requirements, the Tanzanian tobacco-processing companies tightly coordinate the contract farming schemes and inspect and monitor farm production processes through a joint-venture subsidiary, the Association of Tanzanian Tobacco Traders. The tobacco industry in Tanzania was liberalised in the mid-1990s, and the former parastatal processing plants were privatised in 1997. Seeds, fertiliser and chemicals were supplied on credit to the primary cooperative societies (PCSs), and the costs of inputs were deducted when the smallholders sold their tobacco produce to the company through their respective PCS.
