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Gender and Tobacco Farming, Revisited: Why Women Bear the Heaviest Burden
Women perform the majority of labor in tobacco farming but own a fraction of the land and receive a fraction of the income. The gender dimension of tobacco agriculture is a story of invisible labor and structural exploitation.
In Malawi, women perform 70% of the labor in smallholder tobacco farming but own less than 10% of the land. In India, the bidi-rolling workforce is overwhelmingly female—millions of women classified as 'independent contractors' to evade labor protections. **The gender dimension of tobacco agriculture is a story of invisible labor: women do the work, men control the income, and the transition programs designed to help farmers leave tobacco overwhelmingly target men.**
