Tobacco Grower Livelihoods During Agricultural Restructuring

Abstract

In the summer of 2002, Kentucky tobacco farmers had undergone production cuts of more than sixty percent and federal legislation had been proposed for a tobacco buyout. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 58 Kentucky farmers to learn how tobacco growers were responding to production cuts and/or engaging with tobacco restructuring more broadly. While tobacco restructuring could have been the catalyst toward a more diversified and sustainable agriculture, farm diversification had not taken place for the majority of Kentucky tobacco farmers. While farm diversification was fairly scarce, income diversification in response to tobacco restructuring was widespread. Outside of (mostly European) studies of pluriactivity, studies of livelihood and livelihood transition have traditionally focused on less-developed countries. In addition to the utilitarian lessons of this research, this study extends understanding of farmer livelihood transition in a developed country (the United States).