Tobacco farmers to lose as sponsor scales down operations

NAIROBI: Global raw tobacco merchant, Alliance One International, has announced plans to scale down its operations in Kenya, a move expected to hit farmers hard.

Alliance One Tobacco (Kenya) Limited is a subsidiary of Alliance One International, with its corporate head office in Morrisville, North Carolina, USA. Alliance One International’s first purchases of Kenyan tobacco were in 1983 and the company has had a legal presence in the country since 1990. Its core operations involve sponsoring farmers to produce tobacco mainly in Migori County, processing and exporting to the international market.

The international firm has attributed the need to scale down its Kenyan operations to the substantial shift in the global supply and demand of Flue-Cured Virginia tobacco. With the prevailing slump in the tobacco market, the firm has now embarked on a strategic process to align and reposition its operations.

Alliance One Kenya said it will as a result not sponsor farmers who have been engaged on contract basis. The firm will also cease its field operations as of July 1. The company intends to follow due legal process in undertaking the scaling back.