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Khalil ur Rahman, Syed Imran Haider and Abid Ali 230 Global Social Sciences Review (GSSR) interviews to examine the state of farm diversification among tobacco growers; his interviewees repeatedly stated there was “no substitute for tobacco”. He accomplished that resistance to alternative crops was based on unrealistic expectations of return and inevitability created by the tobacco industry (Swanson, 2001; Heald, 1999). Numbers of research studies have outlined the cost and benefits of tobacco farming (Hu & Lee, 2015; Austin, Beach, & Altman, 2008; Kibwage, Odondo, & Momanyi, 2009; WHO, 2007; Lecours et al., 2012). However, more efforts are needed to document how the lucrative value of tobacco influences the social standing of the farmers, especially among lower-income rural settlements. According to the interviews conducted, tobacco industry’s social contributions at the community level, mainly include support to schools, senior citizen care centers, and religious groups providing social welfare, firefighters and reforestation programs (Arcury & Quandt, 2006). Besides, tobacco also brings certain negative consequences to the farming community as it increases farmers’ dependency on the cash crops which results; food shortages, health hazards and environmental degradation (UBINIG, 2008). Mostly tobacco is grown in low and middle-income countries, contributing to undernourishment since arable land is used to produce a non-food item (Heald, 1999; Koester et al., 2004). Due to its suitable climate and hardworking labor, Pakistan was the 10 largest tobacco-growing country in the world in 2011 by producing more than 100,000 tones (Burki et al., 2013). Tobacco is grown throughout the country, with more than three-quarters of the country’s tobacco growing in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and its production is concentrated in district Mardan and Sawabi with per acre plantation as 16369 and 39561 respectively (Government of Pakistan Statistics, 2008 & 2009). Looking to this rising trend in tobacco farming, this paper was planned to directly access tobacco farming community in the farms and to know why the farming community is so highly motivated to grow more tobacco plants despite its visible and known hazardous consequences. Materials and Method Because of its feasibility and utmost representativeness of tobacco farming, Pirsaddi area of district Mardan of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was selected as a study area. Data collection was performed through a structured questionnaire based on a Likert scale with five notation, (1 for strongly disagree to 5 for strongly agree) during the period of June to August 2015. Sample selection criteria set by the researcher on the basis of cultivation of tobacco growing. Farmers cultivating 4 acres or more have been selected as subjects for this study. According to the survey, 144 farmers were found eligible to be included in the study sample. The questionnaire was translated into the local language (Pashto) in order to ensure authenticity in the data collection process as most of our respondents were not conversant with the English language. The collected data were fed into the Special Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) sheet to obtain results. Basic information of the study participants was tabulated in percentage and frequency distribution. The collected data on the study variables were analyzed through mean and standard deviation, correlation and simple linear regression. Results and Discussion Table-01 shows the frequency and percentage distribution of the respondents. Data reveals that the majority (N=52, 36.1%) of the respondents were from the age group of 36-40 followed by (N=32, 22.2%) in the age group of 4650. The majority (N=80, 55.6%) respondents were illiterate while (N=28, 19.4%) respondents have the primary level of education. The respondents having six-member family size were found to be in the majority among the selected group which was (N=60, 41.7%) followed by having five family size, (N=28, 19.4%). Of the total, (N=84, 58.3%) farmers reported that their major source of income is associated with tobacco growing. Farmers having Rs. 60, 0000 income from tobacco compounded with (N=52, 36.1%) in the respondents. Table 1. Socio-economic Characteristics of the Respondents (N=144) Age group Frequency Percentages Cumulative Percentages 31-35 20 13.90 13.90 36-40 52 36.10 50.00 41-45 28 19.40 69.40 46-50 32 22.20 91.60 51-55 12 8.30 100

Tobacco Farming and Its Social Impacts on Farmers in the Rural Mardan, Pakistan