KT&G (president Bok-in Baek) employees are doing volunteer work to help short-handed tobacco farmers during their busy season.

Growing tobacco is painstakingly labor intensive, and manual work is required between July and August, hot and muggy season in Korea. And farming villages are short-handed because of the aging in farming households and continuously decreasing population in rural society

KT&G has supported the tobacco farmers during the busy season since 2007. This year, about 20 employees will be doing volunteer work including harvest and delivery of leaf tobacco in Boeun County, Chungbuk Province, a major producer.

Dong-sik Kye, head of Raw Material Production Division, said, “I have experienced the difficulties of farmers from transplanting tobacco seeding in April and harvest during heat wave season. I believe this volunteer work would be also meaningful because I can deliver the know-how for high quality leaf tobacco production.”

KT&G is the only domestic tobacco company using domestic leaf tobacco and has put forth a various effort into protecting leaf tobacco farmers. The company purchases the whole amount of leaf tobacco produced in Korea and pays in advance 30 percent of expected sales proceeds of leaf tobacco to relieve the financial burden of farmers. The company provided additional KRW 850 million for the welfare of farmers including free medical check-up package for farmers and scholarship donation for farmers’ children.

▶ August 11, KT&G employees are doing volunteer work for leaf tobacco harvest. KT&G is the only domestic tobacco company purchasing leaf tobacco from domestic farmers.