The current article presents the perception of fifteen tobacco farmers from the city Dom Feliciano/RS about the macrossocial aspects in tobacco farming. The research was carried out using focus groups, according to Bardin's interpretative analysis. The objective of the research was to get to know the causes to the suffering of these people, who grow a product that is undervalued by society, considered to be harmful to health and the environment. The participants consider being exploited by tobacco companies and neglected by the government to be the hardest part of their activities. They also report that, where they live, tobacco farming is the only way possible to make money, so they have to endure exploitation. In order to change bad working conditions, they suggested: the unification of tobacco farmers; government interventions to help them; and the production of food to supply their needs.
tobacco farmers; work; suffering; Government; exploitation