Opium poppy production in Afghanistan has fallen sharply since the Taliban administration banned cultivation last year, according to a UN report released on Sunday.
The Taliban leader banned drug cultivation in April 2022; further eradication of crops will be carried out. Experts say the Taliban banned poppy cultivation during their previous rule in 2000 in a bid for international legitimacy, but faced a popular backlash.
Opium cultivation across the country fell to 10,800 hectares (26,700 acres) in 2023 from 233,000 hectares the previous year, reducing supplies by 95% to 333 tonnes, according to the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC),
This is putting pressure on farmers in the war-torn country, where most of the population depends on agriculture and the value of poppy exports has at times exceeded the value of all official exports, the UNODC said.
The drastic reduction could have serious consequences for the country’s economy, where about two-thirds of the population is already in need of humanitarian assistance, the report said. Pressure is already being felt by farmers, as most of the state’s population depends on agriculture. Notably, the value of poppy exports has at times exceeded the value of other exports.
“Over the coming months Afghanistan is in dire need of strong investment in sustainable livelihoods to provide Afghan farmers with opportunities away from opium,” Ghada Waly, the executive director of UNODC, said in a statement. “This presents a real opportunity to build towards long-term results against the illicit opium market and the damage it causes both locally and globally.”
As a result, reducing the supply from Afghanistan on this scale could eventually lead to a decrease in opium consumption; on the other hand, it also has the potential to worsen global consumption of alternative drugs such as fentanyl or synthetic opioids.
In conclusion, it should be mentioned that many growers have switched to wheat cultivation, but this activity generates much less income than poppy.
