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Another bumper poppy crop in Afghanistan in the offing
Registration reqâd, edited for lengthAs spring approaches, all is set for another bumper poppy crop in Afghanistan, already the worldâs largest opium producer with nearly three-quarters of the global opium production and catering to some 90 percent of Western Europeâs market demand. According to the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), poppy production amounted to 3,600 tones in 2003 despite being banned officially by the Afghan government. Recent trends indicate poppy cultivation is spreading further into the countryâs remote areas. Around 1.7 million people, 7 percent of the population, are directly involved in poppy production. Poppy is only produced on approximately 1 percent (around 160,000 acres in 2003) of the total arable land in the country. The bulk of poppy production takes place on irrigated land. The trade is worth an estimated US $2.5bn annually, roughly as much as the combined international aid effort and equivalent to half of Afghanistanâs legitimate gross national product. On present trends, future crops may be even bigger, if not more lucrative. According to a September 15 from New York Universityâs Centre on International Cooperation, the amount of land devoted to poppy cultivation will probably increase in 83 districts and decline in fewer than 20 districts. Opium is now produced in 28 of Afghanistanâs 32 provinces, as compared to just 18 in 1999. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has warned that narcotics production is dominating Afghanistanâs economy. âA dangerous potential exists for Afghanistan to progressively slide into a ânarco-stateâ where all legitimate institutions become penetrated by the power and wealth of (drug) traffickers,â the Fund said in September. The British, who are supposed to play the lead role in dealing with drugs, have achieved little. Their programme to pay farmers to eradicate poppy fields has, unfortunately, led to increased poppy production. And the US military and coalition forces have maintained a hands-off policy, diligently avoiding involvement in battling narcotics. Posted by: Paul Moloney 2004-02-08 |
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