Poppy Cultivation in Afghanistan

Poppy was never a traditional crop of Afghanistan. Previously its cultivation was limited and was mostly restricted for medicinal purpose. However, during Soviet occupation of Afghanistan, poppy cultivation was increased and product reached to the international market, mainly to finance local commanders to fight invasion. After Soviet withdraw in 1989, the US and Western countries discontinued their support to the fighters, which further increased the warlords dependence on poppy money. This phenomenon helped poppy economy to flourish in Afghanistan. The rise in Afghan poppy cultivation also coincided with the anti-poppy campaigns in neighboring Iran, Turkey and Pakistan during seventies which almost halted poppy production in these countries. Concurrently, anarchy in Afghanistan led drug pins to make this country a new home for their illicit trade.

After the end of Taliban rule in 2001, increased number of refugee and internally displaced farmers returned to their lands after 20 years. It was very difficult for these farmers to regain their previous livelihood due to loss of agricultural infrastructure and lack of resources. Poppy cultivation helped these farmers in many areas to survive and re-establish in their ancestral villages.

Afghan farmers are growing poppy purely for economical reasons (Table 2). It is easy to obtain loans and lease/rent a piece of land for poppy cultivation than for any other crop. Soils in Helmand and other poppy growing areas also suite poppy farming. Poppy is more drought resistant than many other crops and its product (opium), can easily be stored and sold. High profit margin also encouraged farmers to grow poppy to provide livings for their families and pay debts from a small piece of land they own or rent.

However, easy availability of opium and heroin (a refined product of opium) has significantly increased the number of drug addicts in Afghanistan. It is estimated that about one million Afghans are drug addicted, and are at a high risks of exposure to HIV and other diseases associated with the injection use (UNODC 2009. Drug use in Afghanistan – A Survey – Executive Summary). The survey also pointed out a continuous rise in heroin use both in rural and urban populations. During a survey (Afghanistan National Drug Use Survey 2015. Quoted from International Society of Substance Use Prevention and Treatment Professionals (ISSUP) Knowledge Share. 2018), 9% of Afghan children under the age of 14 were tested positive for drugs, mostly opiates. As 90% of these children were not active drug user, hence it is assumed that these children being provided drug by adults or exposed to second hand smoke or third hand residues at home. Also there are millions of drug addicts around the world who are depending on Afghan poppy, especially in Pakistan, Iran and Russia. In addition, drug production and trade is fostering instability, insurgency, criminality and corruption in the region.

Various programs with the help of international partners are in place to discourage poppy cultivation in Afghanistan. UNDOC has reported implementation of more than100 projects, solely on providing alternative livelihood in poppy growing areas with a total cost of US $ 1.2 billion for 10 years (UNODC 2005. Mapping of alternative livelihood projects). Government of Islamic Republic of Afghanistan (GIRoA) has established a ministry of counter narcotic (MCN) supported by Counter Narcotic Police, Special Narcotic Force and Counter Narcotic Criminal Justice Task Force to curb poppy cultivation.

In addition, other ministries, including ministry of interior, ministry of rural development and Ministry of agriculture are also helping MCN to achieve its objectives. In addition, billions of dollars have been invested in the country by the international partners in establishing infrastructure, including agriculture.
Instead of all these efforts, it does not seem that poppy production can be brought to an end in near future. Main reasons for this failure are; limited natural resources, lack of farm to market roads, little or no off-farm job opportunities, small landholdings, high cost of production (specially on leased lands), poor soils, water losses due to damaged and inefficient irrigation channels, inability of government to provide services and lack of support price or incentives for licit crops production. Also poppy trade is a source of income for insurgent groups but they are not the only one who are generating the revenue from this trade but also various criminal ex-war lords, parliamentarians and government-officials are also benefiting from the poppy production in the country.

Afghanistan, is an agrarian country with a rural economy. Its 78% population lives in rural areas while 7% are nomads (GIRoA, 2005. Afghan Statistical yearbook 2004. Central Statistic Office, Kabul). Farmers are poor with very limited resources. They are struggling to secure food and conditions conducive for their existence. Eradicating poppy in highly poppy dependent areas, without providing convincing alternative livelihood options may bring enormous difficulties to the farmers. They will face sharp decline in their income, increased indebtedness, loss of assets and food insecurity.

Such efforts may also increase distance between farmers and GIRoA and will let insurgents to recruit fighters. Therefore, counter narcotic approaches should be linked to the rural development strategies that can provide alternative livelihood along with the government services. United Nations has also emphasized that before considering eradication as a counter narcotic measure, a state should ensure that small-farmer households had adopted viable and sustainable livelihoods (UNODC 2009. Political declaration and plan of action on international cooperation toward integrated and balanced strategy to counter the world drug problem.

A high – level segment commission on narcotic drugs. Vienna, 11-12 March 2009). GIRoA through its MCN and associated agencies has chalked out its Counter Narcotic (CN) strategy with a focuses on providing alternative livelihood to the farmers in the poppy growing area and preferring interdiction on eradication (MCN, 2006. National drug control strategy. An updated five-year strategy for tackling the illicit drug problem. Kabul, Afghanistan). However, every year, during the months of February to April, many district administrations in Afghanistan are performing the rituals of eradicating poppy under a US funded program, Governor Led Eradication (GLE), commonly known as “campaign”. This program is solely centered on physical destruction of standing poppy crop, without confirming that alternatives livelihood options are available to the farmers or not.

Apparently, these eradication efforts are not in-line with the CN strategy of any agency involved in CN efforts. Afghan MCN has clearly mentioned in its CN strategy that eradication should only be implement in pre-notified areas, where MCN believes that farmers are not heavily dependent on poppy cultivation and at least some alternative livelihood opportunities are available to them.