UN report takes stock
Opium cultivation in Afghanistan has fallen by 95 percent
November 5, 2023, 8:57 a.m
Listen to article
This audio version was artificially generated. More info | Send feedback
In April 2022, the Taliban will impose a ban on the cultivation of opium poppies in Afghanistan. This is now having significant effects, as a UN report shows. However, many farmers still lack alternatives.
According to the United Nations, the Taliban ruling Afghanistan have made great progress in the fight against opium extraction. According to a UN report, opium cultivation has fallen by 95 percent since Islamists banned it last year. In the past, about 90 percent of the world’s opium poppies, the basis for opium and heroin, came from Afghanistan.
According to the UN, the cultivated area in the country last year was over 233,000 hectares, but it has now fallen to 10,800 hectares. At the same time, wheat cultivation increased. In the country plagued by war and poverty, the cultivation of the drug is considered very profitable and contributes to the survival of many farmers. According to the UN special envoy for Afghanistan, almost 80 percent of the Afghan population depends on agriculture. However, the country is struggling with water shortages.
“In the coming months, Afghanistan urgently needs strong investments in sustainable livelihoods to give Afghan farmers opportunities to transition away from opium cultivation,” said Ghada Waly, executive director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. The Supreme Leader of the Taliban, Haibatullah Achunsada, banned poppy cultivation by decree in April last year.
Taliban are also profiteers
Although cultivation was already illegal in Afghanistan before the Taliban came to power in August 2021, it was still widespread. Both the Taliban and members of the old, foreign-backed government were seen as profiting from the opium trade.
Since coming to power in August 2021 and the chaotic withdrawal of international forces, the Taliban have drastically restricted human rights. Their rule has recently become increasingly authoritarian and dogmatic. The Islamists are extremely repressive towards all forms of opposition. Women and girls’ access to education and work has been severely restricted, as has their freedom of movement in public spaces – for example for medical care and travel.