strategies to counter opiate in Afghanistan - Groupe URD

5.
The other fronts in the fight against
drugs
The following sections present the objectives, principal results, constraints and lessons
learned for each of the other NDCS pillars of action (cf. table 2).
5.1 Eradication
The objective of this pillar is to build the capacity to conduct targeted and verified groundbased
eradication.
Box 4. Enforced eradication: counter-productive and destined to fail
As in other drug-producing countries, eradication has rarely been successful in
Afghanistan. The World Bank report (2004) highlights that, “eradication in the
absence of alternative livelihoods being available does not work, and eradication
followed by assistance does not seem to work well, yet eradication (and its threat)
can help reinforce alternative livelihoods development if the former follows the
latter”. It also states that “a key lesson is that eradication alone will not work and is
likely to be counterproductive, resulting in perverse incentives for farmers to grow
more drugs (e.g. in Colombia), displacement of production to more remote areas,
and fuelling of violence and insecurity (Peru, Bolivia, Colombia). Examples of
eradication in Asia (Thailand, Pakistan, Myanmar and Laos) have also shown how
eradication can contribute to armed violence. As a result, the governments of these
countries have abandoned it as a counter-narcotic strategy (Chouvy, 2009)
The risks and principal negative effects of eradication in Afghanistan are:
It makes farmers, who make the least from drug trafficking and sometimes
have no other option than to cultivate opium, even poorer. This is especially the case
if the eradication takes place at the harvest time (meaning that the farmer has no
time to plant other crops) and/or if the eradication is not accompanied by any
development or food aid activities.
It fuels or develops resentment against the government and the international
community and increases the population’s support for the insurgency.
It prompts farmers to grow more: in the past, compensation given for
eradicated areas pushed certain farmers to cultivate opium poppy in order to get
compensation.
Strategies to counter opiate production in Afghanistan
Groupe URD | Juin 2010
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