strategies to counter opiate in Afghanistan - Groupe URD

Opium poppy has been cultivated in the province for several centuries. However, the
development of a real opium economy is more recent and initially happened in the context
of the war economy and as a coping strategy in the 1990S. In 2000, the national ban on
opium poppy cultivation decreed by the Taliban resulted in its development in
Badakhshan, which was not under their control.
After 2001, opium poppy became the main cash crop, with a considerable increase in
quantities, both on irrigated and rainfed land. In 2005, more than 15 000 ha of land was
being used for opium poppy cultivation. Since 2007, there has been a sharp drop in
production. Only 200 ha are reported to have been cultivated in 2008, principally in the
rainfed agricultural zones and adjacent valleys, and 500 ha in 2009 (UNODC, 2009).
In parallel to the increase in cultivation, the processing of opium into morphine and heroin
developed considerably and a large number of clandestine laboratories were set up.
Furthermore, as Badakhshan is on the border with both Tajikistan and Pakistan, it is in a
favourable position to gain access to trafficking networks.
Operations to counter opium production have played an important role in the reduction
which has taken place since 2007. Other factors have also probably affected levels of
production in certain districts, such as the drop in the price of opium and the recovery of
the livestock market in 2006 (and consequently, higher demand for wheat straw and
fodder) as well as a drop in opium poppy yields (due to frost in the spring and unseasonal
rains during the harvest). According to UNODC, the increase in cultivation observed in
2009 is due to a lack of strategy for preventing spring cultivation.
• Balkh
The agricultural landscape in Balkh is dominated by a major irrigation system which
comes from the Balkh river and is more than a thousand years old.
Until the beginning of the 2000s, very little opium poppy was cultivated in Balkh province.
Production was limited to a few areas and was for local use. The population generally had
little know-how or understanding of cultivation methods and methods of extracting
opiates. From 2002 to 2006, opium poppy cultivation grew in the province. This can be
explained in terms of the attractiveness of the price of opium poppy, newly available
know-how and labour for cultivating opium poppy brought by migrant workers from
Nangarhar and good availability of water (even though there are major variations
depending on the zone and whether upstream or downstream of the river). In 2005 and
2006, production reached a record high with more than 10 000 ha cultivated (UNODC,
2009) compared to 1000 ha at the end of the 90s. Since 2006, the province has
experienced a very sharp drop in production and was declared poppy-free in 2008 and
2009.
The main reasons given by UNODC to explain this drop in production is the success of an
awareness-raising campaign run by the local governor before the cropping season.
• Nangarhar
The province of Nangarhar is situated on Afghanistan’s Eastern border with Pakistan. The
three provinces of Nangarhar, Laghman and Kunar form a geographical basin which is
crossed by the valleys of the rivers Kabul and Kunar. South of Nangarhar are the Spin Ghar
mountains to the north of the Hindu Kush mountain range. Nangarhar is one of the most
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