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Afghanistan opium production falls by a third in Helmand
Chris Laker02.09.09
Opium cultivation in the area of Afghanistan where most British troops are based dropped by a third this year, a report revealed today.
But violent Helmand Province continues to account for nearly 60% of the country's total production of the drug, according to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) survey.
This year there were 69,833 hectares devoted to poppy growing in Helmand, a sharp fall from 103,590 hectares in 2008.
But it was still more than double the 26,500 hectares cultivated in 2005, the year before UK forces were sent to the province.
Some 90% of the world's opium comes from Afghanistan and Helmand supplied 4,085 of the 6,900 tonnes of the drug produced in the country this year, the UNODC said.
The significant fall in poppy cultivation in Helmand was attributed to strong leadership from the province's governor, Gulab Mangal, a more aggressive counter-narcotics strategy and falling opium prices.
The UNODC also praised the introduction of UK-backed "food zones" combining anti-poppy publicity campaigns, stronger law enforcement and the distribution of wheat seed and fertiliser to farmers.
A study by Cranfield University showed that opium growing in Helmand's food zones dropped by 37% but outside them it increased by 8%.
While the area of land given over to poppy cultivation in Afghanistan fell by 22% this year, the total yield only dipped by 10% because farmers are now extracting more opium per plant.
The UNODC warned that it appeared that huge amounts of Afghan opium were being deliberately withheld from the market.
The agency's executive director, Antonio Maria Costa, said: "Stockpiles of illicit opium now probably exceed 10,000 tonnes - enough to satisfy two years of world (heroin) addiction, or three years of medical (morphine) prescription.
"Where is it, who is hoarding it, and why? Intelligence agencies should defuse the ticking bomb of opium stockpiles, before these become the source of potential sinister scenarios."
Opium prices have fallen because of over-supply in Afghanistan and lower demand in Europe.
This year wholesale prices dropped by a third and Afghan poppy farmers saw their earnings shrink by a quarter to 3,562 dollars per hectare.
Mr Costa said it was too early to tell whether the fall in Afghan opium cultivation and production over the past two years was a downward trend or a "market correction" that could be reversed.
He added that attempts to eradicate opium growing were still a "failure", with just 4% of the total crop wiped out over the past two years at "enormous human and economic cost".
"In post-election Afghanistan, the rural development push must be as robust as the current military offensive - to feed and employ farmers, not just to search and destroy their drugs", he said.
Counter-narcotics operations in Afghanistan have become more frequent and more robust, according to the UNODC.
In the first half of 2009, military operations led to the destruction of 50 tonnes of opium, 7 tonnes of morphine, 1.5 tonnes of heroin, 19 tonnes of hashish, 90 tonnes of chemicals used to process opium and 27 drug laboratories.
But Mr Costa warned that a "marriage of convenience" between insurgents and crime gangs was spawning "narco-cartels" linked to the Taliban in Afghanistan.
He said: "The world over, drug money eventually trumps ideology, and becomes as addictive as the dope itself. Afghanistan is approaching this point.
"After years of collusion with criminal gangs and corrupt officials, some insurgents are now opportunistically moving up the value chain - not just taxing supply, but getting involved in producing, processing, stocking and exporting drugs.
"The impact this has on the stability of Afghanistan, and the ways and means to oppose it, require attention."
Mr Costa repeated a call for drug traffickers connected to terrorism to be reported to the UN Security Council.
"Drug lords should be brought to justice - not executed in violation of international law or pardoned for political expediency," he said.
The UNODC has previously estimated the Taliban's revenue from the opium trade at 100 million dollars a year.
Senior British Government sources welcomed the new report's findings.
They described opium as "the most significant local source" of funding for the insurgency in Afghanistan and expressed optimism that there would not be a rebound in production of the drug.
One source said: "I don't expect a massive resurgence in poppy cultivation next year. It might go a little bit up, it might go a little bit down."
Reader views (4)
What with the recession and the massive amounts of home grown weed available it's just not as profitable as it once was, so it's only the top level highly mechanised farms are still able to operate at a reasonable profit.
- Threaded, Roskilde, Denmark
These figures donīt impress me at all. Firstly, you say opium cultivation has dropped by a third, but then you say Helmond continues to account for nearly 60% of the country's total production. Thatīs more than double the 2005 production. And when the troops completely withdraw from Helmand, what then? Will opium cultivation continue to fall? I very much doubt it. No matter how you look at it, we are losing the drug war in Afghanistan.
- Gaham Rodhouse, Helmond, Netherlands
This story is clearly a distraction piece, generated by the MOD and their fellow conspirators in Downing Street and the General Staff in a pthetic attempt to put a positive spin on the whole debacle in the wake of the so-called 'elections', increasingly ridiculous objectives and rising body count. Our troops would be better employed manning our non-existant borders and repatriating foreign criminals/terrorists than wasting their time in Afghanistan.
Oh, and by the way, here's a tip for the troops out there: any sympathy or respect you have with the British public disappears when we watch you on the evening news, tripping over eachother to shake hands with Gordon Brown and his ministers when they turn up on a photoshoot. Do the decent thing and send them out unescorted in a snatch. Or on foot.
- Tom, Luton
Is the war in Afghanistan about poppys or oil or something else?
Joe Public needs to know.
NOT SPIN AND WAFFLE, THE TRUTH.
- Reuben Camara, Morecambe Compound, EUSSR
