According to the latest UN Opium Risk Assessment report on Afghanistan, the poppy production has been on record high in third consecutive year.
The 2013 Assessment Report says the rise in production has been due to high prices for last few years and harvest has now spread to areas which were previously poppy-free. It further says poppy cultivation is not only expected to expand in areas where it already existed in 2012 but also in new areas or in areas where poppy cultivation was stopped. Villages with a low level of security and those which had not received agricultural assistance in the previous year were significantly more likely to grow poppy in 2013.
The increase has been significant in Southern provinces. More than a third of Afghanistan's total opium production now takes place in Helmand and Kandahar.
The percentage of increase shows an alarming situation, particularly at a time when the country is in transition. The UN report says Afghan efforts to stamp out opium poppy cultivation are failing. More help is needed to provide alternatives to farmers, in law enforcement support and in cooperation from other countries in the region.
The US says it is still committed in fighting drug trafficking in Afghanistan. State Department spokesman on Monday said the US government is committed to working closely with the Afghan government, regional partners, and the international community to reduce the flow of Afghan narcotics. He added that the US is the largest donor of counter-narcotics assistance to Afghanistan, and such support will continue.
It is made clear that the international community is concerned with drug trafficking, not poppy growing. The US and its NATO allies has largely ignored the poppy eradication campaigns.
The Government and international forces should enforce the poppy eradication campaign. Aside from the fact that a huge part of the financial support to insurgents come from transport and smuggling of opium, it’s also exporting deaths to millions of people around the world, and the number of drug addicts increasing in Afghanistan.
The Counter-Narcotics law is yet to go in effect. It was approved in 2009, but under the pretext of the so-called alternative programs, the government has not implemented the law. Once this law goes into effect, there will be legal action against farmers who cultivate poppy crop. The punishment is not strict, but this law must be implemented and practiced strongly.