Is Afghanistan's initiative to counter opium production failing farmers?
By Aigul Kasymova
July 5th, the CACI Analyst
According to the 2015 Afghanistan Opium Survey, prepared by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and Afghanistan’s Ministry of Counter Narcotics (MCN), opium poppy cultivation in Afghanistan has decreased by 19 percent compared to 2014. Production also dropped by an estimated 48 percent from 2014 and is recorded to be the lowest since the Taliban’s 2001 opium ban. Despite this drop, Afghanistan continues to be the largest producer of illicit opium and heroin in the world. It is estimated that 80 percent of global illicit opiates derives from Afghanistan. The immediate and long-term consequences of this production continue to create challenges for the country, its people and hopes for sustainable development.
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