The rebound follows a massive 95 per cent decrease in 2023, when the ban almost eradicated poppy manufacturing nationwide, resulting in a extreme decline in Afghanistan’s opium output.
Nonetheless, while cultivation has increased, the current levels remain substantially lower than in 2022, which noticed 232,000 hectares below poppy cultivation.
UNODC Government Director Ghada Waly emphasised the urgency of sustainable options for Afghan farmers, given their urgent challenges.
“With opium cultivation remaining at a low stage in Afghanistan, now we have the chance and duty to help Afghan farmers to develop sustainable sources of revenue free from illicit markets,” she stated.
“The ladies and men of Afghanistan proceed to face dire monetary and humanitarian challenges, and various livelihoods are urgently wanted.”
Shift in cultivation patterns
The UNODC report pointed to a notable geographic shift in cultivation patterns. Whereas southwest Afghanistan has historically been the nation’s opium hub, 59 per cent of opium cultivation this yr has taken place in provinces within the northeast.
This represents a virtually four-fold improve within the area in comparison with final yr, suggesting the potential for each adaptive planting practices and the affect of market pressures, as rural communities search options amidst strict enforcement of the opium ban.
An element behind the resurgence in opium cultivation may very well be market dynamics mixed with hardships farmers face, in keeping with UNODC. Dry opium costs stand at roughly $730 per kilogramme within the first half of 2024, a steep improve from pre-ban ranges, which averaged round $100 per kilo.
“The excessive costs and dwindling opium shares might encourage farmers to flout the ban, significantly in areas exterior of conventional cultivation centres, together with neighbouring nations,” UNODC stated.
Farmers left with out sustainable options confronted a extra precarious monetary scenario, underscoring the necessity for different revenue streams to allow them to grow to be resilient in opposition to returning to poppy cultivation sooner or later, it added.
Want for help
Roza Otunbayeva, Particular Consultant of the Secretary-Basic for Afghanistan and head of the UN Help Mission within the nation (UNAMA), acknowledged each the success in lowering opium output and the continuing hardship confronted by Afghan farmers.
“That is vital additional proof that opium cultivation has certainly been decreased, and this will likely be welcomed by Afghanistan’s neighbours, the area and the world,” she stated.
She additionally cautioned nevertheless that rural Afghan communities have misplaced an important revenue supply and urgently require worldwide help to make sure a sustainable shift away from opium manufacturing.
“If we wish this transition to be sustainable…they desperately want worldwide help.”
