Opium Production has set record in Afghanistan

 Afghan men work on a poppy field in Jalalabad province.

 

 

 

Afghanistan's area under opium-poppy cultivation has increased 63% since 2016 , rising to 810505 acres, while its potential opium production increased 87% to an estimated 9,000 tons — both records for the country despite years of anti-narcotics efforts.

There is no single reason behind the increases , according to the UN office on drug and crime.

Among the main factors driving the increase are corruption, lack of government control and security, and challenges to the rule of law, like political instability . Local issues , like a lack of job opportunities , low- quality education, and limited access to markets and financial services, also compels farmers toward opium cultivation.

The Afghan government has shifted its focus to combating anti-government elements in densely populated areas at the expense of rural areas, which may have also allowed cultivation to increase, according to the UNODC .

The UNODC recorded strong increases  in all of Afghanistan's major poppy cultivating provinces. Helmand alone saw a 79% increase and accounted for just under of half the country's total increase. About 60% of Afghanistan's opium cultivation takes place in the southern region, and all the provinces there saw significant increases .

Opium produced in Afghanistan is typically exported in raw form, or as heroine or morphine. Helmand, home to an estimated 80% of Afghaistan opium poppies , is called " big drug factory".