• Opium poppy production in Afghanistan has plummeted since the Taliban administration banned the cultivation of narcotics last year, a report by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) said.

• The production of opiates (opium, morphine, and heroin) has arguably been Afghanistan’s largest and most reliable illegal economic activity. Until last year, the income from the manufacture and trafficking of heroin exceeded the income of farmers who cultivated opium by far, and the value of heroin exports alone has frequently exceeded the value of Afghanistan’s licit exports of goods and services.

• Opium poppy cultivation dramatically declined across all parts of Afghanistan and almost entirely in some provinces where opium poppy was illicitly cultivated for many years. Nationally, area under cultivation declined by 95 per cent to a total of just 10,800 hectares, indicating that farmers were adhering to the ban that was announced in April 2022. 

• Consequently, this has reduced the supply of opium and export quality heroin coming out of the 2023 harvest. Opium production saw a similar 95 per cent decline from 6,200 tonnes produced in 2022 to 333 tonnes in 2023. The total 2023 opium harvest could be converted into 24-38 tonnes of heroin of export quality (50–70 per cent purity). In 2022 that amount was 350-580 tonnes.

What is opium?

• Opium is a highly addictive non-synthetic narcotic that is extracted from the poppy plant, Papaver somniferum. The opium poppy is the key source for many narcotics, including morphine, codeine, and heroin.

• The poppy plant, Papaver somniferum, is the source of opium. It was grown in the Mediterranean region as early as 5000 BC, and has since been cultivated in a number of countries throughout the world. 

• The milky fluid that seeps from its incisions in the unripe seedpod of this poppy has been scraped by hand and air-dried to produce what is known as opium.

• Opioids have also been increasingly abused, causing widespread addiction issues in many countries.

• Opium is the best known source for relieving pain. The opium poppy contains many alkaloids that are frequently used as an analgesic, anti-tussive and anti-spasmodic in modern medicine. Besides, it is also grown as a source of edible seed and seed oil.

What drives opium poppy cultivation in Afghanistan?

• Afghanistan has long been the leading global producer of opium poppy for illegal opiate markets.

• The cultivation of opium poppy in Afghanistan has been driven by many socioeconomic and security-related factors, including multidimensional poverty, lack of licit economic opportunities, and limited access to markets. 

• For decades, opium poppy has provided an important source of income for rural populations. In 2022, the income from opium poppy cultivation was equivalent to 29 per cent of the value of the country’s entire agricultural sector. At the household level, the income from opium poppy represented up to half of the average income of opium poppy farming households.

• In general, rural communities – not only farmers – often depend on the income from opium to sustain their livelihoods.

• Opium poppy is a labour-intensive crop that provided employment for many in Afghanistan. In 2019, the last year for which data are available, harvesting activities provided the equivalent of up to 119,000 full-time jobs to local and migrant workers hired by farmers.

• At the household level, factors associated with opium poppy cultivation have included lower earnings from legal crops, larger household sizes, lower crop and income diversification, and less access to credit. Food, medical expenses, and paying debt were the three most common uses of opium income reported by farmers.

• The strong contraction of the opiate economy in 2023 is likely to affect Afghanistan’s economy at a larger scale. Opium has often served as an informal credit system, allowing farmers to invest in agricultural activities such as buying seeds and fertilizers.

Alternatives to opium

• The decline in opium poppy cultivation was met by an increase in cultivation of wheat, as farmers sought out alternatives. Wheat shares a similar crop cycle with opium poppy. Both are sown around the same times. Consequently, farmers that previously cultivated opium poppy opted at the beginning of the season to cultivate wheat.

• Approximately 68 per cent of the 2022 opium poppy fields had been replanted with wheat including other cereal crops. In 2023, there was an overall increase of 160,000 ha in cereal cultivation across the four provinces, a large part due to replacing opium poppy with wheat. 

• Wheat is the most important licit crop in Afghanistan. However, recent production does not meet the needs of Afghans, as each year millions of tonnes need to be imported. Increased wheat production, in the immediate period, may therefore alleviate food insecurity to a certain extent.

• Wheat generates much less income than opium. In 2023, the per-hectare income from wheat was $770 while opium yielded some $10,000. In 2022, this per-hectare income from opium was $6,800 before opium prices increased dramatically. 

• Some farmers reported that the sudden implementation of the ban prevented them from transitioning to high-value pomegranate, almond, pistachio and hing (asafoetida), which can take years to fully mature. 

• Reduced incomes along the Afghan opiate supply chain could stimulate alternative illicit activities, potentially leading to increased trafficking in other substances such as synthetic drugs like methamphetamine, or expansion of other organised criminal activities in the broader region. 

• These could include expansion of illicit arms trafficking, human trafficking and smuggling of migrants, illegal mining or trafficking in cultural property. Opiate production could emerge in countries other than Afghanistan.

How decline in opium production could impact globally?

• Global heroin markets supplied by opium poppy cultivated in Afghanistan may face severe supply shortages in the coming years. 

• From July 2000 until fall 2001, the Taliban, which had assumed control over much of Afghanistan in the mid-1990s, issued a similar ban on poppy cultivation and opium production, resulting in a 90 per cent reduction of opium poppy. The ban was short-lived as the Taliban was toppled in late 2001.

• The last nationwide ban enforced by the Taliban, in 2000 and 2001, did not cause major disruptions because there were sufficient opium inventories along the supply chain. But the ban had a significant impact only on the 2001 harvest and opium poppy cultivation quickly resumed. 

• In the current situation, it is unknown how much opium or opiates are stockpiled or stored as inventories after several highly productive years.

A sustained reduction in opium production in the country may lead to a series of consequences such as:

i) A displacement of opium production to other countries.

ii) Overall decreases in opiate use.

iii) A reduction in purity or replacement of heroin or opium by other substances in retail markets, some of which may be even more harmful (such as fentanyl or other synthetic opioids). 

• Distributors in retail markets may adapt to shortages by substituting other synthetic opioids, which are cheap, potent and can be readily accessible online. 

• The experience in North America with fentanyl overtaking heroin in major drug markets is illustrative of how a cheaper and readily available synthetic opioid can easily displace heroin.

What is the role of UNODC?

• The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) contributes to global peace and security, sustainable development and human rights by helping to make the world safer from drugs, crime, corruption and terrorism.

• Established in 1997 through a merger between the UN Drug Control Programme and the Centre for International Crime Prevention, UNODC operates in all regions of the world through an extensive network of field offices. UNODC relies on voluntary contributions, mainly from governments, for 90 per cent of its budget.

• UNODC provides technical assistance, research and normative support to Member States to help them develop and implement comprehensive, evidence-based solutions to the complex and interconnected threats that they face at the national, regional and global levels. 

• It is headquartered in Vienna with a network of over 130 offices around the world.

• UNODC relies on voluntary contributions, mainly from governments, to carry out the majority of our work.

Main functions of UNODC: 

i) Tackling the world drug problem through balanced, evidence-based responses to address drug abuse and drug use disorders, as well as the production and trafficking of illicit drugs.

ii) Preventing corruption by promoting integrity and good governance and helping recover stolen assets.

iii) Countering terrorism through effective, accountable and inclusive legal, crime prevention and criminal justice measures in line with international norms and the UN Global Counter Terrorism Strategy.

iv) Combating organised crime by providing technical assistance and support and strengthening international cooperation to address organized criminal activity and all forms of trafficking.

v) Preventing crime and promoting criminal justice through human rights-based and victim-centered approaches that strengthen the rule of law and access to justice.

Opium cultivation in India

• India is one of the few countries internationally permitted to cultivate opium poppy for export. 

• Opium poppy is cultivated in three states of India – Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh.

• The Central Bureau of Narcotics, based in Gwalior, implements a stringent licensing system in India. 

• The crop is generally sown in November and harvested in March-April. Opium is used to extract alkaloids such as morphine, thebaine and codeine. After the extraction of the opium, the pods are crushed and the poppy seeds are extracted and can be used as condiments in cooking.

• Codeine is commonly used in the manufacture of cough syrups.

• The NDPS Act empowers the central government to permit and regulate cultivation of opium poppy for medical and scientific purposes. The government of India notifies the tracts where opium cultivation can be licensed as well as the general conditions for issuance of license every year.

• The Central Bureau of Narcotics (CBN), Gwalior (Madhya Pradesh) under the Narcotics Commissioner issues licenses to the farmers to cultivate opium poppy. Each field of every cultivator is individually measured by officers of the CBN to ensure that they do not exceed the licensed area. 

• The cultivators are required to tender their entire opium produced to the CBN and they are paid a price at the rates decided by the government. The CBN sets up weighment centres during the harvest season and the cultivators bring their opium to these centres and tender the opium to the CBN.

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