Farmers have returned to opium cultivation in 20 provinces – a setback to nearly 14 years of efforts to eradicate the root of the world’s biggest source of heroin.
Poppy fields are flourishing in Helmand and also in other provinces like Kandahar, Farah, Uruzgan, Nimroz, Herat, Zabul, Badakhshan, Nangarhar, Daikundi, Baghlan, Laghman, Faryab,
Farmers have returned to opium cultivation in 20 provinces – a setback to nearly 14 years of efforts to eradicate the root of the world’s biggest source of heroin.
Poppy fields are flourishing in Helmand and also in other provinces like Kandahar, Farah, Uruzgan, Nimroz, Herat, Zabul, Badakhshan, Nangarhar, Daikundi, Baghlan, Laghman, Faryab, Ghor, Parwan, Jowzjan, Badghis and Sar e pol.
The authorities in Helmand admit production has increased this year and no effort has been made to clear poppy fields. Omar Zwak, the spokesperson for the Helmand governor blames the Ministry of Counter Narcotics for failing to devise a strategy.
Mohammad Hanif Daneshyar, head of publications in the ministry, says a survey has been launched to calculate the extent of cultivation this year. “Some land is under poppy in most provinces but in Helmand unfortunately the cultivation is extensive,” he says.
In a province like Jowzjan poppy has made a comeback. Cultivation of poppy was zero last year but this year it is being grown in three districts. Mohammad Reza, spokesperson for the provincial governor, says Taleban are forcing farmers to grow poppy.
Daneshyar says there were plans to eradicate poppy fields but opium has already been harvested in “warm provinces”. The government has pegged the compensation for farmers at 250 USD per jerib of eradicated opium land. (One jerib is equivalent to half an acre.) “We collect figures (of fields destroyed) at the end of every week to share with the media,” he says.
Efforts to counter opium production are stymied by a serious shortage of staff. Mahdi Kazemi, an official in the counter narcotics department, Ministry of Interior Affairs, says a special unit for the elimination of poppy fields was disbanded in 2012. “We had an 850-member unit for elimination of narcotics but it was shut down and staff members forced to revert to their posts in the ministry (of interior affairs),” he says. Both the ministries of interior affairs and counter narcotics are working together to re-establish the unit.
Counter productive
Kazemi says the two ministries had a joint plan to counter narcotics, which was to be launched for three months at first between March 20 and June 20, 2016, that could not be implemented because of the worsening security situation.
Parliament also confirmed the government’s position. Lawmaker General Naqibullah, a member of the parliamentary counter narcotics commission, says cultivation has expanded more than ever before, and insecurity is to be blamed. “They (the government) disbanded the special unit assigned for elimination of narcotics. With securizty forces busy in the fight against insurgents, who is left to eliminate poppy?” he asks.
Both the Ministry of Counter Narcotics and the office of the deputy minister for anti-narcotics in the Ministry of Interior Affairs say poppy is planted in areas outside government control or where insecurity is a serious concern.
Sidiq Sidiqi, spokesperson for the Ministry of Interior Affairs, says security forces are launching operations across the country to provide “security and safety to people”. Some farmers who were interviewed claim they were coerced by the Taleban to plant poppy.
Some people in Helmand say the Taleban extract money from farmers even if they are not cultivating opium. Mohammad Dawood, a tribal leader in Helmand, says Taleban take between 3,000 and 10,000 Pakistani rupees (roughly 30- 100 USD) for every jerib of land. “If someone has clean clothes, they (the Taleban) tell him ‘you are wealthy and you should give more money to us’,” he says.
Farmers who have planted poppy say they had no choice because they are poor and the government has neglected agriculture. Ibrahim and Mohammad Mashooq, residents of Khogiani and Hesarak districts in Nangarhar province respectively say that if the government had given fertiliser, improved seeds and other possibilities, they would have not cultivated poppy on their lands.
Course correction
Meanwhile the parliamentary commission to counter narcotics has declared the government’s strategy “defective and useless”, according to General Naqibullah, Member of Parliament. The government has launched a plan to raze poppy fields just when the plants are ready to be harvested. “No owner of land will allow the work they have put in (to grow the crop) to be wasted,” he declares.
Government officials estimate that the major profit from narcotics goes into the pockets of armed opponents of the government like the Taleban, smugglers, powerful local leaders and the mafia. The Ministry of Counter Narcotics estimates the annual narcotics business is an estimated 70 billion USD.
A 2014 SIGAR report (Special Inspector General for Afghan Reconstruction) estimates the US has spent 8 billion USD on efforts to eradicate opium fields. However, the Afghan government disputes the figure. Daneshyar says Afghanistan has received only 160 million USD in direct payments made to the Ministry of Finance from 2007. Half the money has gone into paying salaries of implementing security agencies. The farmers have not got anything.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Counter Narcotics has arrested more than 2,000 smugglers and submitted the dossiers of a third of these to the justice system. There are government officials among the arrested.
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