Opium production is rampant in post-Taliban Afghanistan, reports Peter Willems from Kabul When British Prime Minister Tony Blair was attempting to garner support for the invasion of Afghanistan, he told the Labour Party Conference in October 2001 that in addition to ousting the Taliban regime and destroying Al-Qaeda training camps, the attack would eliminate a major supply of heroin. "90 per cent of the heroin on British streets originates in Afghanistan," said Blair. "The arms the Taliban are buying today are paid for with the lives of people buying their drugs on British streets. That is another part of their regime we should seek to destroy." But last week the UK foreign affairs committee on international terrorism delivered a disturbing report on Afghanistan's drug trade: the cultivation of poppies, which was the highest in the world in 2003, will increase this year. Due to Afghanistan's government having little control outside Kabul, the capital, and farmers choosing the most profitable crop, opium production has flourished since the Taliban regime was ousted in late 2001. In 2003, over 80,000 hectares were used for poppy cultivation and the country produced 3,600 tons of opium -- up from 185 tons in 2001 -- taking up 75 per cent of the world market. It is estimated that the drug trade accounted for half of the country's gross domestic product in 2003. It is forecast that land for poppy cultivation will increase to reach between 90,000 and 120,000 hectares this year. "Our assessment of poppy cultivation has not been completed, but indicators show that cultivation continued to rise in 2004," said Alexandre Schmidt, crime prevention expert of United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. Earlier this year, the Afghan government implemented an eradication programme to start its war on the drug industry. According to Afghanistan's Counter Narcotics Directorate, 25,000 hectares of poppy fields were destroyed in late spring and early summer. But according to officials, the programme had little effect since farmers harvested poppies before the destruction of fields began. "The eradication procedures that took place were nothing but a show to please the international audience," said Azizullah Lodin, president of the General Administration of Anti-Bribery and Corruption. "They were late destroying poppies, so the farmers had already harvested the fields. They cannot enforce and sustain what they have done, and I believe the eradication programme is very far from reality." More alarming is the absence of a plan to help Afghan farmers find an alternative crop. "There has been an immediate focus on eradication with little focus on what happens after eradication," said Schmidt. "September is the time to plant poppies again. If nothing happens by September, what are people going to do to earn a living? There is no other choice but to plant poppies." It is estimated that farmers can receive up to �70,000 per hectare for growing poppies, compared to �120 per hectare for wheat. But many farmers say they are not against changing to another crop but are angry that they are left with no assistance after losing their best source of income. "If they give us seeds, help us rebuild irrigation facilities and it is good for the nation, we will grow something else," said Jamal Jaaffery, a farmer in the Herat province where poppy fields were destroyed. "But if there is nothing else to grow, we will have no choice but to grow poppies." Until recently, Afghanistan was a supplier of opium as a raw material that was exported to neighbouring countries. Now sophisticated labs to produce the lucrative end product, heroin, have emerged. Organised crime groups have also set up shop which will make fighting drug trafficking more difficult. "With more organised crime groups, increasingly complex drug trafficking and heroin being exported instead of opium, dealing with the drug business is going to be difficult," said Syed Alamudin Atheer, deputy director of Counter Narcotics Directorate. Drug trafficking in Afghanistan now supports a number of factions struggling for power. The remnants of the Taliban fighting US forces in the south use opium to finance their insurgency. Over a dozen warlords, who now control vast areas outside the capital, profit from the drug trade to help build their power base. Violence in Afghanistan has risen dramatically in the last year-and-a-half. Over 800 people have been killed in the last 12 months. Many of the humanitarian aid organisations assisting to rebuild the war-torn country have also been targeted. Since the beginning of 2003, over 30 aid workers have been killed. Doctors Without Borders, a prominent aid agency that has been operating in Afghanistan to provide health care for 24 years, decided a couple of weeks ago to pack up and leave the country. On 2 June, five of its aid workers were ambushed and killed in the Badghis province. The Taliban is held responsible for many of the attacks, including assaults in provinces in the north that had been calm since the Taliban was overthrown. Warlords leading armed militias and new druglords are also responsible for attacks that keep the country unstable. "Some groups have their own armies and need money to support them," said Atheer. "Warlords, druglords, and religious militants have become involved in the drug business because they cannot get money through legal forms of business. We can say that these groups are responsible for the increase in violence with an aim to destabilise the country." The Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration programme initiated by the government last October has been stalling, mostly due to warlords not cooperating. President Hamid Karzai signed a decree recently to pressure militia commanders, but with a weak army and hardly any judicial system, few expect results. "A strong central government is essential. This can only come from a strong army, police force, justice system and a clean government," said Lodin. "They should have strengthened the national army from the beginning because if the power had been with the central government, warlords and druglords would not have filled the vacuum." The UK committee's report holds that international forces should take on the responsibility of dealing with Afghan militia leaders until the local government gains strength. It criticised NATO countries for not fulfilling their promise, made at the NATO conference in June, to add a total of 3,500 troops to the 6,500 peacekeeping forces already in Afghanistan. "We conclude that, although the Istanbul declaration of limited further support for Afghanistan is welcome, fine communiqués and ringing declarations are no substitute for delivery of the forces and equipment which Afghanistan needs on the ground," said the British committee. It also stressed that if more assistance is not sent soon, the country could implode and the drug industry will continue to run wild. Others believe, however, that if Afghanistan receives help to stabilise the country, a thorough plan of action to eradicate opium production must also be put into place. "For the long haul, Afghanistan needs to implement a comprehensive programme to control the production of opium," said Atheer. "Without it, we will not be able to tackle the drug business."
