From: EurasiaDigest (digest@eurasianet.org)
Date: Wed May 07 2008 - 14:06:14 EDT
AFGHAN GOVERNOR PROMISES TOTAL ERADICATION OF OPIUM CROP
Government officials in Badakhshan Province, one of the major
opium-poppy-producing regions in Afghanistan, have said that poppy
cultivation in the province will be totally eradicated by the start of
next year, the Bakhtar news agency reported on May 6. Badakhshan
Governor Munshi Abdul Majid said that poppy cultivation decreased 70
percent last year, and that farmers in the district of Darayim, which
was formerly a main hub of poppy cultivation and trafficking, have
completely stopped growing the crop. "This year we don't have plans for
wiping out poppy cultivation, but we have plans for not cultivating
poppy. We have informed everyone not to cultivate poppy. We have
decreased poppy cultivation to almost zero," Majid said. Some residents
believe that poppy cultivation was the main reason for insecurity and
the slow pace of development in Darayim district, but others have been
hit hard by the loss of their livelihood. Bakhtar quotes one resident as
saying: "Our poppy fields were destroyed by the authorities. Now we have
no money and my 10 family members are starving." Other residents in the
district said government and NGO support does not suffice, and that
farmers may start growing poppies again unless serious reconstruction
work begins. AT
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