Current counter-narcotics policies are risking mission failure in Afghanistan
The counter-narcotics policies currently being pursued in an attempt to resolve Afghanistan’s poppy crisis are risking the international community’s entire stabilisation mission, but until the poppy crisis is positively and sustainably addressed, the country’s security and development crises cannot be resolved. As such, if the international community fails to resolve the opium crisis, its mission to stabilise Afghanistan will also fail, leaving the country vulnerable once more to penetration by international terrorists.
In particular, the forced eradication of poppy crops is fuelling support for the Taliban and the insurgency, thereby compromising international troops’ safety and their mission in Afghanistan; and poppy crop substitution programmes are failing Afghanistan’s farming communities.
Forced eradication and poppy crop substitution strategies are failing to provide Afghan farmers with access to the resources and assets necessary to phase out illegal poppy cultivation.
A careful re-assessment of counter-narcotics strategies in Afghanistan is necessary to successfully address the country’s illegal poppy production.
“If these foreigners really care about the people of Afghanistan, then why do they
destroy our crops; why do they deprive us from the only source of our livelihood,
without providing us with any alternative? Is this fair?”
Local leader, Kama District, Nangarhar Province, May 2006
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A tried and tested, immediately effective Counter-Narcotics Strategy: Poppy for Medicine
Poppy for Medicine is an alternative counter-narcotics strategy that has been successfully implemented in many countries. It involves licensing the controlled cultivation of poppy to produce essential poppy-based medicines such as morphine, and unlicensed poppy cultivation remains a criminal activity.
Poppy for Medicine projects were established in Turkey in the 1970s with the support of the United States and the United Nations, as a means of breaking farmers’ ties with the international illegal heroin market without resorting to forced poppy crop eradication. Within just four years, this strategy successfully brought the country’s illegal poppy crisis under control.
An Afghan village-based model for medicine production and economic development
By transforming poppy into morphine medicines in Afghan villages, the entire poppy cultivation system can be controlled at two levels, by maximising Afghanistan’s renowned tradition of strong local control systems. With medicines being produced in the village, the villagers, together with government officials and international actors, can secure the entire manufacturing process, from the seeds to the final medicine tablets. ‘Exported’ directly from the villages to Kabul and international markets in tablet form, the trade in locally produced medicines can be completely secured.
The economic profits from
Poppy for Medicine projects will remain in the village, providing the necessary leverage for farming communities to diversify their economic activities. Further, the profits generated by exporting morphine tables would accommodate all stakeholders, including middle-men and local power-holders. Producing internationally tradable commodities,
Poppy for Medicine projects would also benefit the central government.
Locally owned and operated, village-based poppy control models would have beneficial ‘ink blot’ effects on security and economic development in the regions around the villages, and thus complement the international community’s mission in Afghanistan.
An Afghan village-based model for medicine production and economic development
By transforming poppy into morphine medicines in Afghan villages, the entire poppy cultivation system can be controlled at two levels, by maximising Afghanistan’s renowned tradition of strong local control systems. With medicines being produced in the village, the villagers, together with government officials and international actors, can secure the entire manufacturing process, from the seeds to the final medicine tablets. ‘Exported’ directly from the villages to Kabul and international markets in tablet form, the trade in locally produced medicines can be completely secured.
