UN optimistic after government moves on opium

The UN's drug control programme on Friday welcomed a decision by Afghanistan's interim government to offer opium farmers US $250 per destroyed field. With opium prices high and a bumper crop in the ground, Afghanistan is set to become the biggest heroin producer in the world in 2002 unless the trade can be halted. "US $250 per 2,000 sq mt field is way below what farmers will get from selling their opium crop, but it shows commitment on the part of the government to tackling this huge problem," Glenn Mitterman of the United Nations Office for Drug Control and Crime Prevention (UNDCP) told IRIN in Kabul. Hamid Karzai, chairman of Afghanistan's interim government, warned in a decree issued this week that forces from the interior ministry and provincial and local authorities would "carry out enforcement" against those who continued to grow the crop that was banned under the recently deposed Taliban regime. "The holy religion of Islam is categorical about the evil impact of drugs. We are determined to eradicate the poppy crop," the decree said. Karzai has no army or police force to speak of and relies for security in the capital Kabul on a 4,800-strong international force. The initiative - set to begin next week, needed to be accompanied by development programmes in poppy growing areas, Mitterman said. "Eradicating poppy is successful where farmers and their communities can see something tangible happening, like the construction of roads and schools," he added. The programme would be financed by the UK, America and the European Union - the eventual destination of much of Afghanistan's heroin. Drug experts told IRIN that a long term view was important when looking at opium eradication in a country like Afghanistan. "Once the crop is in the ground getting rid of it is fraught with difficulties, because the farmer has usually taken out loans on the strength of the crop," one analyst said. Success in countries like neighbouring Pakistan had come where crop substitution, development and enforcement had all combined to provide the kind of disincentive needed to significantly reduce production. The interim government took the decision to start tackling opium production in the knowledge that its credibility and support within the international community rests partly on its ability to deal with the drugs problem. "There's a clear link between development aid and cooperation on things like opium eradication," a senior aid worker told IRIN. Fears remain that despite the decision to get tough, implementation will be difficult because Karzai's administration does not have control over local warlords and drug leaders who still have huge influence in key opium growing areas. Western intelligence estimates suggest that the current harvest could produce 4,500 mt of opium or 450 mt of heroin. "A recent survey by UNDCP in key growing areas indicates production has significantly increased," Mitterman confirmed. The Taliban government banned poppy cultivation in 2000, but since last September farmers have been replanting for the spring harvest, believing the incoming government would not have the authority to prevent them growing the crop. "With the positive changes in Afghanistan we have a better chance than ever before of addressing opium production, but its a long term thing," Mitterman said.