Anti-drugs body to construct three hydropower stations

In an effort to help local farmers develop alternative livelihoods, an Afghan anti-narcotics body has approved a US $3.2 million project to fund the construction of three micro hydropower stations in the country’s northeastern Badakhshan province. Launched by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in October 2005, the Counter-Narcotics Trust Fund (CNTF) works to support the government of Afghanistan in its fight to eradicate poppy production and the illicit drug trade in the war-ravaged country, which currently produces 87 percent of the global opium. “Some 4,000 households will benefit from the project, which aims mainly to lay the groundwork, by providing a steady power supply for the rural population so that they can develop alternative ways of earning their livelihoods based on the advantages of having electricity,” UNDP said in a press release. The management board of the fund, which includes representatives of the Afghan government, major bilateral and international donors and UNDP, has approved the project, which will fund the construction of a 100 KW hydropower station in the Chatta village of Faizabad district, an 85 KW station in the Sangab village of Baharak district and a 350 KW one in Jurm district of Badakhshan province, UNDP said. “Other projects like this will be implemented throughout the country,” said UNDP media relations officer Dominic Medley. It is hoped that small-scale food processing facilities will be created thanks to the supply of electricity to the areas. This could in turn allow producers to take agricultural products to market with some added value, thereby bringing more income and encouraging production of legal crops, according to UNDP. On the environmental front, the project introduces a major renewable energy concept allowing substantial cuts in the use of wood for various daily activities. It is hoped that by the end of the three-year project, the micro hydropower stations will be managed by local personnel, thereby contributing to the capacity development cause, the UN’s main development agency stated. Afghanistan’s economy continues to rely heavily on the trade in illicit drugs. The UN and the government have estimated the total export value of Afghanistan's opium in 2005 at $2.7 billion - equivalent to 52 percent of the country's official gross domestic product (GDP).