Interview with UNODC head on opium production

Afghanistan has been regaining notoriety as the world's leading poppy producer, now accounting for about three quarters of global opium production following the collapse of the hardline Taliban regime who had virtually eradicated production in 2001. The director of the United Nations Office for Drugs and Crime (UNODC) Antonio Maria Costa was in Afghanistan last week, to see for himself the extent of the opium industry and help develop strategies to reduce production. QUESTION: What changes in poppy output have you witnessed this year compared to 2002? ANSWER: In 2002 we estimated the cultivation at around 74,000 hectares producing 3,400 mt with an income generated of around one billion dollars. Unfortunately, as yet there is no data available for 2003, but possibly very soon UNODC will issue figures on this year. A few things have changed, some of them for the better some of them not. From the worst side or negative side is the fact that cultivation is spreading beyond the traditional five main provinces that opium has been historically cultivated in Afghanistan like Nangarhar, Kandahar, Badakhshan etc. But in these five provinces which amounts to about 98 per cent of the whole output, the problem is just as severe as it was last year. But it is good news that the price of opium has declined by about 50 percent in 12 months. So from US $700 per kilo of dry opium bazaar prices are now about $300 per kilo. This means there is a very major cut in the revenues of the traffickers, the revenues of warlords, the revenues of all those who are involved in the opium trade. Q: Who are the traffickers and growers? A: Obviously the farmers are involved cultivating their own, somebody else's land or absentee land. And regarding the traffickers, everybody can be. All the ethnic groups are involved. Are they commanders, warlords or local administrators? Yes and no. I believe most of the commanders are using the revenue from narco-trafficking to feed and arm their armies. Q: What are the challenges in terms of the eradication of poppy cultivation in Afghanistan? A: Everything is a challenge. The Counter Narcotics Directorate (CND) [the Afghan government leading authority for drug and crime] is very weak and needs to be strengthened, the counter narcotics police are very weak and without resources so they need to be strengthened. Law enforcement is at its infancy and needs to be strengthened, farmers keep pleading for money for alternative livelihoods because of poverty, administrators keep claiming that they need additional infrastructure, roads electricity, schools and hospitals, so everything is a challenge. Q: Taking the current challenges into account when do you think Afghanistan will be a poppy free land? A: I don't have a crystal ball and I cannot predict the future. In other countries with a similar problem for example Thailand, Turkey, Pakistan it took a generation or more, that's 15 to 20 years. The government has approved a 10-year strategy. But that doesn't mean we have to wait nine years to do something. That means that we all have to be engaged right now. In fact everybody has to be committed including the Afghan society at large. The future of Afghanistan is in the hands of Afghans. But it will take some time before the country gets through the problem. Q: Do you think drug abuse is also a serious problem in Afghanistan? A: Certainly, our experience is that drug addiction is growing throughout the region. In Afghanistan and in neighboring countries, Central Asia and so forth, I believe that cultivation brings along abuse and abuse brings along death and the need for treatment. Q: One solution is to pay poppy growers to produce something else, is this feasible? A: I don't believe we should compensate farmers for not producing opium. However, we need an Afghan government, which should have the ability to enforce the law. And under the law anyone who breaks the law should accept the consequences, so we need to strengthen the ability of the Afghan government to enforce the law. I have learned that the budget of the CND, which is so important, is just three million dollars and the money was never disbursed and they [CND] are supposed to fight against a drug economy of 1.2 billion dollars. Now it makes no sense. The opium economy last year generated one billion dollars. How many paramilitaries and how many traffickers can be fed for that amount? Q: Have you appealed for more resources and funding to fight poppy in Afghanistan? A: Definitely, if we want to be serious about counter trafficking in Afghanistan the authorities need to have a much greater volume of resources. We are in the hands of the international community to provide resources. Resources have not been as generous as I would have liked and the country needs. We are working very hard at that. We are asking for a greater amount of resources towards Afghanistan. I believe the law enforcement is not taken seriously even by foreign countries, I believe that there are too many narcotics going through because of corrupted officials, corrupted airport and port personnel. We need to be much more committed to fight this problem than we are at the moment. I hear lots of words but very little action. Q: How commited is Kabul to eradicating opium production? A: The Afghan government is very committed. This is not the problem, the problem is resources and the rest of society needs to be committed. We are talking about an Afghan problem concerning opium, which involves less than five percent of the population. I would like the 95 per cent of the population, which is not involved in drug activity to be equally committed as president Karzai. If that will be the case we can make it.