The Fourth Year of the Opium Ban: An update from two of Afghanistan’s major poppy-growing areas
The Fourth Year of the Opium Ban: An update from two of Afghanistan’s major poppy-growing areas
The Islamic Emirate’s ban on opium cultivation has entered its fourth year and apart from the first harvest of opium poppies in spring 2022, when farmers were allowed to harvest their standing crop, the authorities have enforced it, with one notable exception – Badakhshan. Farmers there have been better able to avoid the ban, both because of the province’s remoteness from the centre of government and its rugged terrain, and also its unique political landscape. Fabrizio Foschini and Jelena Bjelica have been hearing about this year’s harvest from locals both in the northeast and the most important opium-growing region, historically, the southwest. They found that, although the ban on cultivating poppy still holds in most of the country, high opium prices and a lack of alternatives are driving more farmers to take the risky decision to break the ban. (AAN – Afghanistan Analysts Network, Kabul, 27.06.2025)
https://www.afghanistan-analysts.org/en/reports/economy-development-environment/the-fourth-year-of-the-opium-ban-an-update-from-two-of-afghanistans-major-poppy-growing-areas/