Afghanistan expecting record opium crop

Afgan opium poppy farmers score opium poppies. (AFP Photo / Bay Ismoyo)

Illegal poppy cultivation in Afghanistan is expected to reach a record high this year. As NATO troops withdraw and the international aid effort winds down, the country’s economy is set to shrink, making other legal crops less attractive.

Afghanistan is heading for a near-record opium crop, according to a report by the UN’s Afghanistan Opium Winter Risk Assessment.  “Poppy cultivation is not only expected to expand in areas where it already existed in 2012, but also in new areas or areas where poppy cultivation was stopped,” the report said.

Poppy cultivation is greatest in the Taliban-controlled southern heartlands, in regions where troops in the US-led coalition have either withdrawn are in the process of pulling out, and in areas where there is poor security and little in the way of agricultural aid....................

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