Taliban’s Ban on Opium Cultivation Costs Afghan Farmers Over $1 Billion, Says UN

The United Nations announced that the Taliban's order to ban opium cultivation has caused Afghan farmers to lose more than one billion dollars in income from the sale of opium.

The UN Office on Drug and Crime (UNODC) said that following the issuance of the decree, opium cultivation has decreased by 95 percent in Afghanistan.

When the Taliban took over Afghanistan in 2021, the country was the largest exporter of opium in the world and the main source of heroin in Europe and Asia.

In April 2022, the Taliban declared a ban on the cultivation and production of narcotics. It had a severe impact on hundreds of thousands of farmers and daily wage workers who relied on the income generated from this crop to sustain their livelihoods.

The United Nations has now confirmed the decline of opium cultivation in Afghanistan, emphasising on the urgent need for more aid to the villagers and alternative cultivation for a future without opium in the country.

Ghada Waly, Executive Director of UNODC, welcomed the decrease in opium production in Afghanistan. At the same time, he said that it has important consequences and risks that should be considered.

Waly stressed that today the people of Afghanistan need urgent humanitarian aid instead of lost income to meet their needs.

The United Nations said that although growing wheat may reduce food insecurity to some extent in Afghanistan, it is far less profitable than opium.