2023-11-07 06:50:33
Kabul: After the Taliban came to power in Afghanistan, the cultivation of opium, a deadly drug, has declined by more than 90 percent, according to reports. This was stated in a report published by the UN this past Sunday.
In April 2022, the Taliban officially banned poppy (black) cultivation. Opium cultivation has declined from 233,000 hectares by the end of 2022 to 10,800 hectares in 2023. According to the UN Report on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), a reduction of regarding 95 percent has been recorded.
A huge decline was recorded in the production of opium during the same period. It has come down from 6,200 tonnes to 333 tonnes. The farmers who were engaged in agriculture have suffered a loss of income of 1 billion dollars. While the new move in Afghanistan will help in the fight once morest the illegal opium industry, UN officials say it will also hurt people who have long depended on opium cultivation for their livelihoods.
The Taliban came to power in Afghanistan in August 2021 following the withdrawal of US-led foreign forces. The government is struggling to revive the economy due to international sanctions and economic and diplomatic isolation.
Opium is widely cultivated in the southern fields of Afghanistan. The drug heroin is extracted from opium.
The best opium production in the world was in Afghanistan. More than 80 percent of the global supply came from here. Afghanistan was also a major source of heroin in Europe and Asia. The Taliban previously played a major role in the industry, raising nearly $400 million between 2018 and 2019 through cultivation, U.S. officials said.
Summary- Afghan opium poppy cultivation plunges by 95 percent under Taliban: UN
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