Opium production jumps 43 pct in Afghanistan: UN report

The UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) reported an increase of 43 percent in opium production in Afghanistan in 2016 over last year, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters here Monday.

The latest data from the Afghan Ministry of Counter Narcotics and UNODC show that opium production rose by 43 percent to 4,800 metric tons in 2016 compared to 2015 levels, Dujarric said at a daily news briefing here. "The area under opium poppy cultivation also increased by 10 percent over 2015 levels."

Yury Fedotov, the executive director of UNODC, said that the new report shows a worrying reversal in efforts to combat the persistent problem of illicit drugs and their impact on development, health and security in Afghanistan.

"The increased production is attributed to higher opium yield per hectare, and the fact that more land is being used for opium poppy cultivation," Dujarric said.

Consequently, Fedotov urged the international community to lend their support to achieving the sustainable development goals in Afghanistan, including vital work on a peaceful and inclusive society, health, poverty, peace, and gender, among many others.

The higher production can be explained by the larger area under opium poppy cultivation, but the most important driver is the higher opium yield per hectare. The largest yield increase occurred in the Western region where the average yield grew by 37 percent and the Southern region, with a 36 percent rise.

Since these two regions account for 84 percent of the total opium poppy cultivation in Afghanistan, the yield increases in these regions had a strong impact on the national potential opium production.

The average opium yield, meanwhile, is at 23.8 kilograms per hectare (p/ha) -- 30 percent more than in 2015 (18.3 kilograms p/ha). A total of 355 ha of poppy eradication was carried out by the provincial governors in 2016. This represented a decrease of 91 percent from 2015 when 3,760 hectares were eradicated. In 2016, eradication took place in seven provinces, compared to 12 provinces in 2015.

Hilmand, with some 80,273 ha (40 percent of the national total), remained the country's major opium poppy cultivating province. This is followed by Badghis (35,234 ha), Kandahar (20,475 ha), Uruzgan (15,503 ha), Nangarhar (14,344 ha), Farah (9,101 ha), Badakhshan (6,298 ha) and Nimroz (5,303 ha), the report said.

As noted in the Survey, opium cultivation decreased in some of the main opium poppy-growing provinces, notably Farah and Nimroz (which saw declines of 57, and 40 percent, respectively), but climbed in the provinces of Badghis (by 184 percent) and Badakhshan (by 55 percent).

The southern region has the country's largest share of national opium production with 54 percent recorded, which equals some 2,591 metric tons (MT). Afghanistan's second most important opium producing region is the Western, responsible for 24 percent of national production (1,139 MT), followed by the eastern region with 12 percent (571 MT). The remaining areas (north-eastern, northern and central regions) together, accounted for only 10 percent of opium production, said the report. Enditem