The Supply of Opium in Afghanistan

For most farmers, the decisions about which crops to plant and harvest boils down to straightforward cost benefit analysis. So when when the world price of ground coffee beans paid to farmers declines in Ethiopia somefarmers destory their coffee plants (some of which may have taken five years to grow) and instead produce chat. Likewise, when the return on producing cannabis or opium increases, farmers in Afghanistan increase the area under cultivation and supply responds.

The supply of opium from Afghanistan continues to grow and it is basically down to the economic incentives facing the farmers. There have been some success stories in cutting off the supply but the battle is a long way from bring won. This report from the excellent Alastair Leithead (a former student of mine at the RGS Newcastle) looks at the efforts to reduce opium supply in some regions of Afghanistan - so far there have been only mixed results. Whilst in some regions cultivation is being cut through eradication programmes, in others desert is being reclaimed by the farmers and a new supply of opium is opening up.