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UNODC: Increase in Opium Cultivation in Afghanistan Despite Continued Drug Ban
According to a recent report by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in Vienna, opium cultivation in Afghanistan increased by 19 percent in 2024 compared to the previous year. After an unprecedented decline of 95% in 2023, when the de facto authorities enforced a strict ban on cultivation, the area under cultivation has reached 12,800 hectares. Nevertheless, cultivation is still far below the figures for 2022, when 232,000 hectares were used for opium cultivation.
U.S. Marines prepare to search a village for Taliban fighters in a Poppy plantation in Gostan valley, Nimruz Province, Afghanistan in 2012. / Picture: © Wikimedia Commons, Department of Defense, Public domain
The latest figures show a drastic shift in cultivation centers: instead of southwestern Afghanistan as before, cultivation in 2024 is mainly concentrated in the northeastern provinces, especially Badakhshan, where 59 percent of opium is grown. In this region, cultivation increased by 381 percent compared to the previous year.
Ghada Waly, Executive Director of UNODC, emphasizes:…
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