KABUL - In its effort to deter more farmers from cultivating opium poppy crops, the Government of Afghanistan plans to expand its award scheme for provinces that effectively implement poppy-eradication programmes.

Launched by President Hamid Karzai in 2007, the Good Performers Initiative (GPI), which is supported by the United States, has been rewarding provinces which show progress in their eradication efforts with $1 million for development projects annually.

“Now we have increased the options – the provinces that show better performance in interdiction, eradication, public information and demand reduction will also be rewarded from the GPI programme,” said the Afghan Minister for Counter-Narcotics, Din Mohammad Mobarez Rashidi, at a ceremony held in the capital, Kabul, on Sunday, to sign a Memorandum of Intent with US Government anti-narcotics officials.

“I hope that, with these changes, an immediate decrease in the poppy cultivation and drug production could be witnessed in Afghanistan,” said Mr. Rashidi.

Up until last year, 17 of Afghanistan’s 34 provinces were each awarded $1 million for being poppy-free. However, by the end of 2013, two northern provinces – Balkh and Faryab – lost their poppy-free status, meaning that only 15 out of the country’s provinces are poppy-free, according to a joint report by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the Government of Afghanistan (GoA), released last November.

According to UNODC, Afghanistan is the largest producer and cultivator of opium in the world, accounting for 74 per cent of the global opium production in 2012.

Minister Rashidi told Sunday’s ceremony in Kabul that the Government will work in cooperation with provincial authorities so that greater focus is placed on projects that directly impact farmers’ livelihoods and encourage them to refrain from poppy cultivation.

During his meeting with Minister Rashidi earlier this month, UNODC’s Executive Director, Yury Fedotov, noted that the Government was encouraged by an increase in its eradication campaign, and by the fact that 90 per cent of all cultivation occurs in only nine provinces, in the country’s south and west, which include the most insurgency-ridden provinces in the country. But, he warned, “The illicit drug trade remains a major threat.”

In his comments at Sunday’s signing ceremony, the US Assistant Secretary for the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, William Brownfield, said that with the expansion of the GPI programme in Afghanistan “we take one more step towards success in our efforts to control, reduce and eliminate drug trafficking in this world.”

“I believe that history has taught us over the past 50 years that efforts to combat drug abuse are long term in nature and require years to take effect,” added Mr. Brownfield. “They are flexible and must constantly change and adapt to the drug traffickers as they change. They must be holistic and integrate all parts of the problem and not just one element.”

Related articles:

- Growing drug consumption in Afghanistan is a ‘national tragedy’ – UN drug and crime agency chief 

- Afghanistan still lead global opium producer, prompting warnings from UN officials  
 
- Illicit drugs pose ‘critical challenge’ for Afghanistan, says UN-backed report 

- Joint UN-Government survey finds opium poppy cultivation at record levels in Afghanistan