KABUL - Afghanistan continues to be the largest grower of opium in the world, with the country accounting for an estimated 64 per cent of its global production, according to a report from the United Nations agency leading global efforts to fight against illicit drugs and international crime.

The Afghanistan Opium Survey 2012 report, prepared jointly by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the Afghan Ministry of Counter-Narcotics (MCN) and released on Monday, also said that the production of opium accounted for 10 per cent of Afghanistan’s economy last year.

The survey said the total area under opium poppy cultivation in Afghanistan last year – confined mainly to southern and western provinces of the country and accounting for 95 per cent of the total country-wide production – was estimated at 154,000 hectares, an 18 per cent increase from the previous year.

“The results of the Afghan Opium Survey 2012 show there is still much work to be done in countering opium poppy cultivation and production,” said UNODC’s Executive Director, Yury Fedotov, in the 112-page report. “Despite these far from positive results, it is worth stressing that Afghanistan still retains 17 [of 34] provinces that are free of poppy cultivation.”

In collaboration with the Government of Afghanistan, UNODC – which has its largest country operation in Afghanistan – has been producing periodic reports on production of opium poppy in the country. The UN agency’ country programme in Afghanistan has been extended to 2014.

A joint report on opium risk assessment released last month predicted an increase in opium cultivation in 12 Afghan provinces this year, attributing the rise to insecurity and a lack of agricultural assistance to farmers. It described “a worrying situation,” particularly in the country’s southern, eastern, western and central provinces.

In the latest report, Mr. Fedotov noted two positive developments in Afghanistan in 2012: the endorsement of a national policy on law enforcement, alternative livelihoods and drug demand reduction, which is now guiding counter-narcotics efforts in the country; and progress in mainstreaming counter-narcotics efforts “more broadly.”

The report estimated that $1.9 billion, generated from opium exports, was added to Afghanistan’s total gross domestic product of $18.95 billion.

The report also noted that poppy-growing households in Afghanistan continue to have a higher cash income than households that do not grow poppy, and that cannabis cultivation was “closely related” to poppy cultivation with 71 per cent of poppy-growing villages reporting its cultivation last year.

In the report, Afghanistan’s Minister of Counter-Narcotics, Zarar Ahmad Muqbel Osmani, noted that although his country “cultivates, produces and processes narcotics,” the international community also needs to understand that Afghanistan itself is a victim.

“The existence of hundreds of thousands of problem drug users, as well as decades of civil war, terrorism and instability are all related to the existence of narcotics in the country,” the government official stated.

Last week, Afghanistan’s Deputy Minister for Counter-Narcotics, Mohammad Ibrahim Azhar, told a news conference in the capital, Kabul, that poppy eradication operations carried out earlier this year cost the lives of 133 members of the security forces, double the number of 2012. Mr. Azhar also said warm weather conditions [favourable for opium poppy growth] and “non-cooperation of some government organs” have hampered efforts to eradicate the illicit crop in Afghanistan.

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