+

Cookies on the Business Insider India website

Business Insider India has updated its Privacy and Cookie policy. We use cookies to ensure that we give you the better experience on our website. If you continue without changing your settings, we\'ll assume that you are happy to receive all cookies on the Business Insider India website. However, you can change your cookie setting at any time by clicking on our Cookie Policy at any time. You can also see our Privacy Policy.

Close
HomeQuizzoneWhatsappShare Flash Reads
 

15 years of war has done little stop production in the world's opium capital

Nov 15, 2016, 00:01 IST

Afghan men harvest opium in a poppy field in a village in Golestan district of Farah province, May 5, 2009.REUTERS/Goran Tomasevic

Advertisement

After 15 years of war in Afghanistan, the government there and its allies from the US and elsewhere have had little success staunching the flow of opium and heroin out of the South Asian country.

According to recent data from the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, opium-poppy cultivation in Afghanistan rose 10% in 2016, reaching an estimated 201,000 hectares, or about 496,000 acres.

A number of factors have played into the uptick in cultivation, like widespread insecurity and ineffective government oversight.

And while production has remained high but steady in southern Afghanistan - a stronghold for the Afghan Taliban - the northern and eastern parts of the country have seen recent increases in cultivation as well.

Advertisement

Next Article