NATO sponsors opium crops in Afghanistan

[osanowo]

It's just the most obscene thing I have seen so far...

I really wonder what f@ game they are playing over there!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6590993.stm

 

[Aardvark154]

It's just the most obscene thing I have seen so far...

I really wonder what f@ game they are playing over there!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6590993.stm

I’ve said before that the smartest thing NATO could do would be to buy up the Afghan opium crop and use it for medical purposes. It would help win hearts and minds and would probably in the long run be less expensive than the combined costs of the drug eradication program and reduced costs in the countries of destination (law enforcement, medical treatment costs for addicts etc. . .) Even as the article states it is a profitable crop for Afghan farmers that can withstand drought.

The economics of the story, however, don’t make sense. It states that nearly two million farmers in Afghanistan grow opium poppies and that poppy production was up 25% for 2006, and that opium production from poppies in Afghanistan last year rose 49% to 6,700 tons - enough to make about 670 tons of heroin and that this year’s crop will be equal to or greater than last years. Now the part that makes no sense economially “That is more than 90% of the world's supply and more than the world's addicts consume in a year.” If it is more than the world’s addicts consume in a year - there should be a glut in the market, falling prices and therefore less rather than more incentive for Afghan farmers to plant opium poppies rather than other crops yet this doesn’t seem to be the case is the Taliban artificially supporting the price or are the statistics incorrect.

 

[osanowo]

Yeah that's right but more NGOs who deal with agriculture there try to propose new plants to grow, particularly the ones that can provide food.

Now it's also a good idea to buy the opium for medical purposes but by encouraging people to grow more, NATO takes the risk to control even less fields than it currently does - hence giving it to the insurgents.

Another problem is that the money with which NATO buys the opium goes to the farmer who is sometimes pro-insurgents or against but does not have any other choice but to give his money as blackmail or ransoms.

It's nice to try to turn the current situation to your favor but they really need to stop sending mixed messages and work against each other. Sponsoring opium is not the way to the future for Afghanistan... it draws criminals as flies on shit.

 

[Aardvark154]

Yeah that's right but more NGOs who deal with agriculture there try to propose new plants to grow, particularly the ones that can provide food.

Now it's also a good idea to buy the opium for medical purposes but by encouraging people to grow more, NATO takes the risk to control even less fields than it currently does - hence giving it to the insurgents.

Another problem is that the money with which NATO buys the opium goes to the farmer who is sometimes pro-insurgents or against but does not have any other choice but to give his money as blackmail or ransoms.

It's nice to try to turn the current situation to your favor but they really need to stop sending mixed messages and work against each other. Sponsoring opium is not the way to the future for Afghanistan... it draws criminals as flies on shit.

I understand where you come from. The problem is that Opium Poppies are by far and away the highest value crop an Afghan farmer can raise. Yes there are problems with what I propose. But if you were an Afghan farmer and had the choice between (and I don't know the actual numbers) growing two acres of wheat which would feed your family and give you $10 when you sold the surplus or opium poppies which gave you $150 after you paid for wheat to feed your family - which would you choose to grow? Then when NATO which you otherwise would support comes and destroys your crop with no market value compensation, who would you now support?

Of course this is all quite ironic since when the Taliban were in power they brutally suppressed opium production.