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Opium farmers rejoice at defeat of the Taliban
War on Terrorism: Opium
By Richard Lloyd Parry in Surkhrud, Afghanistan
21 November 2001
Of the many Afghans whose lives were blighted by the Taliban,
there are few victims more pathetic than the likes of Mohammed
Khatib. He survives – just about – by farming, of a kind that has
scarcely changed in centuries. Oxen pull his plough, a wooden
plank studded with nails. He has to give more than two-thirds of his
harvest to the owner of the land he farms and if there are floods or
drought he may not be able to support his family.
It was always a meagre existence, but then the Taliban reduced
him to complete destitution. "They would not let us plant and in
this land it is the only way to make money,'' said Mr Khatib. "We
have nothing here. Last night I did not even have oil for my family to
cook.''
But now there is hope, for the Taliban have gone and Mr Khatib and
the farmers of Surkhrud are free to grow the crop that provides
them with the closest thing to a reasonable existence – the opium
poppy.
Yesterday morning, like hundreds of farmers all over the eastern
province of Nangarhar, he stood in his fields preparing the ground
for the tiny yellow seeds that will grow into poppies. Next spring,
the petals will fall away, exposing a seed head, and when the time
is right Mr Khatib's helpers will make narrow vertical razor cuts in
them. Out of these will leak a sap that dries to a sticky residue,
opium, the raw material of heroin.
Mr Khatib said: "We were so shocked when the Taliban announced
their ban on growing poppies, but now we hope for a good harvest
... God willing, our troubles will be solved."
In the West, the drugs problem is easily seen as a matter of black
and white, a struggle between evil criminal syndicates intent on
making money out of the misery of addicts and the righteous
forces of the "war on drugs''. But in Afghanistan, the problem is
revealed for what it is – an economic and political conundrum, rich
in ironies and grey areas. Far from being evil exploiters, the poppy
farmers are victims of cruel poverty. And, most remarkable of all,
the movement that has done most to deal with the drugs problem
is not a Western government or an anti-drugs campaign, but the
reviled Taliban regime.
Afghanistan used to be the world's biggest source of opium: 75 per
cent of the world's heroin originated in the country and the scale of
poppy cultivation was staggering. Najib Ullah, head of the United
Nations Drugs Control Programme (UNDCP) in the eastern city of
Jalalabad, said: "There were places in Helmand province where you
saw nothing but poppies.''
Last year, the country produced 3,276 tonnes of raw opium, most
of it from Helmand and the Nangarhar area around Jalalabad. This
year, according to a recently published survey by the UNDCP,
production plunged to 185 tonnes. In the course of a single year,
production of this most lucrative of crops had fallen by 94 per cent.
There was one reason: in July last year, the Taliban leader, Mullah
Mohammed Omar, who had tolerated the opium trade
for the first five years of his regime, announced a ban on poppy cultivation.
Even now, the reasons are mysterious. One theory is that Mullah Omar believed,
mistakenly, that if he crushed the opium trade the international community would
reward him with diplomatic recognition of his government and
a seat at the United Nations. The more cynical theory – unproven, but widely retailed
– is that Taliban leaders had amassed vast stocks of opium and wished to restrict the
supply to drive up the price. Whatever the reason
, the ban was enforced with a ruthlessness that only a government such as the Taliban
could muster. Poppy fields were set alight; transgressors were jailed. Mr Khatib said:
"We were absolutely prevented from planting and
growing.''
To understand the impact of the ban, consider the economics of farming in Afghanistan.
For a crop of wheat, which Mr Khatib was forced to sow last year, a farmer can make
about 7p a kilogram. Even before the ban drove up
prices, raw opium sold for between £22 and £45 a kilogram.
The seeds that Mr Khatib and his brother need to sow their half-acre field cost £1;
when they sell their harvest, they expect to make £6,700. "We grow the opium only
because we have no money,'' said Mr Khatib's brother, A
hmad Zia. "If we had some other source of income – if there was some factory
established, or road construction – then we wouldn't grow opium at all.''
But the chances of a burst of industrial investment in today's Afghanistan are slim,
and everyone knows it. The opium farmers show no embarrassment about their crop, and
this is the next irony of the Afghan drug trade: th
e people who cultivate the drug have little understanding of its effects.
Afghanistan has many smokers of hashish, which also flourishes here, but opium and
heroin use is almost unknown. Asked if he has ever tried the opium he has grown, Mr
Khatib replied: "No way. It's bad for your health and
it's also against our religion.'' Who uses his opium? "People in Pakistan,'' he
answered. What about Europe and America? "I am a poor man and I have never been to
those countries, so I don't know.''
Already there are signs that the opium price is about to come down, and this is the
final irony: the defeat of the Taliban, a victory for the war on terrorism, may bring
with it a wretched defeat in the war against drugs.
Also in Asia China
Taliban asks UN for help to surrender
US warned on human rights over treatment of troops
UN forum on Afghanistan's future set for Berlin
Cost of rebuilding country is £18bn, says World Bank
Hundreds of US Marines to join hunt Laden hunt
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