Afghan farmers protest opium crop plan
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| Mon, 04-05-2004 - 7:06pm |
I can understand training Afghan security forces to destroy the opium crops...but how about taking some of that money and helping farmers find something else to grow?!?!? Granted, nothing is going to be as profitable as growing opium, but if they can at least give them an alternative...
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/apasia_story.asp?category=1104&slug=Afghan%20Drugs
Monday, April 5, 2004 · Last updated 10:31 a.m. PT
Afghan farmers protest opium crop plan
By AMIR SHAH
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
KABUL, Afghanistan -- Hundreds of farmers demonstrated in eastern Afghanistan on Monday against a government plan to destroy fields of opium poppies in an effort to crack down on rampant drug production, police said.
About 300 farmers gathered peacefully near the town of Kama in Nangarhar province, a poppy-growing region about 90 miles east of Kabul, said Ajab Shah, a senior provincial police official.
The government plan calls for the destruction of 75 percent of the opium crop in Nangarhar and two other key opium-producing provinces. Opium is used to make heroin.
The eradication is intended to destroy up to 30 percent of Afghanistan's crop before it can be harvested.
Nangarhar Gov. Din Mohammed said about 200 people traveled Sunday from Kama to the provincial capital, Jalalabad, to ask that the program be scaled back.
The provincial government had planned to destroy all the opium in the province, "but we received orders from the central government to destroy 75 percent in five districts," he said, adding that eradication will begin soon.
Last year, Afghanistan produced about three-quarters of the world's opium. Authorities suspect the lucrative trade benefits both the commanders of the irregular militias controlling much of the country and the anti-government rebels, including the ousted Taliban.
President Hamid Karzai's government has vowed to launch a crackdown on drug production, and foreign donors, including the United States and Britain, are spending millions of dollars training new Afghan security forces to destroy opium fields.
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"Saffron is slowly improving our lives, and it is not difficult work," said Abdul Samed, a former poppy farmer who has planted nearly a half-hectare of saffron for harvest in the fall. "I know farmers here who are growing poppy. But I am trying to encourage them to grow saffron. It is legal. If I make a profit I will share it with other neighbours so they see how good it can be..."
The central government in Kabul is trying hard to eradicate the opium trade, and has set up a Counter-Narcotics Department, which is financed by Britain at a cost of $170-million (Canadian) over three years. But it's an uphill battle; every attempt to halt the lucrative business has failed, and the problem is worsening. A United Nations report in January said Afghan opium production hit a record high in 2003, up 6 per cent from the year before, and this year is expected to see record crops.
In the province of Herat, the Agriculture Department took matters into its own hands; last year staff went to Iran, bought saffron bulbs and handed them out to farmers.
"Saffron was chosen because it needs less water and irrigation than wheat," said Ziauddin Shakebany, the deputy agriculture minister. "It is getting better day by day, and more people know about it now."
Another farmer, Mullah Akbar, embraces the idea enthusiastically, partly, he admits, because the powerful warlord of Herat, Ismael Khan, warned farmers not to grow poppy any more or risk arrest.
Mr. Akbar can earn about $245 for a kilogram of saffron, compared with about $500 for a kilogram of poppy. But compared to growing a crop such as wheat -- four kg of that would earn about $2.50 -- saffron could be a dream product.
The exotic spice is actually the three stigmas of the saffron crocus. The plant flowers into fragrant blue, yellow and purple blossoms. The blossoms are plucked and laid out to dry for three days.
The reddish-gold threads, about 2.5 centimetres long, are then pulled out of its centre. Saffron's peppery, honeyed fragrance has flavoured foods for more than 4,000 years. "I use it myself for tea and in rice," said Mr. Akbar, who is looking forward to installing electricity in his house with the money earned from this year's saffron crop. "If everyone here grew saffron our lives would be better."
http://www.globeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/freeheadlines/LAC/20040331/AFGHAN31/international/International
Renee
Excellent!
I think it will be very difficult to replace poppy growing. It's so
I agree. This is a capitalistic POV and are't we capitalists. It must seem strange to them. They are doing what we encourage, but it has to be to our liking. As long as their is a demand--there will be a supply.
I agree about the difficulty of replacing the poppy industry.