Press Release

Alternative Development Brings Positive Returns

Poppy-free provinces increase from 13 to 18 as farmers embrace alternative development

Kabul, Afghanistan | Tuesday, August 26, 2008

USAID efforts to improve the availability of alternative livelihoods for farmers is paying off for Afghanistan in the war against poppy production. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime reported today in its 2008 opium-poppy cultivation report for Afghanistan that the number of poppy-free provinces increased from 13 in 2007 to 18 provinces today and opium cultivation has fallen by 19% nationwide to its lowest level since 2006.

USAID alternative development programs provide the basic economic incentives needed for farmers and laborers to successfully avoid or abandon poppy production, including access to seeds, fertilizers, market roads, and improved irrigation. The north and east, which were formerly poppy-rich areas, have been supported by USAID in their dramatic shift away from poppy in terms of access to short-term employment as well as development focused on the longer-term needs of these agriculturally-rich and strategic provinces.

In the formerly poppy-rich northern and eastern provinces of Badakshan, Takhar, Nangarhar, Laghman, Kunar, and Nuristan, USAID-funded programs paid approximately $22 million to 209,000 Afghans to build or repair 700 km of roads and nearly 3,300 km of irrigation and drainage canals. As a result of this work, over 197,000 hectares of farmland are now under improved irrigation and farmers have better access to local and regional markets. These projects provided the key infrastructure and interim income needed to successfully wean farmers and laborers away from poppy production.

Alternative crops including fruit and nut trees, staple foods, and high value horticulture increased through the training of 170,000 Afghans in agricultural and business practices, generating licit jobs, alternative incomes, and sales. High yield seeds and fertilizer have been distributed to 323,000 farmers through subsidized programs in these six northern and eastern provinces of Afghanistan, making legal crops a viable and affordable alternative to poppy.

USAID’s alternative development efforts comprise one of the five pillars of the U.S. Counter-Narcotics Plan for Afghanistan. In areas where there is adequate security and sustained political will, alternative development programs are contributing to the success of this plan.

Learn more: Agriculture | Alternative Development

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