Increasing production of opium undermines security in Aghanistan

The Danish daily Politiken reports about the increasing production of opium in Afghanistan, especially in the district where Danish soldiers are responsible.

As I have pointed out on several occasions, corruption is present at almost every level in the Afghan society – police, politics, courts – and very often connected to the opium industry and the drug barons.

Even if representatives of the countries that are most active in Afghanistan talk about a positive development, they have to face facts. There is a worrying surge in opium production and there is a strong need for co-ordinated and strong action to counteract the threat posed by the multibillion dollar opium industry in Afghanistan. The amount of opium produced has risen from 3,600 metric tons in 2010 to 5,800 metric tons in 2011.

According to the recently published UNODC-report, Afghan Opium Survey 2011, “opium is a profitable business in Afghanistan in 2011. The farm-gate value of opium production alone is US$1.4 billion or 9 per cent of the country’s GDP; the total net value of the opiate economy amounts to US$2.4 billion or around 15 per cent of GDP, an amount that cannot be easily substituted by other economic activities. Opium is therefore a significant part of the Afghan economy and provides considerable funding to the insurgency and fuels corruption.”