Opium poppy production in Afghanistan, once the world’s top supplier, has plummeted since the Taliban outlawed cultivation of the crop last year, a United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) report, “Afghanistan Opium Survey 2023: Cultivation and Production after the Ban: Effects and Implications,” published in November has shown.
According to a Dec. 18 article by RT.com, opium output declined throughout the country from 233,000 hectares in 2022, to just 10,800 hectares in 2023. The nation’s global opium supply has shrunk by 95% to 333 tons, with many farmers having switched to growing wheat.
The Taliban’s supreme leader, Mullah Hibatullah Akhundzada, banned cultivation of poppy in April 2022, and the Interior Ministry said it would destroy any remaining crops.
