Description:
"...Opium farmers in Afghanistan and Burma are
coming under huge pressure as local authorities
implement bans on the cultivation of poppy.
Banning opium has an immediate and profound
impact on the livelihoods of more than 4 million
people.These bans are a response to pressure
from the international community. Afghan and
Burmese authorities alike are urging the
international community to accompany their
pressure with substantial aid.
For political reasons, levels of humanitarian
and alternative development aid are very
different between the two countries. The
international community has pledged several
hundred millions for rural development in
poppy growing regions in Afghanistan. In sharp
contrast, pledged support that could soften the
crisis in poppy regions in Burma is less than $15
million, leaving an urgent shortfall.
Opium growing regions in both countries will
enter a downward spiral of poverty because of
the ban.The reversed sequencing of first forcing
farmers out of poppy cultivation before
ensuring other income opportunities is a grave
mistake.Aggressive drug control efforts against
farmers and small-scale opium traders, and
forced eradication operations in particular, also
have a negative impact on prospects for peace
and democracy in both countries.
In neither Afghanistan nor Burma have farmers
had any say at all in these policies from which
they stand to suffer most. It is vital that local
communities and organisations that represent
them are given a voice in the decision-making
process that has such a tremendous impact on
their livelihoods..."
Source/publisher:
Transnational Institute (TNI)
Date of Publication:
2005-06-00
Date of entry:
2010-08-11
Grouping:
- Individual Documents
Category:
Language:
English