Drug bans and poppy crop substitution

expand all
collapse all

Individual Documents

Description: "Corn, watermelon, ginger and turmeric farmers in Shan State have switched to growing opium as Myanmar’s economy collapses under military rule. Labor shortages and rising fertilizer and pesticide prices have thrown numerous farmers into economic hardship. A Shan State farmer told The Irrawaddy: “Yields are not good this year and prices are low. I previously grew corn, turmeric and ginger but it was difficult to sell them because of problems with transport. I switched to poppy which is easier to transport. I can carry several kilograms and I earn no more than 30,000 kyats for selling about 50kg of crops. I would not be able to carry that amount to market but the brokers come to the farms to buy it. Poppy is much more profitable.” It costs at least 1.3 million kyats (US$450) to grow an acre of corn or ginger and around 1 million kyats to cultivate an acre of poppy, which is far more valuable, he said. “Food prices have generally increased since the coup but our crops sell for less. We have no option but to grow opium,” said the farmer. Poppy yields are between 10-13kg per acre and it fetches up to 900,000 kyats per 1.6kg. The poppy season starts in August, according to growers. Other farmers have left for Thailand, he said. “Everyone who has stayed is growing poppy. It is difficult to sell other crops with transport disruptions. But the poppy brokers come to us to buy it,” he said. Myanmar has again become the world’s second-largest producer of opium following the 2021 coup. Cultivation and production dipped and Myanmar in 2019 fell to third under the ousted National League for Democracy government, according to a United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime report last month. The survey of Shan, Kachin, Chin and Karen states, where Myanmar’s opium production is based, said Shan State accounted for around 84 percent of the area under cultivation. Myanmar’s poppy cultivation stood at 55,000 hectares in 2015, 41,000 in 2017, 39,300 in 2018 and 39,100 in 2019. In 2022 the cultivated area was estimated at 40,100 hectares, about 10,000 hectares more than in 2021, according to the UN agency. Production almost doubled in the first year of military rule to 795 tonnes in 2022. Continued instability, increasing fuel and fertilizer prices, a weak economy, inflation and high opium prices have boosted opium cultivation, said the report..."
Source/publisher: "The Irrawaddy" (Thailand)
2023-02-14
Date of entry/update: 2023-02-14
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
more
Topic: Armed Ethnic Groups, Conflict, cultivation, Drugs, Farming, growth, heroin, Kachin, Narcotics, Opium, poppies, poppy, production, Shan, UNODC
Topic: Armed Ethnic Groups, Conflict, cultivation, Drugs, Farming, growth, heroin, Kachin, Narcotics, Opium, poppies, poppy, production, Shan, UNODC
Description: "Opium cultivation in Myanmar decreased last year, continuing the downward trend that started in 2014 due in part to the continuing shift in the regional drug market towards synthetic drugs, according to a new UN survey. According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) Myanmar Opium Survey 2019, released on Tuesday in Naypyitaw, the amount of land cultivated for opium dropped 11 percent in 2019 to 33,100 hectares (ha), continuing the downward trend from 57,600 ha in 2014. Decreases were observed in Shan State’s northern, eastern and southern areas with drops of 7, 8 and 17 percent respectively, but cultivation increased slightly in Kachin State, up 15 percent from 2018. Despite the declines, the UNODC said that “the highest levels of cultivation continue to take place in unstable and conflict prone areas of Shan and Kachin.” It added that opium cultivation, heroin production and trafficking, and the evolving illicit drug economy, including heroin and synthetic drugs, “are affecting peace and stability in the country and surrounding border areas.” Shan and Kachin states are Myanmar’s main opium producing areas and UNODC focused its 2019 survey on these states. In 2018, Chin and Kayah states were included in the survey. UNODC conducts the Myanmar Opium Survey jointly with the Central Committee for Drug Abuse Control (CCDAC) under Myanmar’s Ministry of Home Affairs..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "The Irrawaddy" (Thailand)
2020-02-04
Date of entry/update: 2020-02-05
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
more
Description: "Myanmar’s illegal poppy growing has declined by 11 per cent and poppy production by over two per cent, said Deputy Minister for Home Affairs Major General Aung Thu, at a ceremony to release the Myanmar poppy production survey report, held at Horizon Lake View Hotel in Nay Pyi Taw on February. Last year, there were 33,100 hectares of poppy plantations in Myanmar. In 2006, the illegal poppy growing and production reached the lowest. But the period between 2007 and 2013 saw an increase in, the poppy production and the period between 2014 and 2019, a decline. “There were 55,000 hectors of poppy plantations in 2015, 41,000 hectares in 2017, 37,300 hectares in 2018 and 33,100 hectares in 2019. Poppy growth declined by 11 per cent in 2019 compared with 2018,” the deputy minister added. “Myanmar’s poppy production reached 647 metric tons in 2015, 550 metric tons in 2017, 520 metric tons in 2018 and 508 metric tons in 2019. The poppy production declined by over two per cent in 2019 compared with 2018,” the deputy minister said. According to the UNODC’s report 2019, Myanmar’s ranking dropped to the third position in the World Drug Report 2019 from the second largest opium producer in the world, he said..."
Source/publisher: "Eleven Media Group" (Myanmar)
2020-02-05
Date of entry/update: 2020-02-05
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
more
Description: "Poppy‐growing villages face serious challenges to meet Sustainable Development Goals: About one in nine households in Shan State were directly involved in opium poppy cultivation in 2018, a similar situation to 2016. This means opium poppy continues to be an integral part of the state’s economy. The result is one of the findings from UNODC’s expanded data‐gathering operation in Myanmar. For the first time, this report can draw on more than 1,500 households interviewed, as well as interviews with the headmen in 599 villages. The extra information has enabled a socio‐economic analysis of opium cultivation in the context of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The research reveals that villages where opium poppy is cultivated have lower levels of development than other villages. Disparities are most noticeable with regards to security, environment, job opportunities and infrastructure. And there is a broad link between levels of development and poppy cultivation – East Shan is the least developed area and has the highest levels of engagement in poppy cultivation. However, a closer look shows that there are important variations within the region that are key to understanding drug control and development challenges. Non‐state groups control many poppy villages, suggesting a link between governance and opium poppy cultivation: Poppy villages were in general more likely than non‐poppy villages to be under the control of militias and other non‐state groups, according to surveys of village headmen. Some 18 per cent of poppy‐growing villages were beyond government control, compared with 9 per cent of non‐poppy villages. This link was strongest in North Shan, where reported conflicts between government and anti‐government forces were most frequent. In North Shan, more than half of poppy villages were controlled by militias or other forces, compared with 12 per cent of non‐poppy villages. There was no significant difference in the level of perceived safety between poppy and non‐poppy villages – less than half of village headmen said their village was ‘safe’ or ‘very safe’ regardless of the presence of opium poppy..."
Source/publisher: UN Office on Drugs and Crime ( Vienna) via Reliefweb (USA)
2019-11-19
Date of entry/update: 2019-11-20
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
Format : pdf
Size: 11.85 MB (106 pages)
more
Description: "Fields of purple opium poppy stretch across the pastures and peaks of mountainous eastern Myanmar, with many farmers reluctant to give up the profitable cash crop in spite of incentives offered. Myanmar is the second biggest source of opium in the world after Afghanistan, with Shan state its main production hub. AFP hiked up the steep mountainside towering over the small town of Hopong, just a few dozen kilometres from tourist hotspot Inle Lake. The farmland closest to the town boasts fields of coffee, potatoes and corn, and provides a lifeline for the scattered villages. But scale the ridge and the far side exposes a blanket of purple reaching up to an altitude of some 2,400 metres (8,000 feet). Each day men and women from the surrounding villages, home to the Pa-O and other Shan ethnic minority groups, take to the fields of the illegal flower. They harvest its addictive sap into cans that can fetch up to $100 each, sums that far exceed the profits possible from other produce..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: Agence France-Presse (AFP) (France) via "The Jakarta Post" (Indonesia)
2019-08-22
Date of entry/update: 2019-10-05
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
more
Description: "Stable governance and good security conditions have a considerable impact on the decision of farmers to cultivate opium poppy, according to a report released today by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) at the National Reconciliation and Peace Centre (NRPC). The report titled "Evidence for Enhancing Resilience to Opium Poppy Cultivation in Shan State - Implications for Alternative Development, Peace and Stability" is the first of its kind dedicated to Shan State, highlighting reasons farmers engage in the opium economy, as well as some implications for Myanmar's ongoing peace process. A total of 591 villages in 39 opium poppy growing townships in Shan State were surveyed for the report, and the findings show that while many factors affect farmers' decisions regarding whether or not to cultivate opium poppy - including the condition of infrastructure and access to markets for other goods - governance and security considerations are significant factors. On average, fewer opium poppy villages are in areas under government control (76 per cent) than non-opium poppy villages (88 per cent). At the same time, more opium producing villages have the perception of being "unsafe" or "very unsafe" (11 per cent) than in non-opium poppy villages (2 per cent). The governance and security connection is also found in other parts of the world where illicit crops are cultivated on a large scale, and where isolation, and ethnic and other conflicts impact public safety, the economy and opportunity. In this respect, the ongoing peace process may over time bring improvements to governance and security, which can have a tangible impact on local communities and reduce the need to engage in opium poppy cultivation..."
Source/publisher: UNODC (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime)
2017-03-03
Date of entry/update: 2019-06-25
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
more
Description: ''Myanmar (Burma) is the world's second largest producer of opium. Opium bans have left many poppy farmers without sustainable sources of income. Coffee is supposed to be an alternative. A Report by Bastian Hartig...''
Creator/author: Bastian Hartig
Source/publisher: DW News
2015-02-14
Date of entry/update: 2019-01-30
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English, Burmese (မြန်မာဘာသာ), Shan
more
Description: "Northern Burma?s borderlands have undergone dramatic changes in the last two decades. Three main and interconnected developments are simultaneously taking place in Shan State and Kachin State: (1) the increase in opium cultivation in Burma since 2006 after a decade of steady decline; (2) the increase at about the same time in Chinese agricultural investments in northern Burma under China?s opium substitution programme, especially in rubber; and (3) the related increase in dispossession of local communities? land and livelihoods in Burma?s northern borderlands. The vast majority of the opium and heroin on the Chinese market originates from northern Burma. Apart from attempting to address domestic consumption problems, the Chinese government also has created a poppy substitution development programme, and has been actively promoting Chinese companies to take part, offering subsidies, tax waivers, and import quotas for Chinese companies. The main benefits of these programmes do not go to (ex-)poppy growing communities, but to Chinese businessmen and local authorities, and have further marginalised these communities. Serious concerns arise regarding the long-term economic benefits and costs of agricultural development— mostly rubber—for poor upland villagers. Economic benefits derived from rubber development are very limited. Without access to capital and land to invest in rubber concessions, upland farmers practicing swidden cultivation (many of whom are (ex-) poppy growers) are left with few alternatives but to try to get work as wage labourers on the agricultural concessions. Land tenure and other related resource management issues are vital ingredients for local communities to build licit and sustainable livelihoods. Investment-induced land dispossession has wide implications for drug production and trade, as well as border stability. Investments related to opium substitution should be carried out in a more sustainable, transparent, accountable and equitable fashion. Customary land rights and institutions should be respected. Chinese investors should use a smallholder plantation model instead of confiscating farmers land as a concession. Labourers from the local population should be hired rather than outside migrants in order to funnel economic benefits into nearby communities. China?s opium crop substitution programme has very little to do with providing mechanisms to decrease reliance on poppy cultivation or provide alternative livelihoods for ex-poppy growers. Chinese authorities need to reconsider their regional development strategies of implementation in order to avoid further border conflict and growing antagonism from Burmese society. Financing dispossession is not development."
Creator/author: Tom Kramer & Kevin Woods
Source/publisher: Transnational Institute (TNI)
2012-02-00
Date of entry/update: 2012-02-23
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 2.67 MB
more
Description: Conclusions & Recommendations: • The huge increase in Chinese agricultural concessions in Burma and Laos is driven by China?s opium crop substitution programme, offering subsidies and tax waivers for Chinese companies. • China?s focus is on integrating the local economy of the border regions of Burma and Laos into the regional market through bilateral relations with government and military authorities across the border. • In Burma large-scale rubber concessions is the only method operating. Initially informal smallholder arrangements were the dominant form of cultivation in Laos, but the topdown coercive model is gaining prevalence. • The poorest of the poor, including many (ex-) poppy farmers, benefit least from these investments. They are losing access to land and forest, being forcibly relocated to the lowlands, left with few viable options for survival. • New forms of conflict are arising from Chinese large-scale investments abroad. Related land dispossession has wide implications on drug production and trade, as well as border stability. • Investments related to opium substitution plans should be carried out in a more sustainable, transparent, accountable and equitable fashion with a community-based approach. They should respect traditional land rights and communities? customs.
Creator/author: Rob Cramb, Vongpaphane Manivong, Jonathan Newby, Kem Sothorn, Patrick Sujang
Source/publisher: Transnational InstituteDrug (Policy Briefing No. 33)
2010-11-00
Date of entry/update: 2010-11-15
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
more
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)
2005-06-00
Date of entry/update: 2010-08-11
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
more
Description: "In the Kokang and Wa regions in northern Burma opium bans have ended over a century of poppy cultivation. The bans have had dramatic consequences for local communities. They depended on opium as a cash crop, to buy food, clothing, and medicines. The bans have driven poppy-growing communities into chronic poverty and have adversely affected their food security. Very few alternatives are being offered to households for their survival... Conclusions & Recommendations: • The opium bans have driven communities into chronic poverty and have adversely affected their food security and access to health care and education. • The Kokang and Wa authorities have promoted Chinese investment in mono-plantations, especially in rubber. These projects are unsustainable and do not significantly profit the population. • Ex-poppy farmers mainly rely on casual labour and collecting Non-Timber Forest Products as alternative source of income. • Current interventions by international NGOs and UN agencies are still limited in scale and can best be described as ?emer-gency responses”. • If the many challenges to achieving viable legal livelihoods in the Kokang and Wa regions are not addressed, the reductions in opium cultivation are unlikely to be sustainable. The Kokang and Wa cease-fire groups have implemented these bans following international pressure, especially from neighbouring China. In return, they hope to gain international political recognition and aid to develop their impoverished and war-torn regions. The Kokang and Wa authorities have been unable to provide alternative sources of income for ex-poppy farmers. Instead they have promoted Chinese invest-ment in monoplantations, especially in rubber. These projects have created many undesired effects and do not significantly profit the population. The Burmese military government, the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), has also been unwilling and unable to provide assistance. The international community has provided emergency aid through inter-national NGOs and UN agencies. However, current levels of support are insufficient, and need to be upgraded in order to provide sustainable alternatives for the population. The international community should not abandon former opium-growing communities in the Kokang and Wa regions at this critical time..."
Creator/author: Tom Kramer
Source/publisher: Transnational Insititute (Drug Policy Briefing Nr 29)
2009-07-00
Date of entry/update: 2010-08-11
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 217.33 KB
more
Description: "Thai opium crop substitution program in Burma hits problems... A Thai project under royal patronage to wean farmers in Burma?s Shan State away from opium production is encountering problems because of political changes in Rangoon. Since the fall of prime minister and military intelligence chief Gen Khin Nyunt, staff of the Mae Fah Luang Foundation in northern Thailand have been denied direct access to the project, known as Doi Tung 2, established at Yong Kha in southeastern Shan State. Project staff say the four-year-old crop substitution project is still functioning, but with local supervision..."
Creator/author: Michael Black, Roland Fields
Source/publisher: "The Irrawaddy" Vol. 14, No. 4
2006-04-00
Date of entry/update: 2006-12-28
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
more
Description: Proposed opium bans could spark a humanitarian crisis in Burma?s drug-rich north... "United Wa State Army chairman Bao Yuxiang said on June 24, after proclaiming Special Region 2 a �drugs source free zone"How are the farmers going to survive after the poppy ban? This is the big question that every level of local authorities encounters."The lives of the people will become more difficult, and we do expect the international community will give us more assistance to let the people be able to overcome the difficulties and achieve the historical commitment." The Wa and Kokang regions in northern Shan State have traditionally been the major opium-producing areas in Burma, but this could change. The UWSA has declared the areas under their control opium free as of June 26, 2005. In the Kokang region an opium ban has been in effect since 2003, while the Mong La region in eastern Shan State has had a similar ban since 1997. The implementation of these opium bans in one of the world?s largest opium-producing areas may sound promising to international anti-narcotics officials, but for the opium farmers living there it could spell disaster..."
Creator/author: Tom Kramer (TNI)
Source/publisher: "The Irrawaddy" Vol. 13, No. 10
2005-10-00
Date of entry/update: 2006-04-30
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
more
Description: "In March 2003, a joint assessment team comprising international NGOs and UN agencies operating in Myanmar traveled to the Kokang and Wa Special Regions in north-eastern Shan State. Their purpose was to assess the humanitarian impact of the opium ban in the Kokang region, and the potential impact of a similar ban due to go into effect in the Wa region in June 2005. The following is the report submitted by this team after their mission. It is unedited and unabridged. Maps used in the report have been removed to reduce the file size. They are available from the UNODC Myanmar Office upon request."
Source/publisher: Joint Kokang-Wa Humanitarian Needs Assessment Team
2003-00-00
Date of entry/update: 2005-11-01
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
more