Since coming to power in Afghanistan one year ago, the Taliban has announced a ban on growing and selling opium, leaving growers frustrated and worried about the future.
The United Nations estimated that the Afghan opium trade generated $2.7 billion of income in 2021, but this year’s harvest will be the last. Since spring, farmers have not been allowed to plant seeds, leaving them worried about their future income.
“If they’re banning it, they have to give us more help so we can provide our family with food,” one grower told FRANCE 24.
Hajji Quazi Sahib from the Taliban’s anti-drug department told FRANCE 24 that wheat, corn and bean crops would replace lost income. So far, however, no crop substitution programmes have been put in place.
