In Shinwar district, opium cultivation was almost unchanged.

It is complemented by a ban on opium cultivation, gradually enforced by the government.

The opium poppy cultivation in the Dir district constitutes approximately 40 per cent of the total opium cultivation in Pakistan.

Moreover, while certain efforts by the Government of Afghanistan have resulted in the reduction of opium cultivation in some regions traditionally famous for opium production, opium cultivation has increased in the regions bordering my country, especially in the Farah province.

With record production of an estimated 4,200 tons of opium in Afghanistan, UNODC's 2004 opium cultivation survey registered a 64 per cent increase in the area under cultivation in that country.

As for specific project target districts, there was a drop in opium cultivation in Ghorak district of Qandahar, but an increase in cultivation in the districts of Kakhrez and Majwand.

According to the survey, the 55,000 58,000 hectares under opium poppy cultivation during the growing season 1995 96 yielded 2,200 2,300 tonnes of opium.

As a result of the project, all the target areas, with a population of approximately 2,600 persons, who were heavily dependent on opium growing for their livelihood, were declared opium free.

While the most recent UNODC survey showed a 21 per cent decline in opium cultivation there, in some areas it had increased owing to corruption.

Apart from opium poppy cultivation, economic activity has come almost to a standstill.

Mr. Bâzel (Afghanistan) stressed that the positive developments in Afghanistan had been achieved thanks to Government efforts combined with the self restraint of cultivators of opium, resulting in the 21 per cent decline in cultivation already mentioned.

Rapid cultivation assessments in February 2005, however, indicated a general decrease in cultivation, apparently linked to lower opium prices and non planting in some regions.

Objective to substantially reduce illicit opium cultivation in Afghanistan and to address the problems of drug abuse.

. In 1996, UNDCP completed its second survey on illicit opium cultivation in Afghanistan.

To this end, he calls on the Government to ensure that, in the interim, the basic needs of former opium farmers are met and sufficient resources allocated to those whose livelihoods depended upon opium generated income.

Preliminary results of the 1997 UNDCP survey indicate that the area under opium cultivation is by and large at the same level as in 1996, while the corresponding yield has increased by approximately 25 per cent to 2,800 tonnes of opium.

As to the reduction of opium cultivation, there had been a political will on the part Myanmar to achieve that goal, in cooperation with the international community.

As a result of the agreement reached, the authorities actively enforced the ban on opium cultivation in new areas.

Data on opium production were not consistent and it was impossible to quantify changes in illicit cultivation levels with any reliability.

55. In October and November 1997, the Taliban authorities declared opium and heroin cultivation, production and trade illegal.

Alternative livelihoods had to be found to replace opium cultivation, while there had to be a reduction in the demand of consuming countries.

He had noted the reduction in opium cultivation and wondered how much of that initiative had come from Myanmar itself.

The predominant economic activity is agriculture, with a very large portion of the territory under opium poppy.

Opium poppy cultivation is the principal economic activity in Afghanistan and the current production of dry opium more than 2,200 metric tons a year reportedly equals the combined production of the other three biggest opium producers in the world, with important consequences for the global consumption of heroin.

At the end of the biennium, it is envisaged that in the project target areas, illicit opium poppy cultivation will have been noticeably reduced and data on opium production levels will have been established and accepted by the Governments.

The outcome will be a detailed and comprehensive mapping of the current cultivation and growth of illicit opium poppy, cannabis and ephedra in the three countries.

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime has reported that opium production in Afghanistan recorded a 64 per cent rise in poppy cultivation, which now occurs in all 32 provinces, involves 10 per cent of the population and with an export value of 2.8 billion, equated to some 60 per cent of the gross domestic product for 2003.

42. Illicit cultivation of cannabis and opium poppy, opium production, heroin manufacturing and large scale illicit trafficking in opiates constitute the major drug problem in Asia.

A joint project with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime to replace opium cultivation with the cultivation and processing of bamboo should prove highly beneficial to his country.

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime had reported that 75 per cent of the opium consumed in Western Europe came from poppy crops in Afghanistan.

We would also like to emphasize the importance of providing alternative livelihoods to farmers in order to reduce the incentive for the cultivation and production of opium.

National authorities estimate the total area under illicit opium poppy cultivation to be close to 2,000 hectares, capable of producing about 30 tonnes of opium annually.

Opium production in that country was estimated to range from 1,000 to 2,500 tonnes in the growing season 1995 96. In the Wa area of Myanmar, one of the major opium producing areas, UNDCP approved a five year alternative development programme, which includes a strong mechanism for monitoring and verifying poppy cultivation and agreed drug control objectives.

It has focused on strengthening the national capacity to bring about socio economic changes that will enable farmers to eliminate opium poppy cultivation and opium abuse.

Afghanistan remains the world's largest supplier of opium, producing 87 per cent of the world's opium.

At the special session, Member States expressed their commitment and determination to implement alternative development programmes and to eliminate or significantly reduce the illicit cultivation of the opium poppy, the coca bush and the cannabis plant by the year 2008.

According to the annual UNDCP Afghanistan opium poppy survey conducted during the 1995 96 growing season, the area under opium poppy cultivation was estimated to be in the range of 55,000 58,000 hectares, with an estimated corresponding yield of 2,200 2,300 tonnes of opium.

C. Opium production

That represents a decrease of 2,175 hectares (or 86 per cent) since the project commenced in 1994, when the opium area was 2,520 hectares.

According to the Myanmar Opium Survey Report, released by UNODC in November 2005, there was an 80 per cent decline in opium poppy cultivation in Myanmar between 1996 and 2005.

This may be caused by the relatively smaller spread of opium trafficking as a result of its bulkier mass and the greater profitability of heroin, which leads to more opium being set aside locally for refining into heroin.

C. Opium production 104 26

Kuwait also supports the Afghan Government's efforts to fight the illicit trade in narcotic drugs, and calls upon the international community to enhance and strengthen programmes for eradicating the planting and production of opium.

Afghanistan s Opium War

Mario Draghi s Opiate of the Markets