Afghanistan: Afghan Farmers Stick to Growing Opium in the Face of Less Lucrative Options

Apr 29, 2018 | Ismail Sameem, Reuters
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Afghan farmers are busy in their poppy fields as the annual opium harvest begins, underscoring the government’s failure to stamp out a crop that yields much of the world’s supply of heroin. Aided by corrupt bureaucrats, smugglers and Taliban fighters, the farmers help maintain an annual supply of about 9,000 metric tons to international markets, producing bumper crops despite government efforts to deter cultivation.