Afghanistan: Taliban’s Poppy Ban Falters as Afghan Farmers Say They Can't Feed Their Children

Oct 28, 2026 | Mohammad Yunus Yawar, Sayed Hassib, and Ahmad Masih Noori
Reuters
View Original

Four years ago, the Taliban began enforcing an opium ban so strict that poppy all but vanished from Afghanistan’s fields. But now their Supreme Leader’s edict is beginning to fray, worn down by a practical problem: legal crops no longer pay and many Afghan farmers say they are struggling to feed their children.