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Transcript/ScriptAfghanistan Poppy Cultivation - Momand
HEADLINE: Afghan Opium Cultivation Exploding Under Taliban Rule
TEASER: A total of 233,000 hectares is dedicated to the crop, up from 177,000 in 2021
PUBLISHED AT: 11/10/2022 AT 2:15PM
BYLINE: Ibrahim Momand
CONTRIBUTOR: Rahim Gul Sarwan, Anne Bell, Roshan Noorzai
DATELINE: Kabul, Afghanistan
VIDEOGRAPHER: Ibrahim Momand
VIDEO EDITOR:
SCRIPT EDITORS: Kenochs;
VIDEO SOURCE (S): VOA Original | VOA Afghan Service
PLATFORMS (mark with X): WEB __ TV _x_ RADIO __
TRT: 2:50
VID APPROVED BY: KE
TYPE: TVPKG
EDITOR NOTES:))
((INTRO))
[[A United Nations report finds that opium cultivation in Afghanistan increased 32% over the previous year despite a Taliban ban on cultivation of all narcotics in April. For Voice of America, Ibrahim Momand has this report from Kabul, narrated by Anne Ball.]]
((NARRATOR))
Opium cultivation in Afghanistan has jumped 32% over the previous year, according to a new report by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.
((COURTESY: United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime))
Despite a ban in April on the cultivation of all narcotics, opium production surged from 177,000 to 233,000 hectares since the Taliban took over the country, making the 2022 crop the third-largest area under cultivation since 1994, when systematic monitoring began.
((COURTESY: United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime))
A huge jump, even though the U.N. reported that opium production was down 10 percent from 2021 because of the drought.
The Taliban's interior ministry rejected the report.
((Hasibullah Ahmadi, Taliban Interior Ministry Anti-Narcotics)) ((Male in Pashto))) “We completely reject this report. It is a baseless report. The Islamic Emirate leadership pays special attention to the narcotics matter. Since the Taliban supreme leader's decree on poppy cultivation, there is no more poppy cultivation and selling drugs in the capital and provinces.”
((NARRATOR))
The Taliban say they have succeeded in outlawing the substance, but according to the U.N., opium farmers' income increased from $425 million in 2021 to a record $1.4 billion in 2022.
Kabul residents welcome the U.N. study and want restrictions on drug usage and trafficking.
((Taj Mohammad, Kabul Resident)) ((Male, Dari))
“I think the increase [in poppy cultivation] is more than 32%. In the past, we had no drug addicts here, but now more than 500 addicts are around.”
((NARRATOR))
Locals also say that poppy cultivation has led to an increase in drug addiction in the country.
In a gathering in March, the Taliban's deputy prime minister, Abdul Salam Hanafi, admitted said there could be five million drug users in Afghanistan. And while that number exceeds 2015 estimates by 1.5 million or more, treatment resources are down.
Due to cuts in international funding since the Taliban assumed power, drug treatment facilities and therapies have been cut in half.
Anne Ball – VOA News
Mohammad Ibrahim Momand in Kabul, Afghanistan
NewsML Media TopicsArts, Culture, Entertainment and Media
NetworkVOA
Location (dateline)
Kabul, Afghanistan
Embargo DateNovember 10, 2022 19:10 EST
Byline
Anne Ball, VOA News
For Mohammad Ibrahim Momand in Kabul, Afghanistan
Brand / Language ServiceVoice of America - English
