Development and Cooperation


	Contributions from the Column Monitor Tsunami relief: Too much of a good thing Merits and limts of contract farming EU sugar regime: Double-edged pledge Afghanistan’s drug cultivation at a record high US government agency assesses Millenium Challenge Account More votes for emerging nations at IMF Oil: World Bank and Chad reach agreement Slow progress in fight against desertification Private sector: Making money in peace 10/2006		Afghanistan’s drug cultivation at a record high This year, the cultivation area for opium poppy in Afghanistan has grown by almost 60 % to 165,000 hectares. According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the country will produce more than 6100 tonnes of opium this year – more than ever before. That quantity makes up 92% of the global supply and exceeds worldwide demand by 30 %. According to UNODC, only six of Afghanistan’s 34 provinces are opium-free. Cultivation has spread particularly fast in the unstable South. Antonio Maria Costa, head of UNODC, says that opium cultivation is out of control, that Afghanistan will become more and more dependent on drugs, and that international efforts against cultivation have shown no results. Costa called on the Afghan government to reward drug-free provinces with more funds and to replace the governors and police officers in the opium-growing regions. He also urged NATO to take „robust military action“ to destroy Afghanistans opium industry. On the other hand, the UN organisation still opposes legalising cultivation for medicinal purposes, as has been suggested by the Paris-based Senlis Council. (ell)