Ethnic conflicts fuelling increase in Burma’s opium cultivation
Posted on December 15, 2009
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Opium farming in northern Burma source: BBC
The United Nations says opium cultivation in Burma increased last year for the third year in succession. According to the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the number of hectares used for growing opium poppies increased by eleven percent, a total of almost 50 percent since 2006.
95 percent of Burma’s opium crop is coming from Shan State, where Antonio Maria Costa, Executive director of UNODC says ceasefire groups like the Wa and Kachin are selling drugs to buy weapons. Hw warned, “Increased instability in north-eastern Myanmar is affecting the opium market.”
Despite the increase in cultivation, the overall value of Burma’s opium crop in falling, due to a fall in yields of 28 percent to 10.4 kilograms per hectare. Production was down 20 percent to 330 tons, while prices remained stable at US#300 per kilogram.
The UN estimates the total potential value of opium production in Burma fell 15 percent to US$104 million in 2009, down from US$123 million, the previous year.
Afghanistan remains the largest producer of opium, although poppy cultivation had fallen as a result of counter-narcotics operations by Afghan and NATO troops.
However, UNODC warns the Greater Mekong region is becoming a major producer and consumer of synthetic drugs. Mr Costa warned, “It would be a pyrrhic victory for drug control if South-East Asia’s opium was simply replaced by amphetamine-type stimulants.”
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