crop.
Currently, 12,800 hectares of poppies are cultivated in Afghanistan — where up to 80 percent of the population depends on agriculture — a new survey by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime shows, the agency said in a statement.The 19 percent increase year-on-year remains far below the 232,000 hectares cultivated when Taliban supreme leader Hibatullah Akhundzada banned the crop in April 2022, nearly a year after the Taliban returned to power, UNODC added.
The centre of poppy cultivation has also shifted, the agency noted, and is now concentrated in northeastern provinces instead of in the Taliban strongholds of southern Afghanistan. In May, clashes between farmers and brigades sent to destroy their poppy fields resulted in several deaths in northeastern Badakhshan.During the first half of 2024, prices stabilised around $730 per kilogram, according to the UNODC, compared to about $100 per kg before 2022.