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Development

Drug control is not only about demand; the supply line is also a key element. Numerous families around the world are involved in the cultivation of illicit crops. To them, it is a matter of survival.

Strategies and programmes focus on giving farmers legal and viable economic alternatives to growing the cannabis plant, the coca bush and the opium poppy. These programmes contribute to sustainable social and economic opportunities. Here are some examples:

Bolivia

Farmers in the coca-growing town of La Asunta, Bolivia, turn to agroforestry and coffee to provide them with a sustainable income. They are committed to harvesting a bright future for themselves and their children.

Watch and listen to the audio slideshow (Flash required)

Listen to Inocencio Manami, coffee grower, and Fredy Pichasara, project coordinator (MP3 files in Spanish)

Colombia

The Iracas de Belén Ecotourism Centre - a project of Colombia's Presidential Agency for Social Action and supported by UNODC- provides 32 families with a novel, productive, legal and sustainable livelihood.

Read the story on ecotourism

Watch the video interview with the Colombian Minister of Interior and Justice Fabio Valencia Cossio (Flash required, video in Spanish)

Peru

Until the mid-1990s, Peru was the number one producer of coca in the world. Today, instead of being involved in the illegal cultivation of coca bush, several thousand Peruvian farmers are cultivating crops as diverse as cacao, coffee and trees from which they get oil and heart of palm.

Watch the video produced by United Nations Television (Flash required)

Southeast Asia

The Golden Triangle of Laos, Myanmar and Thailand -once notorious as the world's biggest heroin-producing region- is now almost opium-free. Improved drug control, regional cooperation and development projects have transformed the region into a magnet for tourists and investors rather than drug traffickers.

Watch and listen to the audio slideshow (Flash required)

Watch the video produced by United Nations Television on the threat posed by synthetic drugs (Flash required)

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