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Summary The Lao National Commission on Drug Control and Supervision, jointly with UNDCP, conducted opium poppy survey in 1992, 1996, 1998 and 2000. The surveys are primarily a monitoring tool and aim to provide information on the extent of cultivation of opium poppy, the production of its derivative, the opium gum, and its addiction in the country. The surveys provide a resource that contributes to planning and resource allocation. Like the previous survey, the survey covering the 1999-2000 opium season was based on a sampling methodology. The baseline data were established in collaboration with the district authorities and then a sample of villages was surveyed. At the village level, the surveyors interviewed the village headman and opium poppy farmers. The surveyors physically measured a sample of opium poppy fields. In 2000, 391 villages were surveyed out of the 6,404 villages of the 11 provinces of northern Laos. Main Findings of the 2000 Opium Survey Cultivation Nationally, the survey estimated that there were 19,052 hectares of opium poppy under cultivation in the 1999-2000 season. This represented a reduction in total opium poppy area of nearly 30% compared with the 1998 estimate of 26,800 ha. The survey confirmed that opium poppy cultivation mainly took place in the 6 provinces targeted by the Opium Elimination Programme. The cultivation in these 6 provinces accounted for 93 % of the total area under cultivation. In every district where alternative development projects are being implemented, a significant decrease was noticeable. Yield and Production The national yield was estimated at 8.7 kg/ha with important provincial variations. The total production ranged at about 167 tons of raw opium. Opium Addiction The estimate for opium addiction indicated similar pattern then previous survey. The total number of opium addicts was estimated at 62,895 persons, against 63,248 persons in 1998. At the national level, this represented 2.26% of the population above 15 years old. In the northern provinces alone, the rate was 4.84% of the population above 15 years old. Opium Prices. At the country level, the farm gate price of opium was estimated at 695,257 KIP/kg (or 92 USD/kg), but with important provincial variations. The 1998 survey estimated the price of one kilo of raw opium at 65 USD. The first comprehensive survey to produce national estimate took place only in 1992. This survey was jointly undertaken by the Government of Lao PDR and UNDCP. The survey was based on a inventory of all known opium-producing villages and data from a sample of opium producing villages. Similar surveys were conducted in 1996 and 1998. The information provided by the surveys constituted an invaluable tool for planning activities to tackle the supply and demand sides of opium use. In particular, the in-depth survey carried out in 1998 was used in the selection of the programme area of the "Balance Approach to Opium Elimination in Lao PDR". The 2000 survey, providing estimates for the 1999-2000 opium growing season, followed the methodology used in the previous surveys, but introduced the use of new technology instruments such as GPS during the field work and Geographical Information System for mapping the results. This survey was conducted by the Lao National Commission on Drug Control and Supervision (LCDC), in close collaboration with the provincial and district authorities. In particular, the newly established provincial drug control committees directly participated to the survey. The National Statistics Center provided methodological guidance, tools and staff from survey inception to analysis. The UNDCP provided financial and technical support. I. The 2000 National Opium Survey The main objective of the survey was to provide information on the extent of area planted with opium poppy and its location. The secondary objectives were to provide information regarding the yield, from which the production was estimated, the farm gate price of opium and the addiction rate.The information provided by the previous surveys and the present one, constitute a unique and rich picture of the opium producing region and its people. It is a good basis for planning and monitoring and is used in the selection of the Programme area of the "Balanced Approach to Opium Elimination in Lao PDR". The 2000 survey, like the 1992, 1996 and 1998 surveys, was ground based and carried out in a sample of villages in the 10 northern provinces of Lao PDR and the Saysomboun Special Region. As there is no evidence of opium cultivation in the southern provinces of the country, these provinces are not covered by the opium surveys. Only a random sample of villages was surveyed. This required as an initial step the building of a baseline (or a population) from which the sample was drawn. The Baseline The baseline questionnaires were sent to every district prior to the fieldwork, in December 1999. The questionnaires were pre-filled with the official codes and village names provided by the National Statistics Centre. The district authorities were requested to provide information on the village demography, opium growing status and the estimated number of households growing opium. An example of baseline questionnaire is in Annex 1. The Random Sample From the baseline, a random sample of villages was drawn. A table of random numbers was used for the village selection. A total of 391 villages were surveyed, out of the 6,404 villages considered for the survey, i.e. about 6.10% of the villages in northern Laos. The number of villages to be surveyed in each district depends on the opium cultivation ranking of the district in the 1998 survey and the total number of villages in the district. To satisfy the survey objectives within the time and budget constraint the focus was put on the villages reported growing opium poppy. A number of villages reported not growing opium were also surveyed, mainly to collect data on opium addiction in these villages. In the main opium cultivating districts (defined as the 34 districts contributing to 85% of the total area estimated in 1998), about 8% of the villages in each district were surveyed. The villages of the other districts were put together and a random sample of about 4% of these villages was drawn. A summary of the number of villages surveyed by district is in Annex 2. The Interviews and Field Measurement A ground based approach means that the data were collected by interviews of key informants and by physical measurement of the opium fields. The interviews followed a questionnaire and were made of 3 parts: the village leader interview, the opium growing farmer interview and the field measurement. The questionnaires are in Annex 3. The village leader interview: The main purpose of the village headman interview was to obtain first hand information on the village demography and the number of households growing opium. These information were used to cross-check or complement the data provided by the district authorities. Another very important information that was gathered at this stage was the number of opium addicts by gender and age. Other information included the walking time to the opium fields, the opium farm gate price and for some villages, the geographical co-ordinates were measured with GPS1/ instruments. The opium growing farmers interview From the village headman's list of households and by using table of random numbers, a random sample of farmers growing opium was drawn. Between 6 and 10 opium farmers were interviewed in each village. The main purpose of this interview was to collect data on the number of opium fields cultivated by farmer and the opium farm gate price. The field measurement Once the farmer's interview was completed, the opium farmer led the surveyors to the opium fields. A number of data were gathered directly from the surveyor inspection of the field as well as by additional questions to the farmer regarding the field being surveyed. The surveyor, using the same equipment2/ and method as for the Lao Agricultural Census (98/99) then measured the opium field. All the fields cultivated by the farmers are measured. A description of the measurement method is in Annex 4. Where the opium fields were matured, the surveyors measured the capsule diameter and height to be used for the yield estimate. A description of the yield estimate methodology is in Annex 5.
The Lao Commission on Drug Control and Supervision (LCDC) conducted the survey, in close collaboration with the provincial and district authorities. In particular, the newly established provincial drug control committee directly participated in the survey. The UNDCP provided financial support as well as technical support through the Illicit Crops Monitoring Programme. The survey team leader was the Chief of the Narcotic and Psychotropic Department and member of the LCDC. He was assisted in his work by 10 supervisors recruited from various line ministries. The list of the supervisors is in Annex 6. After being trained, each supervisor was assigned a province. Two provincial technicians were requested to assist each supervisor. Together, the provincial surveyor and the supervisor went at the district level to collect the baseline and select the villages to survey. The assistance of 6 district technicians was requested and a training was conducted by the supervisor. In each district, 3 teams, headed by the supervisor or the provincial surveyor, were formed and sent to the selected villages. The supervisor was responsible for carrying out the random selection of villages, train the district and provincial technicians, organise the teams and their schedule. At the village level, the village headman was first interviewed. The opium farmers were randomly selected from the village leader population list. After the opium farmer interview, field measurements took place. The supervisor or the provincial technicians conduct all interviews. The district technicians assisted in locating the village, translating if required and in field measurement. The survey was also conducted in alternative development projects. Technical staff from UNDCP projects, NCA, GTZ and the Lao-American projects attended the training and actively participated in the opium survey in their respective project area.
In January, a one-week training for the supervisors took place in Vientiane. The training covers interview techniques, description of the survey process, description of the questionnaires, the use of GPS, the field measurement technique, the capsule measurement technique, the random selection of villages and opium farmers. A 2 days field practice took place at Ban Talat. After this training, the surveyors, some of whom participated in the previous survey, were able to train the provincial surveyor and organise the field work. The training schedule is in Annex 7. In the fields, the surveyors could rely on an "instruction manual" that described all steps of the survey, including the interviews, the field measurement and the random sampling methods. The use of GPS was limited to the central level supervisors. Only 10 teams were equipped with GPS during the survey. To avoid security issues, the districts of Morkmay and Khoune in Xieng Kouang Province were not considered for the village survey. The database and the data entry programme was designed in MS Access by the Illicit Crops Monitoring Programme and installed on the computers of the National Statistic Centre. 3 technicians from the National Statistic Centre and one person hired by UNDCP did the data entry. The data entry was supervised and checked by UNDCP technical staff and took one month (total of 4 men-months). The filled-in database was sent to UNDCP-ICMP for standardisation of the analysis and analysis of the 2000 results.
2/ Rented from the National Statistics Center
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