Myanmar Opium Survey 2004

Opium poppy cultivation in Myanmar declined by 29 per cent in 2004 compared to 2003 and by 73 per cent compared to peak opium cultivation in 1996, according to the Myanmar Opium Survey 2004 jointly conducted by UNODC and the Government of Myanmar. The government has set the goal of complete eradication by 2014.

As opium poppy cultivation continues to decline, the challenge for the future is to identify alternative sources of income for the farmers who are losing their livelihoods, for humanitarian reasons and to ensure the long-term viability of opium reduction in the country.

"Opium is a last resort for farmers confronting hunger and poverty", said UNODC Executive Director Antonio Maria Costa. "If we do not provide for the basic human needs of farmers in Myanmar, they will never escape the vicious cycle of poverty and opium cultivation".

According to the survey, more than 260,000 families were involved in opium cultivation in 2004. Those families mostly live in isolated mountainous areas and growing opium is their primary source of income.

Both the Myanmar and Afghanistan surveys are available on-line

Afghanistan Opium Survey 2004

Opium cultivation in Afghanistan in 2004 increased by 64 per cent over 2003, according to the Afghanistan Opium Survey 2004. Opiates produced in Afghanistan supply countries all over the world and are consumed by an estimated 9-10 million drug abusers - two-thirds of all opiate abusers worldwide.

"With 131,000 hectares dedicated to opium farming this year, Afghanistan has established a double record, the highest drug cultivation in the country's history and the largest in the world", said Antonio Maria Costa, UNODC Executive Director.

The survey further finds that opium cultivation has spread to all of the country's 32 provinces, making narcotics the main means of economic growth and the strongest bond among previously quarrelsome peoples. The opium economy is valued at US$ 2.8 billion, which is equivalent to 60 per cent of Afghanistan's gross domestic product in 2003.

The UNODC Executive Director called on the Afghan Government and the international community to work together on counter-narcotics efforts but recognized that this will be a long and arduous process. "The opium economy in Afghanistan has to be dismantled with democracy, the rule of law and economic improvement. It would be a historical error to abandon Afghanistan to opium right after we reclaimed it from the Taliban and Al Qaeda", said Mr. Costa.