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Access to Labour: The Role of Opium in the Livelihood Strategies of Itinerant Harvesters Working in Helmand Province, Afghanistan

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STRATEGIC STUDY #4

Final Report June 1999

One of UNDCP?s principal objectives is to strengthen international action against illicit drug production. In Afghanistan, its principal objective is to reduce and eventually eliminate existing and potential sources of opium cultivation. It is recognised that in order to achieve this there is a need to further the understanding of the diversity of conditions and priorities that different socio-economic and spatial groups take into account when making decisions about their involvement in opium poppy cultivation.

The Strategic Study Series is one of the tools by which UNDCP intends to document the process of lesson learning within the ongoing Afghanistan Programme. Studies in this series will focus on issues that are considered to be of strategic importance to improving the design of current and future alternative development initiatives in Afghanistan. Information collection for these studies is undertaken by the UNDCP Drug Control Monitoring System (AFG/C27) in close coordination with the ongoing presence and project activities of UNDCP?s Poppy Crop Reduction project (AFG/C28). Recognising the inherent problems associated with undertaking research into the drugs issue in Afghanistan, emphasis is given to verifying findings through systematic information-gathering techniques and methodological pluralism. As such, the Studies will be undertaken in an iterative manner, seeking to consolidate preliminary findings with further fieldwork. It is envisaged that this approach will allow panel or longitudinal studies to be undertaken which assess both the changes in opium poppy cultivation and lives and livelihoods amongst different socio-economic, gender and spatial groups over the lifetime of the Afghanistan programme.

These Strategic Studies will be an integral part of the regional study, ?The Dynamics of the Illicit Opiate Industry in South West Asia? due to be published and disseminated in early 2001. The purpose of this regional study will be to: (i) contextualise the illicit drugs situation in South West Asia for the donor community, addressing issues of interest to their development agendas, including poverty, health, gender and the environment (ii) and for UNDCP to identify ?best practice? in the design and implementation of alternative development, law enforcement and demand reduction initiatives.

• An Analysis of the Process of Expansion of Opium Poppy Cultivation to New Districts in Afghanistan.
• The Dynamics of Farmgate Opium Trade and the Coping Strategies of Opium Traders.
• The Role of Opium as a Source of Informal Credit.
• The Role of Opium as a Livelihood Strategy for Returnees.
• Access to Labour: The Dynamics of the Labour Market for Opium Poppy in Afghanistan.
• The Role of Women in Opium Poppy Cultivation in Afghanistan and the Consequences Arising from its Replacement for Women?s Economic and Social Standing.
• ?The Balloon Effect?: An Analysis of the Process of Relocation of Opium Poppy Cultivation in Afghanistan.

Executive Summary

Introduction

Opium poppy is a labour intensive crop. Indeed, estimates suggest that approximately 350 person days are required to cultivate one hectare of opium poppy in Afghanistan, compared to approximately 41 person days per hectare for wheat and 135 person days per hectare for black cumin. Harvesting alone is reported to require as much as 200 person days per hectare.1/ Consequently, to spread the demand on both hired and family labour during the harvest period, households have been found to both cultivate different varieties of opium poppy with differing maturation periods, and stagger the planting of opium poppy.2/ However, despite these efforts the majority of opium producing households still require hired labour during the opium poppy harvest.

The varying climatic zones within each of the opium poppy cultivating regions of Afghanistan means that the opium poppy harvest is often staggered, reaching different areas at slightly different times. Consequently, for those who are willing, and able to travel during the harvest season, opium poppy provides a valuable source of off-farm income.3/ As such, opium poppy provides an important source of livelihood not only for those who own the land, but for those that are employed to work the land on a short term basis. This Study seeks to explore the motivations and circumstances that influence individuals in their decision to work as itinerant harvesters and the role that this off-farm income opportunity plays in their overall livelihood strategies.

Methodology

The fieldwork for this Study was undertaken during the harvest of opium poppy in Helmand province in 1999. A total of 75 in-depth interviews were conducted in five districts between 25 April and 18 May 1999. To explore the diversity of both upper and lower Helmand, fifteen interviews were conducted in each of the target districts of Marja,4/ Nad-e-Ali, Musa Qala, Kajaki and Nawzad. Interviews were conducted over a wide geographical area so as to verify findings and distinguish between generic patterns and localised issues.

It is important to note that it is difficult to determine how representative the findings of this Study might be. Given the sensitive nature of the fieldwork, respondents were selected based on existing contacts within each of the districts visited. Moreover, the reports of increased opium poppy cultivation in province in 1999 and the rise in payments for those employed as itinerant harvesters, may have led to an influx of new labour to the province. Consequently, the findings of this Study should be taken as indicative, documenting the process by which a cross section of respondents have begun their work as itinerant opium poppy harvesters and the role that this work plays in their overall livelihood strategies.

Findings

The findings of this Study suggest that itinerant harvesters working in Helmand province are typically young, male and can come from a wide range of areas within Afghanistan and from refugees camps in Balochistan. However, the majority of those interviewed for this Study came from the provinces of Ghor and Helmand. Most of the itinerant harvesters from these two provinces reported that they had landholdings and worked as itinerant harvesters during periods of agricultural underemployment on their own land. All reported that the agricultural production from their landholdings were insufficient to meet family basic needs.

Fieldwork revealed that itinerant harvesters from Helmand province generally cultivated opium in their own districts of residence and travelled between the different climatic zones within the province, taking advantage of the staggered nature of the opium poppy harvest to maximise on and on-farm and off-farm income opportunities. Amongst the respondents from Ghor province, landownership was found to be high, with the majority reporting that after completing the opium poppy harvest in Helmand, they would return to their own land to harvest their rainfed wheat. However, the Study found that respondents from Ghor not only worked in Helmand during the opium poppy harvest but during the poppy weeding season as well, supporting the view that off-farm and non-farm income opportunities in Ghor province are limited and seasonal migration is an important source of livelihood for many of the province?s inhabitants.

Through fieldwork it was discovered that most of the itinerant harvesters working in Helmand province had generally learnt how to harvest opium from either relatives or friends. For those who came from opium producing districts, their first experience of harvesting opium poppy was in their own district and generally on their own land under the tuition of their relatives. Those respondents travelling in a group of itinerant harvesters, with no prior experience of lancing and collection of opium, were given training by those members who had previously worked as itinerant harvesters in the area.

Notably, the Study revealed that finding employment as an itinerant harvester was based on local supply and demand factors rather than traditional family or tribal links. Indeed, few respondents reported that they worked for the same landowner each year. The variance in the time of the harvest of opium poppy each year and the demands of respondent?s own agricultural land, would seem to mitigate against such habitual arrangements. As such, recruitment would seem to be a function of the time of the opium poppy harvest in the district, the availability of itinerant harvesters, and the result of negotiations between landowner and itinerant harvesters.

The Study found that itinerant harvesters typically began the harvest in the southern districts of Helmand and then travelled northwards as the harvest period reached the districts situated at higher altitudes. Generally, the route respondents travelled and the number of harvests they completed was found to depend on their district of origin and the agricultural needs of their own land. The Study found that the majority of respondents were found to harvest opium in two districts, although almost one quarter of those interviewed reported that they harvested in three.

The Study suggests that the payment for working as an itinerant harvester was typically in-kind, with itinerant harvesters receiving one fifth or one quarter of the final yield of the land worked. This method of payment was almost uniform despite itinerant harvesters preference for a fixed payment of opium based on the size of the land and an agreed number of lances. The Study suggests that the landowners preference for sharing the risk of crop failure through paying a share of the final yield, prevailed in Helmand province despite a shortage of labour for the opium poppy harvest in 1999. However, fieldwork revealed that during the height of the labour shortage in Helmand province in 1999, itinerant harvesters managed to use their market power to negotiate improved arrangements for the payment of the local agricultural tax known as ushr.

It is interesting to note that whilst the income generated from working as an itinerant harvester was considered important to the household livelihood strategies of itinerant harvesters, agricultural production on their own land was given priority. Indeed, the Study reveals that almost three quarters of respondents would be returning to their own land to tend to their crops, many foregoing the possibility of working as an itinerant harvester in another opium producing district.

The Study found that most of those interviewed sold the opium they were paid in the local bazaar once they had completed each harvest. Few respondents reported storing their opium for any period of time despite the increase in opium prices that are experienced in the post harvest period, suggesting that the income generated from their work as itinerant harvesters is used to satisfy more immediate needs. Moreover, the Study suggests that the majority of itinerant harvesters, used the income they earned from the opium harvest for purchasing basic necessities including wheat, clothes, sugar and tea and that few respondents were found to be investing the income generated for productive purposes. This would tend to suggest that the income derived from working as an itinerant harvester is an important contribution to household livelihood strategies.

Whilst women were not found to be working as itinerant harvesters or even lancing or collecting opium on household land, the Study did manage to explore the role of women during this labour intensive period. It was found that the workload of women was found to increase significantly due to the burden of food preparation for both household and hired labour. Moreover, the emphasis on maximising the use of male household labour meant that little assistance was provided by other family members for household tasks, further increasing the reproductive role of women.

Conclusion

The Study suggest that labour intensive nature of opium means that its profitability is vulnerable to increases in the cost of hired labour during harvest time. As such, the Study concludes that greater consideration needs to be given to both those who own land and those who work land on a short term basis. Indeed, given the increasing fragmentation of landholdings in rural Afghanistan and the absence of non-farm income opportunities, there would appear to be a need to address the needs of itinerant harvesters during the design and implementation of regional development initiatives aimed at achieving a sustainable reduction in opium cultivation. A failure to provide alternative off-farm and non-farm income opportunities for these mobile workers may well result in opium poppy cultivation relocating to new areas, the so called ?balloon effect?. Fieldwork in both the eastern and southern regions has already revealed that itinerant harvesters play an important role in the expansion of opium poppy cultivation into new districts in Afghanistan.5/ Consequently, to neglect the needs of this group would appear to be to the detriment of both alternative development and conventional development objectives.

Recommendations

So as to address both alternative and conventional development objectives the Study recommends that the development community gives increasing priority to improving off-farm and non-farm income opportunities in Afghanistan. Particular attention needs to be given to developing labour intensive methods of implementation that provide off-farm and non-farm income opportunities. For instance reconstruction and rehabilitation projects, including bridge building, canal cleaning and road repairs, should seek to maximise labour inputs and minimise the use of capital. This strategy would prove more appropriate to the immediate needs of the Afghan community and have possible implications for the availability of hired labour for the opium poppy harvest.

Moreover, where possible labour intensive activities should be conducted over an extended period, prior to, during, and after, the opium harvest each year, so as to provide alternative sources of income for itinerant harvesters. A coordinated and focused approach by the development community in Afghanistan may have the potential to create local labour shortages and raise the labour costs of opium cultivation. This would possibly serve to change households? expectations of future hired labour costs, and combined with other well-targeted development interventions, serve to reduce opium poppy cultivation in subsequent years.

However, the Study recommends that close monitoring will be required to assess the cost-effectiveness of such an approach. Household response strategies to an increase in wage labour opportunities during this time may include the increased use of family labour for the opium poppy harvest, including women, children and the elderly. If both conventional and alternative development objectives are to be achieved, it is important that the burden on these vulnerable groups are not increased.

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1/ See Socio-Economic Baseline Survey for UNDCP Target Districts in Afghanistan (forthcoming).

2/ See the Afghanistan Annual Opium Poppy 1999 (forthcoming) and Strategic Study 1: An Analysis of the Process of Expansion of Opium Poppy Cultivation into New Districts in Afghanistan (Preliminary Report, July 1998).

3/ 'Off-farm income typically refers to wage or exchange labour on other farms (i.e. within agriculture) ......... [whilst] non-farm income opportunity refers to non-agricultural income sources.' See Ellis (1998) 'Livelihood Diversification and Sustainable Livelihoods' in Sustainable Rural Livelihoods: What Contribution can we make? DFID: London.

4/ Due to local views and the consensus of respondents, this report refers to the 'district' of Marja, which is part of the command area of the Boghra canal and within Nad-e-Ali district. It lies south of the town of Nad-e-Ali itself and directly west of the district of Nawa Barakzai.

5/ See Strategic Study 1: An Analysis of the Process of Expansion of Opium Poppy Cultivation into New Districts in Afghanistan (Preliminary Report, July 1998).