The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) said in a report that the “opium poppy cultivation and opium production dramatically declined after the ban prohibiting 'Poppy Cultivation and All types of Narcotics' was announced by the de facto authorities (DfA) in April 2022."

"Opium poppy cultivation dramatically declined across all parts of the country and almost entirely in some provinces where opium poppy was illicitly cultivated for many years. Nationally, area under cultivation declined by 95% to a total of just 10,800 ha, indicating that farmers were adhering to the ban that was announced in April 2022,” the report reads.

The report said that the sharp reduction has had immediate humanitarian consequences for many vulnerable rural communities who relied on income from cultivating opium. Farmers’ income from selling the 2023 opium harvest to traders fell by more than 92 percent from an estimated US$1,360 million for the 2022 harvest to US$110 million in 2023, the report said.

“This presents a real opportunity to build towards long-term results against the illicit opium market and the damage it causes both locally and globally,” said Ghada Waly, Executive Director of UNODC, as quoted in the report. “At the same time, there are important consequences and risks that need to be addressed for an outcome that is ultimately positive and sustainable, especially for the people of Afghanistan."

The Islamic Emirate’s spokesman, Zabiullah Mujahid, meanwhile downplayed the UNODC’s report, saying that the cultivation of poppy has been reduced to zero.

“Our information is that it [poppy] has reduced 100 percent. If we consider the estimation of the previous year, it was cultivated in some surrounding areas or mountains, but they have also been eliminated,” he said.

Meanwhile, farmers called on the relevant organizations to help them by providing an alternative crop to cultivate instead of poppy.

“We want to have access to the reformed seeds,” a farmer said.

“We need help. The international community should help us so we can start working on planting wheat,” a farmer said.

The UNODC said that consequently, this has reduced the supply of opium and export quality heroin coming out of the 2023 harvest. 

“Opium production saw a similar 95% decline from 6,200 tons produced in 2022 to 333 tons in 2023,” it said. “The total 2023 opium harvest could be converted into 24-38 tons heroin of export quality (50 – 70% purity). In 2022 that amount was 350- 380 tons.”