Afghanistan at a glance

• The country produced 193,000 hectares of opium poppies in 2007, a 17 percent increase from 2006.
• Afghanistan produced 8,200 tons of opium, supplying 93 percent of the world market in 2007. This is twice the amount the country produced two years ago.
• With the exception of 19th-century China, which had 15 times the population of present-day Afghanistan, no other country has produced as much narcotics.
• This year, Nangarhar Province produced 18,739 hectares of opium poppy, a 285-percent increase from last year. Nangarhar is the second-most productive province for poppy cultivation, after Hilmand Province in the south.
• 14.3 percent of the population of Afghanistan is involved in opium poppy production.
• 98 percent of opium poppy farmers said they would stop cultivation if alternatives were available. Nearly 28 percent would prefer off-farm employment; 23 percent would like to farm different crops at the same income level.
• In a survey of the farmers about why they have never cultivated opium poppy, respondents reported: Most, 38.3 percent, said cultivation was against Islam; 27.7 percent said it was illegal; 18.2 percent said it was an elders or shura decision; 6.7 percent earned enough from other crops/occupations; 0.04 percent feared crop eradication.
• In another survey, the main reasons for opium poppy production were “poverty alleviation” (29 percent) and “high sale price of opium” (25 percent). Another 13 percent cited “high wedding costs.”
• Average annual income for poppy growing farmers: $2,747.
• Average annual income for nonpoppy growing farmers: $1,754.
• Nangarhar was once the center of opium production in Afghanistan.
• In summer, Nangarhar Province produces poppy, rice, maize, cotton, sunflower, beans, potatoes, okra, tomatoes, eggplant, pepper, pumpkins, cucumbers, spinach and lettuce.
• In winter, Nangarhar Province produces wheat, barley, sugarcane, potatoes, mustard, onion, cauliflower, turnip, spinach, radish, carrot and cabbage.
• Most of the arable land in Nangarhar Province depends on irrigation; little of the agriculture is rain-fed.