President Karzai Welcomes the Result of
the Survey on Poppy Cultivation; Calls for Assistance towards
Alternative Livelihoods
Released by the Office of the Spokesman to the President
03/27/2005
Presidential Palace, Kabul - H.E. Hamid
Karzai, President of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, welcomes
the result of the Rapid Assessment Survey of poppy cultivation
and eradication carried out jointly by United Nations Office
for Drugs & Crime and the Ministry of Counter Narcotics.
The survey, carried out in 225 villages and 198
districts of 34 provinces reveals a falling trend in opium poppy
cultivation in the majority of the 34 provinces, mainly because
farmers refrained from planting. The main reasons reported by
villagers for refraining from cultivating poppy were: respect
for the government’s ban on opium poppy cultivation as
well as fear of eradication by the Government.
In his reaction to the report the President
said: “I’m extremely pleased to note that the people
of Afghanistan have responded positively to the call for Jihad
against the evil of narcotics. This indicates that the Afghan
people are taking steps towards ridding their country from this
menace. I hope that the international community will also fulfil
its responsibility by providing assistance towards Alternative
Livelihoods so that the scourge of narcotics will be defeated
forever, and Afghanistan will become a drug free country.”
