A new UN survey says the total area of opium poppy cultivation in Myanmar dropped by 25 percent – from 136,000 acres to 101,300 acres – between 2015 and 2017. However, the drop has primarily been concentrated in conflict-free areas. Myanmar’s conflict zones remain a “safe haven” for drug producers.
The Myanmar Opium Survey 2017, released yesterday by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) found that the areas with the most significant drops in poppy cultivation have been in eastern Shan State (37 percent) and southern Shan State (29 percent).
In northern Shan State and in Kachin State, poppy cultivation dropped by less than 3 percent and 7 percent, respectively – under 1,500 acres in total.
“Myanmar has taken important steps to address opium cultivation, especially in south Shan, where we are running a program together,” said Troels Vester, UNODC’s country manager for Myanmar. The organization’s programs focus on finding sustainable alternatives to opium cultivation.
The UNODC report affirms the link between conflict and opium production in Myanmar – areas with active insurgencies continue to cultivate and produce at levels similar to 2015.
“As long as significant parts of Shan and Kachin remain unstable and basically autonomous from the rest of the country and region, the environment will remain a safe haven for those who run the drug trade,” said UNODC regional representative Jeremy Douglas.
Another reason for the overall decline in opium production in Myanmar has been a shift in the drug market away from opium and heroin, whose prices are falling, to synthetic drugs such as methamphetamine, whose popularity is growing around Asia. Myanmar’s border areas major hub for methamphetamine production.
Nonetheless, despite the overall drop, Myanmar remains the world’s second-largest producer of opium. Myanmar’s home affairs minister, General Kyaw Swe, said in a statement that “there is still much to do” to wean farmers off of their reliance on opium production.
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