🔶 the consequences of the farmers' poverty; 400% increase in opium production in Afghanistan.
The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime has announced that poppy cultivation and opium production in Afghanistan has increased dramatically over the past year. According to this institution's report, opium production in 2026 increased by 400% compared to the previous year; An increase that is considered the first significant jump since the prohibition of drug cultivation and production by the Taliban in 2022.
According to this institution's annual report, the area under poppy cultivation in Afghanistan increased from about 10,000 hectares in 2025 to more than 43,000 hectares in 2026; an increase of about 330%. The amount of opium production also increased from about 300 tons last year to almost 1,500 tons.
However, the cultivated area and the amount of production are still lower than the period before the Taliban ban. In 2021, about 200,000 dunams of Afghan lands were under poppy cultivation. The United Nations emphasized that the current increase is the largest since the implementation of the ban, but further monitoring is needed to determine whether this is a temporary trend or a sign of a widespread revival in the cultivation and production of opium in the country.