Photo: (C) Mercy Corps

The latest UN Report says illegal opium production has dropped 19 percent in Afghanistan over the last year. This is good news since the UN Office on Drugs and Crime says growing poppies to make heroin and other illegal drugs has been financing the Taliban and other insurgent groups. Nearly all of Afghan poppies are grown in provinces where the Taliban are strongest.

Yet a drop in poppy production is bad news for Afghan farmers using the cash crop as a means to survive. Although the Afghan government has tried to persuade farmers not to plant poppies, growing legal crops such as wheat is simply not as lucrative. The UN’s World Food Program estimates that the average Afghan family will spend 85 percent of their income on food compared with 50 percent last year due to rising costs.

What's more, further reduction of the poppy crop may not reap the benefits Western authorities have in mind. Cutting opium production to cut off terrorist financing could in fact backfire. The UN report says that the Taliban and other insurgent groups are “holding secret stocks of opium in an effort to drive up world prices” and may profit from increased prices caused by a decrease in supply. And increased prices for poppies could affect the costs for legal drugs such as codeine and morphine.

Would legalizing the crop help Afghan farmers — and take away the terrorists' black-market advantage?

Photo: Sully Pixel (flickr)

It's World AIDS Day and the world has a lot to celebrate. A German scientist made a significant breakthrough and possibly cured a person infected with HIV. And in November, the United States elected a President many believe will be more progressive in the fight against HIV/AIDS than the Bush administration.

However, given the current global financial crisis, many are fearful as well. The anti-poverty agency, Action Aid, warns that many of the gains made against the disease may soon be lost if donors abandon commitments given the current economic outlook. A global recession is bad news for international charities and development funds, but it also means that developing countries may have to cut their own budgets for social and health programs due to falling exports.

Today, take a minute to support Mercy Corps' work combating AIDS by purchasing the HIV-AIDS Awareness Mercy Kit.