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U.S. gives millions to Afghan provinces to reduce poppy cultivation
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Julie Jacobson/AP
Helmand Gov. Mohammad Gulab Mangal speaks during a press conference in Kabul, Afghanistan, Monday, Nov. 23, 2009. The U.S. announced Monday that it is giving US$38.7 million to 27 Afghan provinces that either reduced poppy cultivation by more than 10 percent or became poppy free this year. (AP Photo/Musadeq Sadeq)
The United States signed a memorandum of understanding on Monday to which it agreed to give $38.7 million to 27 Afghan provinces that eliminated or significantly reduced poppy production. The money will be handed over to Afghanistan's counter-narcotics ministry, which will disperse the cash to the 27 different provinces to finance development or alternative crops.
In this Oct. 7, 2009 photo, an Afghan opium addict, who has lost his mental balance, looks on as he is chained to the wall at the Mia Ali Baba Shrine, on the outskirts of Jalalabad, east of Kabul, Afghanistan. The shrine is used as a rehabilitation center where the patients are brought by their family and chained for 40 days or until they recover from their addiction.
(AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)
Opium is the raw ingredient in making heroin. The poppy crop in Afghanistan produces 90 percent of the world’s supply of opium and is linked to corruption and a drug trade that bankrolls the Taliban insurgency.
Afghanistan’s U.S. Embassy Development Director, E. Anthony Wayne said the narcotics trade in Afghanistan feeds corruption and is hindering their ability to build strong democratic institutions and good governance.
“Narcotics also fuels the insurgency,” said Wayne. “Afghanistan has one of the highest addiction rates in the world, harming tens of thousands of people, damaging families and communities, limiting economic opportunity and depriving future generations the opportunity to make a better life."
Associated Press contributed
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