Opium poppy cultivation booms making Myanmar top producer in the world

After the 2021 coup, Myanmar overtook Afghanistan with a production worth between US$ 589 million and US$ 1.57 billion. The economic crisis and war have pushed farmers and displaced people to turn to opium poppy cultivation, despite the meagre earnings. The flow of money finances both the military junta and ethnic rebel militias.

Yangon (AsiaNews) – If there is one certainty that emerges from the chaos that has gripped Myanmar since the military coup of 1 February 2021, it is the large-scale resumption of opium production, which has brought the country back in first place in the global market.

According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the value of opium produced and marketed in Myanmar is estimated at between US$ 589 million and US$ 1.57 billion, some of which is also intended for domestic consumption.

The growth in production is the result of a deep and complex crisis, defined by the United Nations as a "polycrisis", in which war, poverty and environmental degradation have converged in the past four years.

This has allowed Myanmar to overtake Afghanistan again as the largest world producer, especially since the Taliban’s return to power in Kabul has led to the imposition of a ban on opium poppy cultivation.

The increase in plantations is largely a consequence of the lack of economic alternatives. Many impoverished farmers have been forced to convert their land to poppy cultivation, while thousands of displaced people accept extreme working conditions to work on other people's land in places where they found refuge.

However, opium production does not bring real economic benefits to local communities. The cultivation is very labour-intensive, and serves mainly to finance both Myanmar’s military junta and the ethnic militias that oppose it, both of which need funds to buy weapons and continue the war.

Growers’ earnings are meagre. According to the UN, the price paid to producers is around 300 dollars per kilo, with a profit margin of just 10 per cent, far below world markets.

In addition, intensifying fighting in growing regions and declining global demand have led to a drop in production over the past two years.

Although the sector showed some signs of recovery last year, the situation of the people involved in opium production out of necessity has worsened.

Among the most vulnerable are the nearly four million internally displaced people, according to estimates by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

Meanwhile, support from international charities has slowed to a trickle, hampered by the military regime, the ongoing war, and practically sealed borders.

• myanmar
• civil war
• opium
• afghanistan
• farmers
• displaced people
• united nations
• military junta