Over the past 10 years, Afghanistan has become the largest producer of opium. The Taliban finance themselves with the money they make from illegal sales of the drug. Many farmers are either forced, intimidated or financially tempted into cultivating opium poppies. And today the country produces over 90% of the world’s opium.
The government is trying to change this, with a policy of burning poppy fields, but one of the most effective ways of dealing with the problem is by offering farmers an alternative source of income.
In Herat Province in western Afghanistan, a small project is proving a resounding success: switching from the cultivation of opium poppies to saffron flowers.
First broadcast on World in Progress, Deutsche Welle Radio, 10th November 2010