A campaign to wean poor rural communities in Africa, Latin America and South East Asia off their dependency on drug crop cultivation has been launched.It is believed that through initiatives spurring economic growth and sustainable development, such as the ones introduced in Afghanistan, illicit drug production will be curtailed. It has been suggested that Afghanistan, a country afflicted by the widespread cultivation of opium poppy from which the drug heroin is obtained, could host a joint pilot project that was launched on Monday as part of the campaign. Bolivia, Colombia, Peru and Thailand are among other counties that have already successfully implemented development-oriented drug control programmes. In the Andean countries, in particular, jobs have been created through forestry activities and vocational training, while food security and nutrition have also been enhanced. In Africa, though, the drive to end the cultivation of drugs is yet to be implemented because it is not considered a menace and, secondly, data is on the problem is not available.Even when it happens, as it does on the slopes of Mt Kenya and in parts of Tanzania, the scale is so small that local authorities are left to tackle it.An agreement signed in Vienna between Yury Fedotov, Executive Director of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), and Kandeh K. Yumkella, Director-General of the UN Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO), will set up a partnership that promotes industrial development, job creation, drug control and crime prevention as vehicles for rural poverty alleviation and development around the world. “I am confident that the first and ultimate beneficiaries of our joint work will be those living at the grass-root level, the poor rural communities that often find themselves dependent on the cultivation of drug crops,” stated Mr. Yumkella.“We need to ensure that they are provided the tools to support their livelihoods, through capacity building activities and job opportunities,” he added. The new agreement builds on a previous collaboration between the two agencies which sought to provide opium poppy growing communities in Laos with alternative livelihoods as well as rehabilitating opium addicts.“The memorandum of understanding will help establish a strategic partnership in the spirit of One UN that supports sustainable development and the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals in countries such as Afghanistan,” added Mr. Fedotov. In addition, the weaning of rural communities off the cultivation of illicit drug crops has also resulted in the empowerment of women, who have set up their own businesses through micro-credit initiatives. The new joint UN venture will focus on private sector development by placing special emphasis on micro-, small and medium enterprises, agro-business development and environmental management.
