UN Launches Program to Support Afghan Farmers Affected by Poppy Ban
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has announced ongoing efforts to bolster the resilience of local communities in Afghanistan through its “ACRP” project. This initiative focuses on expanding alternative livelihoods for rural farmers impacted by the Taliban’s ban on poppy cultivation.
According to the statement, the program also addresses the growing crisis of acute food insecurity and malnutrition—challenges that have been exacerbated by climate change, population displacement, and other simultaneous pressures.
The Taliban’s enforcement of a poppy cultivation ban, implemented without providing sustainable economic alternatives, has endangered the livelihoods of thousands of farming families and increased rural communities’ reliance on humanitarian aid.
International organizations have repeatedly emphasized that the success of any anti-narcotics policy depends on practical programs aimed at creating jobs, sustainable income, and farmers’ access to markets—factors that, critics argue, have not been sufficiently addressed in the Taliban’s current policies.
