Guess who is the victim of the war on drugs in Myanmar

In 1999, the Government of Myanmar and local authorities in areas cultivating opium poppy decided to engage in a 15-year plan to eliminate the illicit crop by the year 2014. Since then, there has been a considerable decrease in the area under cultivation and a strong decline in potential opium production in Myanmar. Opium poppy has been confined almost entirely to the Shan State with a few pockets of cultivation in other states. The Wa region in Shan State, which has been playing a major role in opium production in the past, declared a ban on opium cultivation in June 2005. No significant opium poppy production has been observed in Kokang and in Special Region 4 since 2003.

Annual opium surveys remain essential to assess the extent of opium poppy cultivation within the country, shifts in cultivation and are useful tools in gauging the effectiveness of opium bans and their implications for the local communities. The present survey examines how farmers are coping with change in the areas affected by the opium ban. Such information is key in developing strategies to sustain the transition from an illicit economy to a licit economy.