§ Mr. AncramTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what estimate he has made of the scale of poppy production in Afghanistan in each year since 1996. [136535]
§ Mr. StrawThe United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), conducts an annual survey into the level of opium cultivation and production in Afghanistan. Their figures since 1996 are as follows:
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Hectares Tonnes 1996 57,000 2,250 1997 58,000 2,800 1998 64,000 2,700 1999 82,000 4,600 2000 82,000 3,300 2001 8,000 185 2002 74,000 3,400 2003 80,000 3,600 The UNODC figures for 2001 reflects the Taliban ban on opium cultivation. The ban did not however address the underlying causes of poppy cultivation in Afghanistan and was enforced with a mix of serious violence and bribery.