STORY: Afghan farmers grow legal crops to replace poppy cultivation
SHOOTING TIME: March 9, 2024 (Jawzjan Province) / March 22, 2024 (Kandahar Province)
DATELINE: April 1, 2024
LENGTH: 00:02:31
LOCATION: Kabul
CATEGORY: ECONOMY

SHOTLIST:
1. various of farmland in Jawzjan Province
2. SOUNDBITE 1 (Pashto): MAWLAWI SAIFUDIN MOTASIM, Director of information and culture of Jawzjan province
3. SOUNDBITE 2 (Dari): GHULAM MOHIDIN, Farmer
4. various farmland in Kandahar Province
5. SOUNDBITE 3 (Pashto): HAJJI ABDUL GHAFOOR, Farmer
6. SOUNDBITE 4 (Dari): BISMILLAH JAN, Farmer
7. various of farmland in Kandahar Province

STORYLINE:

Once one of the world's biggest opium producers, war-torn Afghanistan has been gradually getting out of the mire of such illicit drugs, as farmers have been encouraged to replace poppies with legal crops.
   
SOUNDBITE 1 (Pashto): MAWLAWI SAIFUDIN MOTASIM, Director of information and culture of Jawzjan Province
"The government's support for the farmers by providing improved seeds and pesticides and launching supportive programs has encouraged farmers to replace illegal crops with legal ones. Farmers in Jawzjan have given up poppy cultivation and grown legal crops including cotton, asafoetida, and cumin."
   
According to a report released by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime last November, opium poppy cultivation in Afghanistan has been reduced by about 95 percent since the country's caretaker government imposed a drug ban in April 2022. 
   
However, some of the farmers who have replaced poppies with legal crops are facing economic hardships, saying they cannot feed their families with the income from growing wheat and other grains.
   
Working on his 16-acre farmland, 50-year-old Ghulam Mohidin, bread earner of a 12-member family, said that a poor market for his products, lack of subsidy, and years of drought have been among the grave challenges to his life.

SOUNDBITE 2 (Dari): GHULAM MOHIDIN, Farmer
"I now cultivate a variety of vegetables on my land and earn 100,000 to 300,000 afghanis (about 1,404 to 4,213 U.S. dollars) annually. In the past, I cultivated poppies and earned 300,000 to 500,000 afghanis (about 4,213 to 7,022 dollars) each year."

SOUNDBITE 3 (Pashto): HAJJI ABDUL GHAFOOR, Farmer
"Since the banning of poppy cultivation, I began planting wheat, which is not enough to run life smoothly."
   
Nevertheless, Ghafoor, 64, welcomed the ban on poppy cultivation, saying that opium poppy cultivation is nothing more than addiction to drugs for Afghans.

Ghafoor called upon the Afghan caretaker government to support farmers like him by providing more options, such as the saffron farm, vineyard, or pistachio garden to replace poppy farms.

SOUNDBITE 4 (Dari): BISMILLAH JAN, Farmer
"Our economic benefit was much higher in the past when we cultivated poppies. Due to poverty, we cultivated poppies in the past to support our families. It is not good because the youngsters got addicted."

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Kabul.
(XHTV)