Bæredygtig landbrugsproduktion: at give en alternativ til opium i Afghanistan

Skov Pedersen, Frank

10. term

Master of Science in Geography

2009

2009-09-15

87 pages

The aim of this project is to find a solution to the opium production in Afghanistan. The opium production is not just a problem for Afghanistan, but a global problem. This project has focused on finding a long term solution to the problem to ensure that when or if the production is stop it does not start up again. In order to determine a long term solution the project first analysed what has changed in the cultural landscape of Afghanistan since the late 1970s, which was when the opium production started. The analysis concluded that the reason for the opium production, is a number of conditions linked to the long conflict that started with the Soviet Union invasion in 1979 and has not ended for some part of Afghanistan. First, this conflict has destroyed much of the infrastructure needed to maintain a viable agriculture in Afghanistan, such as irrigation systems, agricultural institutions and access to market. This forced the Afghan farmers to turn to opium. a drought resistant cash crop. Secondly the different event conflict has created a transnational criminal network through Afghanistan. Thirdly, the current level of insecurity and high corruption in Afghanistan has created a no-risk environment for drug traffickers. The second part of this project is about the problem formulation “what is necessary to obtain a sustainable Afghan agricultural”. This was done by researching the current and future problems of the Afghan agriculture. The climate change will constraint the production more and the growing Afghan population will increase the demand of the agricultural production system. The research also discovered that the Afghan farmers lacks knowledge in proper resource management. The greatest constraint found in this project is the lack of available water during the crop cycle and the ineffective use of the water available. The project also found that there is not an equitable distribution in the water resource and in the maintenance of the irrigation system. The project found that there are a traditional water management institution at the local level and emerging a modern national institution, but also a possible conflict between these two. The project has found a general problem in the national water management in Afghanistan. A lack is knowledge of what has to be managed (the resource) and how it is currently managed. In order for the Afghan agricultural to have an sustainable development, it is necessary for not just the farmers to be better educated in resource management, but also the many institutions involved there is it recommended that to ensure a long term solution to the Afghan opium production, that the international community continues to support and invest in the development of Afghanistan agriculture.

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