Why Buy Something We Hate?
Why Buy Something We Hate?
Subsidize Other Crops, Not Poppy
by Allison Brown
Download the full article: Why Buy Something We Hate?
Buying the Afghan opium crop is an idea that has been around for a while but recently has been appearing in various forms in mainstream media. We should not consider buying the crop because paying farmers for their opium is likely to increase poppy production, and because a poppy subsidy must be continued until there is no more illegal demand for drugs. People wanting to change farming practices in Afghanistan should consider price competition, purchase competition, farmer risk avoidance, and the fact that much poppy cultivation is coerced, before they suggest subsidizing poppy.
Download the full article: Why Buy Something We Hate?
Allison Brown has over twenty-five years professional experience providing business development services to urban and rural development projects in developing economies. She is also a technical specialist on the use of agriculture and economic interventions in Counter Narcotics programs.
