According to a recent survey released by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), poppy cultivation has stabilised at high levels in Myanmar. But the region’s demand for poppy plant derived drugs, like heroin, remains at unacceptably high levels and transnational organised crime groups are making huge profits. Artingstoll, a former researcher of UNODC, Myanmar explains how essential poppy cultivation is to farmers as a buffer against food insecurity and poverty. So how can they be weaned off this crop?


This is a report by May Barani Lwin.