Is organic farming a good alternative for the opium farms in Afghanistan?

Question

I need to know for a speech i have to make in an MUN conference.

Answer 1

For as long as there is a strong market demand for opium, it is sadly unlikely that any other alternative enterprise will be considered.  The soil and terrain will not suit every agricultural possibility, and the people who are now making obscene wealth at the expense of the misery of others will not let go easily. However, I don't know if opium poppies make the growers wealthy.  I expect it is more the middle men  -  the ones who have the resources and contacts to get the harvest from the fields to the users.

But to answer your question  -  organic farming (or any other farming) would be worth a try  -  if anyone there is willing to try.

Answer 2

Yes, organic opium is currently priced about 50% higher at my local grocers.

Answer 3

I am sure that there is merit in having organic alternative crops. I am also pretty sure it is not so much  the need for an alternative crop as it is the lure of making quick money.  Just as here in the US  so many try to get rich quick only to spend years of their youth in prisons rather than the alternatives of gaining wealth the slow hard way and enjoy life along the way.

I do think that some sort of organic farming programs could be used to help the 20%, or whatever the number is, that need and want work.

Answer 4

The problem is finding something with an equivalent value to opium. Organic tomatoes (or whatever) will never return the same profit as opium.