LAO PDR Lao National Commission for Drug Control and Supervision Illicit Crop Monitoring Opium Survey 2002 Programme Country Office Lao PDR August 2002 Abbreviations GOL Government of Lao PDR ICMP Illicit Crop Monitoring Programme LCDC Lao National Commission for Drug Control and Supervision NSC National Statistics Centre PFU Programme Facilitation Unit UNDCP United Nations International Drug Control Programme Acknowledgements The following organisation and individuals contributed to the implementation of the 2002 opium survey in Lao PDR and the preparation of the present report: Government of Lao PDR: Lao National Commission for Drug Control and Supervision National Statistics Centre Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry The implementation of the survey would not have been possible without the support from the local administrations and the dedicated work of the 87 field surveyors. UNDCP: Samia Azar-Humouda, Secretary (Research Section) Alan Boatman, Consultant Sandeep Chawla, Chief (Research Section) Denis Destrebecq, Survey technical supervision (Research Section) Halvor Kolshus, Representative (Field Office) Thibault le Pichon, Management of Illicit Crop Monitoring Programme (Research Section) The implementation of the survey was made possible thanks to a financial contribution of the US Government. NOTE: This publication has not been formally edited. Lao Opium Poppy Survey 2002 Table of Content 1 SUMMARY............................................................................................................ 4 2 INTRODUCTION................................................................................................... 5 3 METHODOLOGY.................................................................................................. 6 3.1 Organisation and Staff..................................................................................... 6 3.2 Opium Poppy Cultivation Estimates............................................................... 9 3.3 Opium Yield Estimates .................................................................................... 9 3.4 Survey Constraints ........................................................................................ 10 4 FINDINGS ........................................................................................................... 11 4.1 Opium Poppy Cultivation .............................................................................. 11 4.2 Yield and Production ..................................................................................... 16 4.3 Agricultural Practices.................................................................................... 17 4.4 Opium Prices.................................................................................................. 21 4.5 Addiction ........................................................................................................ 24 4.6 Field Damage ................................................................................................. 26 5 ANNEXES........................................................................................................... 27 MAPS Map of 2002 District Opium Poppy Cultivation ...................................................... 15 Map of 2002 Village Baseline...................................................................see Annex 3 3 Lao Opium Poppy Survey 2002 1 Summary The 2002 opium poppy survey was the third consecutive annual survey since 2000. It was implemented by the Lao National Commission for Drug Control and Supervision, with technical support from the UNDCP Illicit Crop Monitoring Programme. The survey benefited from financial assistance provided bilaterally by the US Government. Like in previous surveys, the 2002 opium survey used a sampling methodology. A total of 421 villages (out of 6008) were surveyed in the 11 provinces of northern Laos, through interviews of village headmen and opium poppy farmers, as well as physical measuring of opium poppy fields and capsules. Nationally, the survey estimated that there were 14,052 hectares of opium poppy under cultivation for the 2002 season. This represented a reduction in total opium poppy area of 18.6% compared with the 2001 estimate of 17,255 hectares. This confirmed the downward trend of opium poppy cultivation in Laos since 1998 when the cultivation of opium poppy was estimated at 26,800 hectares. The survey confirmed that opium poppy cultivation mainly took place in the 6 provinces targeted by the Opium Elimination Programme launched in 1998. The cultivation in these 6 provinces accounted for 88 % of the total area under cultivation. The total potential opium production was estimated at about 112 tons, representing a 16% decrease compared to last year. The national average yield was estimated at 8 kg/ha. This figure should be understood as a potential yield. The estimate for opium addiction indicated similar patterns as previous surveys. The total number of opium addicts was estimated at 52,613 persons, against 58,175 persons in 2001, representing an encouraging 9.6% decrease. At the country level, the farm gate price of opium was estimated at 1,160,000 KIP/kg (or 122 USD/kg) for February 2002. The estimated farm gate price for the previous year was 1,400,00 KIP/kg (or 165 USD/kg) for March 2001. 4 Lao Opium Poppy Survey 2002 2 Introduction The objectives of the UNDCP’s Illicit Crop Monitoring Programme are to establish methodologies for data collection and analysis, to increase governments’ capacity to monitor illicit crops and to assist the international community in monitoring the extent and evolution of illicit crops in the context of the elimination strategy adopted by the member-states at the General Assembly Special Session on Drugs in June 1998. The information provided by the surveys constituted an invaluable tool for planning activities to tackle the supply and demand sides of opium use. It constitute a unique and rich picture of the opium producing region and its people. It is a good basis for planning and monitoring and is used in the selection of the Programme area of the “Balanced Approach to Opium Elimination in Lao PDR”. The first comprehensive survey to produce national estimates took place in 1992. The Government of Lao PDR and UNDCP jointly undertook this survey that was based on a inventory of all known opium-producing villages and data from a sample of opium producing villages. Similar surveys were conducted in 1996, 1998 and then annually since 2000. The 2002 survey, providing estimates for the 2001-2002 opium-growing season, followed the methodology used in the previous surveys. Through the Programme Facilitation Unit, the National Commission for Drug Control and Supervision (LCDC) supervised the overall implementation of the survey. The National Statistics Centre provided methodological guidance, tools and staff from survey inception to analysis. The UNDCP Illicit Crop Monitoring Programme provided technical support, as well as hiring the services of an International Survey Supervisor to provide assistance in the execution of the survey. The US government provided bilaterally the financial support to cover the national staff per diem and travel costs during the implementation of the survey. 5 Lao Opium Poppy Survey 2002 3 Methodology The main objective of the survey was to provide information on the extent of area planted with opium poppy and its location. The secondary objectives were to provide information regarding the yield, from which the production was estimated, the farm gate price of opium and the addiction rate. The 2002 survey, like the previous 5 surveys, was ground based and carried out in a sample of villages in the 10 northern provinces of Lao PDR and the Xaysombun Special Region. As there is no evidence of poppy cultivation in the southern provinces of the country, these provinces are not covered by the opium surveys. A random sample of 421 villages was surveyed. This required as the initial step of building a baseline (or a population) from which the sample was drawn. 3.1 Organisation and Staff The survey was initiated and supervised by the Lao National Commission for Drug Control and Supervision (LCDC), through the Programme Facilitation Unit. The National Statistics Centre, in close collaboration with the provincial and district authorities, carried out the survey implementation. The UNDCP Illicit Crop Monitoring Programme provided technical support through the survey. An International Survey Supervisor was hired from January to April 2002 to provide assistance during the implementation of the field work as well as during the data entry and analysis stages of the survey. Twenty-nine surveyors were recruited from the provincial administration and the National Statistics Centre and participated in a one-week training organised in December 2001 at the National Statistics Centre in Vientiane. The training covered interview techniques, description of the survey process, description of the questionnaires, the field measurement techniques, the capsule measurement techniques and the random selection of villages and opium farmers. The training also incorporated a one-day field practice. In the fields, the surveyors could rely on an “instruction manual” that described all steps of the survey, including the interviews, the field measurement and the random sampling methods. After the training, the surveyors were assigned the districts they had to survey and were provided with baseline forms, survey forms and equipment. After introducing the purpose