AFGHANISTAN RESEARCH AND EVALUATION UNIT Brief Paul Fishstein October 2015 Briefing note on fieldwork in Balkh Province, May 2015 Opium poppy and rural livelihoods Contents 1. Introduction ....................... 1 1. Introduction 2. Agriculture in the Fieldwork Areas in Spring 2015 ................. 2 The following notes describe very initial findings from fieldwork done in 3. Markets ............................. 3 ten villages in Balkh Province’s Chimtal and Char Bolak Districts during the first two weeks of May 2015. Located west of Mazar-e Sharif, these areas 4 . I n n o v a t i o n a n d Te c h n i c a l have been counted among the relatively insecure areas of the province, Change ............................... 4 where households have moved in and out of opium poppy cultivation since it was banned in earnest in 2007. Balkh was classified as “poppy-free” from 5. Large and Economy ................ 5 2007 until 2012/13, when it became a “low level grower,” then was again 6. Development and Assistance ...... 6 considered “poppy-free” in 2013/14. Fieldwork took place during the main spring harvest season, in the larger context of a worsening security situa- 7 . Opium Poppy and tion across much of the north, including neighbouring Sar-e Pul. Security Counter-Narcotics ..................... 6 in some areas of Balkh such as Jar Qalah was considered better due to the creation several years ago, under the sponsorship of Governor Atta, of the Afghan Local Police (ALP), which puts some money in local pockets, even if it raises concerns about long-term stability. Areas of Char Bolak, while not considered completely secure, were seen as better than two years ago. Taliban were said to circulate mainly at night, with elements from Koh-e Alburz (Alburz Mountains) attacking Chimtal and also collecting ten percent ushr (traditional tithe paid to the mullah or other religious leader for their services) in order to keep the opium poppy fields safe. Variation in security even within the two districts underlines the localised nature of conditions in Afghanistan. About the authors: Paul Fishstein (MS, Agricultural and Resource Economics) is a former director of AREU whose Afghanistan experience goes back to 1977. He is currently an independent consultant. This document has been produced with the financial assistance of the European Union. The contents of this document are the sole responsibility of AREU and can under no circumstance be regarded as reflection the position of the European Union. Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit 2. Agriculture in the Fieldwork Areas in Spring 2015 Agricultural conditions were considered good this year, area in Char Bolak decreasing from 47 percent to 38 even better than last year. As in most of the country, percent. In the minor summer season, which starts in accumulated precipitation in Balkh in 2014/15 ex- May, the proportion of land planted to the main crops ceeded the previous year (per Food Security Cluster). of cotton, mung bean, and sesame remained con- Farmers were anticipating a good wheat crop,1 and stant between 2014 and 2015,2 although the absolute due to the reduced incidence of melon flies, which amount of cultivated land increased in Char Bolak due had wreaked havoc in 2013, cultivation of melon had to the wider use of tubewells (discussed below), and rebounded to some extent (the abandonment of mel- so the area planted to those three crops increased. ons by many farmers in two previous years contrib- uted to the reduction in the presence of melon flies). Perhaps reflecting a second consecutive good agricul- Aside from wheat, the area’s most important winter tural year, the number of surveyed households which crops are cotton and melon/watermelon. The most had taken loans in the last year was low (4/30), and important summer crops are cotton, mung bean, and none had accumulated debt from prior years. Another sesame. Cotton is typically planted early in May and possible factor here is that cotton brings in money as harvested in October-November, after which wheat is advances from traders, perhaps lessening the need for planted on the same land. other loans. All reported loans were for routine house- hold expenses and for farming (ploughing, inputs, Most of the 30 surveyed households, including all 15 in etc.) – not to respond to household shocks such as ill- Char Bolak, increased the amount of land and of high- ness or crisis. Similarly, very few (2/30) households value crops planted from 2013/14 to 2014/15. Some had sold assets in the previous year; one sold livestock of the increase in cultivated area, especially in Char to meet household expenses, another sold livestock Bolak, was due to households taking on additional land to purchase land. Twenty-seven households reported through sharecropping. Unlike in some other areas routine sales of livestock, which represents a source of Afghanistan, such land does not stay in the same of household income. In fact, nearly half of house- hands for many years; of the ten households which holds had purchased significant assets such as land, sharecropped land, four were in their first year, three livestock, vehicle (car or Zarang [a type of low-cost were in their second year, and three were in their motorbike which can be fitted with a variety of bodies third or fourth years. The only surveyed household and trailers to transport people and goods]), tractor, which decreased the amount of land it planted dur- generator, or carpets. ing the winter season had grown opium poppy on one jerib (0.494 acre or roughly one-fifth hectare) during 2013/14, and subsequently left that amount of land- fallow. During the main winter season, roughly half of the households in each district reduced the amount of wheat they planted. Only three of 30 households increased the amount of wheat they planted, while 16 grew less and the remaining 11 stayed constant. The reduction in planting of the staple crop may reflect last year’s good harvest and the resulting lack of debt (see below), which has lessened the immediate threat of food insecurity. Cropping patterns among the households reflect in- creasing diversification. The largest cropping shift was into cotton, especially in Char Bolak, where 12 of 15 households increased the amount planted, and only one grew less (and that household increased cotton area during the summer). Among the surveyed households, the percentage of total cultivated area planted to cotton in Char Bolak increased from 27 percent to 31 percent, with the percentage of wheat 2 Because fieldwork was done before summer planting was 1 Elsewhere in the north, there were concerns that if the completed, information for summer 2015 season is based in part security situation in Kunduz did not improve in time to allow the on stated intentions. wheat harvest, food security might be affected. 2 Opium poppy and rural livelihoods Figure 1: Tubewell use in Char Bolak 3. Markets The market for cotton continues to be active, with a Due in part to improved roads and increased availabil- set of traders now established at Charahi Balkh, the ity of transport, farmers in the surveyed areas have intersection just outside of the Balkh district centre. a choice of markets in which to sell their outputs: In addition to smaller buyers, a couple of large fac- village/farm gate, district centre, Balkh city, and tories are located there. Much of the cotton goes to Mazar. While only a few households (four) reported Pakistan, some of it bought up by Pakistani traders in constraints on marketing their crops, two-thirds com- small quantities to avoid driving up prices. Farmers plained about the low prices they received, largely seem to have increased awareness of the price pre- because prices fall at harvest time when there is a mium gained by sorting and by keeping shreds from glut. All surveyed farmers affirmed the desirability of the plastic bags in which cotton is transported from cold storage facilities for fruits and vegetables, but becoming mixed with the cotton, although post-har- this seems an idealised view which assumes that the vest devaluation remains significant due to bag mate- facility would be in the village and would be free to rials, lack of standards, and obsolete ginning equip- the farmer. (The existing modern cold storage facili- ment. Women are often employed in picking cotton, ties in Mazar are all located on the east side of the although at lower wages (150 Afs [USD$2.6] per day city, close to the airport and the road to Kabul, but as compared with 250 Afs [USD$4.3] for men) in part farther away from the main agricultural areas west of because they work fewer hours due to household re- the city. The post-2001 experience with building cold sponsibilities. There is also a local tradition of women storage has been very mixed.) keeping their wages for their own clothing. Cotton has a long history in Afghanistan and is considered a Two farmers who reported constraints on marketing “strategic industrial crop,” especially in the north and complained about “mafia” control over the melon in the Helmand River valley, despite its longer grow- market. A Member of Parliament (MP), former jihadi ing season and greater water requirements compared commander and associate of Governor Atta, has built with other oilseed crops. Despite some donor-funded a new market, Azadi Market, just to the west of the initiatives which have had mixed results, many believe city. Because Azadi Market is on the road by which that strategic investment in the value chain – from cul- most melons enter the city, farmers are unable to tivation to post-harvest processing through production bring their produce past the market; rather, they are of textiles and clothing – for cotton (and oilseeds more shunted into the market, where they have to pay for broadly) over the last 14 years would have boosted the privilege (50 Afs [USD$.9] per Zarang load, accord- Afghanistan’s industrial development, reduced depen- ing to one respondent).