Project for Eradication of Opium Poppy Cultivation and Rural Development

Northern part of Shan State is well-known in that ethnic groups and local famers had systematically carried out illicit o***m poppy cultivation for many years. O***m poppy has been confirmed almost entirely in the Shan State, and, in particular, the production of o***m poppy in the Kokang and Wa Regions in the northern part of the State has reached at the 90 percent of the level of late 1990’s. Af

ter GOM negotiated and reached ceasefire agreement with ethnic rebel groups in these two regions, GOM gained commitment to eliminate drug production. In 1999, GOM and local authorities in areas cultivating o***m poppy started implementation of the 15-Year Plan for Elimination of Narcotic Drugs until the year 2014. Since then, there has been a considerable decrease in the areas under cultivation and in potential o***m cultivation from approximately 55,000 ha in the year 2002 to 240 ha in 2005 according to the UNODC O***m Survey Reports. After ban of the poppy cultivation, ex-poppy farmers became very vulnerable due to loss of income. To cope with the urgent situation, GOM requested assistance to the international community. So far, in the response to the request, JICA, World Food Program (WFP), Chinese Government and several INGOs had provided assistance for ex-poppy farmers. Although poppy cultivation area was declined drastically once due to efforts of the GOM, local authorities and communities and international assistance, it is found that the cultivation acreage is slightly and gradually increasing from 240 ha in 2005 to 3,700 ha in 2010. It is presumed that food security has recently deteriorated in almost all areas of Shan State according to the UNODC and WFP. In Northern Shan State, food security (percent of households that had enough rice for 12 months) is still lower than other areas of Shan State; (Northern Shan State: 52-52%, Average of Shan State: 61-65%) due to erratic climatic condition of mountainous region such as northern Shan State made crop failure and induced pest and disease damage in food crops, hence farmers fell into vicious circle of poverty and the poverty drives recurrence of poppy cultivation. To stabilize agriculture production, farmer households require modern agricultural techniques such as good quality seed of food crops for domestic consumption (rice) and cash crops (maize, soybean, vegetable, etc.), maintenance of soil fertility by efficient fertilizer application and pest/disease control practices. Also, farmers need to produce marketable agricultural products. JICA is one of the most experienced organizations in alternative livelihood program in the northern part or Shan State since 1997 till now through crop substitution program and agricultural based comprehensive rural development project in cooperation with Progress of Border Areas and National Races Department (PBANRD), MOBA. Therefore, this project was envisaged to contribute to rural development and poverty alleviation through agriculture development in order to preserve the situation of declined poppy cultivation in the northern part of Shan State.