UNODC to issue survey on rising opium plantation and production in Myanmar and Laos

12 December 2015
UNODC to issue survey on rising opium plantation and production in Myanmar and Laos
Opium poppy growing in a cultivated field in Tanaign Township in southern Kachin State. Photo: KIO

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) will release its survey on rising opium plantation and production in Myanmar and Laos at the Foreign Correspondent’s Club in Bangkok, Thailand, on December 15.
The report,which includes crop cultivation data and economic surveys of farmers in poppy-growing villages, shows that money generated from poppy cultivation is essential for villagers threatened with food insecurity and poverty.
The survey highlights challenging issues for the newly elected Myanmar government and the current government of Laos in tackling the factors that underpin opium production, especially at the grassroots level.