Poppy cultivation and opium production in Afghanistan rose 330 per cent in 2026 despite a Taliban ban on narcotics, marking the first significant increase since the ban was imposed in 2022, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime said on Thursday.
Cultivation expanded to more than 43,000 hectares in 2026 from 10,000 hectares a year earlier, while opium production increased by 400 per cent, the agency said.
The UNODC attributed the rise to deepening poverty, which has driven some farmers to grow poppies clandestinely. It called on the international community to help farmers develop alternative livelihoods and reduce their dependence on illicit crops.
Afghanistan was the world’s largest opium producer and a major source of heroin in Europe and Asia when the Taliban seized power in August 2021. The group imposed a formal ban on narcotics in April 2022, severely affecting hundreds of thousands of farmers and day labourers who depended on the crop for their livelihoods.
Farmers have been concealing small poppy plots within cereal fields or inside walled compounds to avoid detection, the UNODC report said.
‘The fourfold increase in opium poppy cultivation shows the difficulty in sustaining decreases in illicit opium cultivation when poor farmers have no alternatives to feed their families,’ the agency’s executive director, Monica Juma, said in a statement.
She called on the Taliban authorities and the international community to support farming communities through investment in livelihoods, agricultural infrastructure and market access.
The Taliban rejected the findings, saying the UNODC report did not accurately reflect the situation and overlooked the results of their anti-narcotics campaign.
The Afghan interior ministry said authorities had cleared more than 26,000 hectares of land in provinces where poppies had been cultivated in 2026. It criticised the UN agency for relying on satellite images, estimates and what it described as incorrect information from biased groups.
The ministry said the eradication operations had required considerable financial and human resources under difficult field conditions, arguing that assessments that failed to account for these efforts were incomplete and unfair.
The UNODC said cultivation and production remained below pre-ban levels, despite the latest increase, which was the largest since the restrictions took effect. It added that continued monitoring was needed to determine whether the rise was temporary or signalled a broader resurgence in opium production.
On Tuesday, Afghan foreign minister Amir Khan Muttaqi described the anti-narcotics campaign as one of the Taliban administration’s greatest achievements, while acknowledging the international community’s role in controlling the drug trade.
‘An effective fight against this phenomenon is a shared responsibility of both Afghanistan and the international community,’ Muttaqi said, calling for alternative livelihoods for farmers, treatment for people struggling with addiction and greater regional and international cooperation against drug-trafficking networks.