Burmese Daze

However, the decline of opium production in the Golden Triangle since 1997—mostly in Burma—is not simply the result of policy interventions by local authorities. It is clear that trends in the global market contributed significantly to the shift of production from the Golden Triangle to Afghanistan. This is not a new phenomenon. Throughout history, there have been remarkable shifts in the international opium and heroin market. These include the shift in cultivation from Turkey to Iran and Pakistan in the 1970s, and later to Afghanistan, and to new cultivation in areas in Mexico and Colombia.

An important yet under-reported factor is that Burmese heroin has been almost completely pushed out of the European and North American markets by heroin originating from Afghanistan (in Europe and the US) and Latin America (in the US). By the 1990s, Colombian heroin dominated the US market. Virtually all heroin originating from Burma is currently consumed in Southeast Asia, China, India, Australia and Japan.

There are also indications that some groups that formerly produced heroin have simply switched to manufacturing amphetamine-type stimulants (ATS). Various sources claim that Chinese criminal organizations operating in areas where ceasefire groups have implemented bans on opium cultivation and heroin production, such as in the Kokang and Wa regions, have simply shifted to producing ATS.

What is more worrying is that the opium decline has caused major suffering among former poppy-growing communities in Burma and Laos. It is therefore hard to claim this as a “success story.” Some international aid has been provided to former poppy farmers, and a number of international NGOs and UN agencies are carrying out development projects in the Wa and Kokang regions, but this has clearly not been enough to offset the impact of the ban on their livelihoods. The World Food Program and China have provided emergency food assistance to communities in former opium-growing regions in northern Burma, but this is not a sustainable solution.

The greatest impact of the opium decline in the Golden Triangle has, without any doubt, fallen on the poppy farmers. Opium poppy has been cultivated in the mountains and hills of northern Burma, Laos and Thailand for more than 100 years. It is mostly grown in remote areas on steep slopes or in small valleys, usually without the use of irrigation or fertilizer. Yields are relatively low, especially compared to Afghanistan. The fact that most opium poppy is cultivated in remote, mountainous areas with undeveloped infrastructure and transportation systems has made opium poppy a crop with which it is difficult to compete. It is easy to cultivate in difficult terrain and has a relatively high value.

Opium poppy cultivation is strongly linked to poverty. Most of the cultivators are poor villagers from different ethnic minority groups, practicing upland cultivation. These include the Wa, Akha, Lahu, Palaung, Pao, Shan, Karen, Karenni and Kachin in Burma, the Yao, Hmong, and Akha in Laos, and the Hmong, Lahu and Akha in Thailand.

Traditionally, they use opium as a medicine against malaria, respiratory diseases and diarrhea, and as a painkiller. Opium is also used at traditional festivals and ceremonies, including weddings and funerals. Furthermore, opium seeds are used to produce cooking oil, and opium is also connected to nat (spirit) worship, and sometimes used instead of money to pay for things or as savings.

Most importantly, opium poppy is the key cash crop for these communities. They can produce only enough rice to feed their families for four to six months a year, and according to a TNI researcher, “Opium cultivation pays for the household’s needs, including their children’s education, healthcare, food and household materials. ... People think that cultivation of opium poppy can help overcome the problems they face in their lives.”

In order to try to find alternative sources of income, ceasefire groups in Burma along the Chinese border, and local authorities in Laos, think they have found a new solution to the problem. In the last decade, Chinese investment in commercial plantations, especially rubber, but also tea, sugarcane and watermelons, has increased tremendously. Local authorities in Laos and the Wa region of Burma promote rubber as a cash crop to replace opium poppy, and have dedicated huge tracts of land to planting rubber trees. The area, including the southern part of China’s Yunnan Province, has been turned into a “rubber belt.”

“Rubber fetched about US $400-500 per hectare in 2007, compared to $200 per hectare for opium,” says a representative of an international agency in Laos. “So rubber sounds like a dream crop, and it has probably convinced several governors that this is the silver bullet to take people out of poverty.”

However, as rubber is a long-term investment, there are concerns about the future of the market for rubber and the stability of rubber prices.