KABUL: The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) has announced that Italy has contributed one million euros to support families transitioning from opium cultivation to alternative crops.
In a statement today, the office stated that this aid will be utilized in the second phase of the project titled “Improving the Welfare of Afghan Women and Youth through Increasing Legal Livelihood Opportunities” in the provinces of Herat and Nangarhar.
According to the UNODC, during the first phase of the project, 1,514 families of former poppy farmers, with 53% of them being women-headed households, will establish their achievements in 93 villages across five districts in Herat and Nangarhar.
The statement noted, “UNODC will implement the second phase of the successful interventions on a larger scale, particularly focusing on saffron cultivation in Herat and the cultivation of roses in Nangarhar, which have shown significant potential as high-value economic alternatives to opium.”
Through this project, it is expected that alternative livelihood opportunities will be strengthened and the economic resilience of 6,797 women and youth will be enhanced.
It is worth mentioning that Herat and Nangarhar provinces have been included in the joint action plan “Joint Action Plan for Alternative Livelihoods” of the Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock, and the United Nations as priority areas in the Doha process.