Last I checked Opium is an excellent cash crop that the Taliban used to fund their guerilla war with the US. Now that the Americans are out there is no point to keep growing it.

You got a source on that?

[–] BirdyBoogleBop@lemmy.dbzer0.com 4 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

Here you go.

Edit: Oh I may have missread that. Here is a source for the taliban using it as funding.

[–] GaveUp@hexbear.net 52 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

The source for that claim is entirely from the US state department. Not to mention some expert disputed that claim

"The estimated all-time high for opium production was set in 2017 at 9,900 tons worth some $1.4 billion in sales by farmers or roughly 7% of Afghanistan's GDP, the UNODC reported."

"Mansfield says his field studies show the most the Taliban can earn from illicit opiates is about $40 million annually"

So the Taliban made at most 40 million per year while the entire country (under US occupation and control) made over 1 billion per year