KANDAHAR, Afghanistan — Two years after the Taliban banned opium, Afghan farmers turning to alternative crops are discovering that many no longer grow easily here because of the impact of climate change, imperiling poppy eradication efforts.
“If they can’t cover their expenses, they’ll go back to growing poppies,” said Shams-u-Rahman Musa, a top agriculture official in Kandahar for the Taliban-run government, adding that the government is aware of farmers’ frustration. “We’re trying our best to find solutions,” he said. The poorest farmers are hit the hardest. Ataullah Noorzai, a 30-year-old villager in Kandahar province, said his soil has become so salty that he can grow only wheat and barley, which are comparatively resistant to salinity. But his revenue from these crops is so meager that he has already borrowed 550 pounds of wheat from a neighbor to sell in the market and must find a way to repay the loan.
But to the people who work on this farm, the effort to outmaneuver climate change appears to be an increasingly lost cause. Pomegranate trees are viewed by some government officials as a go-to alternative because the roots are so deep that they don’t easily dry out. But Jalal, the local irrigation official, said he was shocked to see how poorly the trees grow in desert areas with high salinity.
“When I grew poppy, it was five times more profitable and it was way easier,” said Haji Wazir, 55, a farmer. “Now, we can’t even cover our costs anymore.”