NCJ Number
173618
Journal
Journal of Drug Issues Volume: 28 Issue: 2 Dated: Spring 1998 Pages: 395-436
Date Published
1998
Length
42 pages
Annotation
This study reviewed efforts throughout the world to reduce illicit crop cultivation; this includes crop eradication and a range of socioeconomic development-related work.
Abstract
The drug crops in question were coca bush, opium poppy, and the cannabis plant. With respect to crop substitution and development work, evidence relates primarily to two decades of United Nations programs and projects in 11 countries. The available empirical evidence suggests that at the global level there have rarely been more than 10 percent of any one type of illicit crop eradicated in a given year, and the risks to farmers of imprisonment are minimal; hence, farmers' risks are generally low, and they can quickly resume cultivation. A range of obstacles obstruct the implementation of eradication, including popular opinion and public demonstrations, corruption, and sabotage. Where eradication is implemented, farmers use a range of adaptive responses to minimize the impact; the most notable adaptive response is relocation and the new planting of crops. Apparently, current eradication strategies hold little prospect for making substantial inroads into illicit cultivation. What began as crop substitution in the 1970s became integrated rural development in the 1980s and emerged in the 1990s as alternative development. The changes in terminology reflect refinements in methodology of the approach according to proponents and mark the failure of various policies according to critics; however, despite efforts to tailor and improve the theoretical underpinnings of the approaches, the empirical evidence regarding their effectiveness shows little reductions in illicit cultivation; however, because development work is less punitive than eradication and far more politically acceptable within producer countries, it seems likely to continue. 15 figures, 6 tables, and 80 references