Taliban said in a statement that their foreign minister, Amir Khan Muttaqi, in a meeting with Bo Mathiasen, Director of Operations at the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), on Tuesday appealed for international support to help Afghan farmers shift away from opium poppy cultivation, calling for investment in alternative sources of income as part of their ongoing anti-narcotics campaign.
Muttaqi described the Taliban’s ban on poppy cultivation as a “historic” effort and urged global partners to back projects that would provide farmers with viable means of earning a livelihood, the statement said.
“We will not allow Afghanistan or the region to be threatened again by the production and trafficking of drugs,” he said, according to the statement.
He called on international donors to fund initiatives in agriculture, livestock, and small-scale rural industries, which he said could help create jobs and reduce communities’ reliance on the drug economy.
According to the statement, Mathiasen “commended” the Taliban’s anti-narcotics measures and described his visit as “important,” though the United Nations has not publicly confirmed the specifics of the meeting.
Both sides, according to the Taliban’s account, agreed on the importance of keeping anti-drug efforts free from politicization, while ensuring that humanitarian cooperation continues and joint initiatives lead to concrete results.
Taliban have frequently highlighted its enforcement of a nationwide poppy ban as a demonstration of its commitment to global drug control, particularly as it seeks broader international engagement.
However, human rights groups and independent analysts have raised doubts about the scope and consistency of the ban, noting that enforcement may vary by region and that many communities remain economically dependent on poppy cultivation.
International funding for crop substitution programs has dwindled significantly since the Taliban’s return to power in 2021, amid widespread concerns about governance, human rights violations, and restrictions on women’s freedoms.
