Opium Production in Myanmar

By Sasha Bauhs

On February 1, 2021, a military takeover subdued government control of Myanmar through a coup d’état, leaving the country in an economic, political, and humanitarian plight. Since its independence from British colonial rule in 1948, Myanmar has faced military regime after military regime. In 2011, a civilian government was formed, albeit with heavy military influence. Unfortunately, hopes for full democratic rule were dashed in February 2021, when the civilian government under Aung Sang Suu Kyi was overthrown by yet another military coup. By November 2021, the junta’s security force had killed over 2,400 people and had detained thousands more. There have been many war crimes committed by the junta, including an infantry attack on a school in Let Yet Kone, in the Sagaing Region, an airstrike on an internally displaced persons’ camp, and even airstrikes on music concerts. After two years of chaos, the junta has begun to lose territory and power due to strong Ethnic Armed Organizations and People’s Defense Forces. According to the U.S. Department of State, there are reports of conflict and oppression throughout Myanmar: violence at peaceful protests, air strikes, bombardments, mass burnings of villages and places of worship along with the killing, torture, and jailing of thousands of civilians. The reversion, which led to an economic disaster, has also led to a major uptick in opium (Papaver somniferum) production. Regional Representative Jeremy Douglas from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) commented, “the growth we are witnessing in the drug business is directly connected to the crisis the country is facing.”

The Golden Triangle, the area where Myanmar, Thailand, and Laos meet, has historically been a chief source of opium and heroin production. Opium is a drug that slows messages from the brain to the body and has been used for ages in a medical form dating back to the Sumerian peoples in 3400 BCE. Myanmar is the second largest producer of opium, behind Afghanistan, however, is quickly approaching the high levels of opium production seen in Afghanistan. Douglas declared, “economic, security and governance disruptions that followed the military takeover have converged, and farmers in remote, often conflict-prone areas in Northern Shan and border states have had little option but to move back to opium.” This increase in opium production, although it requires a lot of labor, it is often the best chance for a livable wage, especially in rural areas.

In 2022, Myanmar produced 795 tons of opium in 40,100 hectares of land, which is a 33% increase in cultivation area since the military takeover. Not only has the amount of land designated for opium production increased, but there has also been increased innovation and industrialization added to poppy cultivation practices, like commercial farms. This is a drastic change from the previous “small, poorly organized plots with relatively low cultivation density” that opium was grown before the dramatic economic instability.

Similarly to Myanmar, since the Taliban (Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan) takeover of Afghanistan in 2021, opium production and employment began to soar as people relied on the market for employment and economic stability. Opium cultivation increased 32% in 2022 and the income made from opium sales from farmers tripled. The Taliban’s ban on opium cultivation also contributed to dramatically high prices, as the majority of the harvest was unaffected due to the late timing of the announcement in the harvesting season.

According to the UNODC’s Opium Cultivation in Afghanistan 2022 Report, the illegal production of opium has become a crucial pillar of Afghanistan’s economy, specifically in rural society, where entire communities are dependent on the income provided by opium to sustain their livelihoods. There continues to be an interesting relationship between tyranny and the growing reliance on activity like opium production for economic stability and employment.

Looking at the future of opium production in Myanmar, opium production will likely continue to rise as economic instability persists. Myanmar UNODC Country Manager Benedikt Hoftmann comments on suggestions for alternatives to deter Myanmar’s economy from opium, saying, “At the end of the day, opium cultivation is really about economics, and it cannot be resolved by destroying crops which only escalates vulnerabilities.” Moreover, it is “the sharp economic contractions that left a critically weak economy in the aftermath of the COVID-19 crisis, and the military takeover in early 2021 may have been among the determining factors that pushed rural households to rely more on opium.” So, that begs the question, could another global or national disaster push even more reliance on the opium industry with the exports from Myanmar as an economic fall-back plan?

Works Cited

Opium Production in Myanmar Surges to Nineyear High. 26 Jan. 2023, www.bbc.com/ news/world-asia-64409019. Accessed 14 May 2023.

“Opium.” Alcohol and Drug Federation, 1 July 2022, adf.org.au/drug-facts/opium/.

Accessed 14 May 2023.

Major Opium Economy Expansion Is Underway in Myanmar. United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, 26 Jan. 2023, www.unodc.org/roseap/myanmar/2023/01/ myanmar-opium-survey-report/story.html.

Accessed 14 May 2023.

Joint Statement on Marking Two Years since the Military Coup in Myanmar.

U.S. Department of State, 31 Jan. 2023, www. state.gov/ joint-statement-on-marking-two-years-sincethe-military-coup-in-myanmar/ #:~:text=On%201%20February%20

2021%2C%20the,political%2C%20economic%20 and%20humani tarian%20crisis. Accessed 14 May 2023.