Smallholder farmers who cultivate opium poppy and coca are the forgotten link in the drug supply chain. Alternative Development addresses the root causes of the illegal cultivation of drug crops and provides opportunities. The approach combines a range of measures including:
• rural development
• alleviation of poverty
• promotion of access to land and land rights
• protection of the environment and climate
• promotion of rule of law, security and good governance.
thus contributes directly to the following Sustainable Development Goals:
Ending poverty in all its forms everywhere. Its consequences are felt worldwide in our politically and economically closely interwoven world.
Eradicate hunger, achieve food security and better nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture. With the special initiative "ONE WORLD - NO HUNGER", the German development cooperation is contributing to achieving this goal.
Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages. This is one of the most important tasks.
Ensure inclusive, equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all. - Because education is a human right.
Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls. Gender equality is a fundamental factor for sustainable development worldwide.
Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all. - This is a fundamental requirement for sustainable development worldwide.
Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all. Because without energy, development is not possible.
Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment as well as decent work for all.
Build a resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialisation and foster innovation. After all, many rural regions in developing countries do not yet have adequate transport routes and means of transport.
Reduce inequality within and among countries. Reducing these inequalities contributes to sustainable economic growth and strengthens the social cohesion of a society.
Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable. The BMZ supports a wide range of projects that sustainably improve the living conditions of the urban population.
Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns. The change to a sustainable economy and lifestyle will only succeed if we change our consumption habits and production techniques.
Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts. Germany is a pioneer in the field of energy system transformation and would like to further strengthen this role worldwide in the interests of sustainable development.
Conserve and sustainably use oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development. - An essential factor of sustainable development.
Protect restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss.
Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels.
Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalise the global partnership for sustainable development. Only with such a global partnership the goals of Agenda 2030 can be achieved.
International human rights obligations are fully taken into account when designing Alternative Development measures. Furthermore, commitment to gender equality is a guiding principle. Projects focus on economic alternatives to help smallholder families switch from cultivating drug crops to legal crops, such as coffee or cocoa.
Development-oriented drug policy promotes sustainable change in drug crop cultivation regions.
The approach has the potential to transform marginalised drug crop cultivation areas in the long term and improve the living conditions for the population.
The eradication of crops, exposure to criminal networks and non-state armed groups, displacement and loss of income are daily threats. Alternative Development seeks to diversify income sources of small-scale farmers in drug crop cultivation areas, reduce their dependency on illicit crops and support sustainable rural development.
The German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) promotes the approach of Alternative Development.
In Colombia, local communities are conserving 1,300 hectares of Amazon tropical rainforest by developing sustainable agroforestry systems and concluding forest conservation agreements.
5 pilot projects in the Colombian Amazon region - Putumayo, Caqueta, Meta and Guaviare. GIZ project Global Partnership on Drug Policies and Development (GPDPD) and REDD+ project, 2015-2019, funded by the BMZ
In a project in Peru, more than 200 farmers have joined forces to form a cocoa co-operative and have already raised their household income by 50% just four years from its foundation.
UNODC Project PERU87, Sustainable agricultural development to reduce poverty through an environmentally sustainable and women empowering approach in Peru and Bolivia, 2011-2016, funded by the BMZ
In a project in Bolivia, 20 producer associations are farming over 1,000 hectares of land with sustainable methods of agroforstery and reforestation.
UNODC Project BOLI79, Sustainable agricultural development to reduce poverty through an environmentally sustainable and women empowering approach in Peru and Bolivia, 2010-2017, funded by the BMZ
In Myanmar, 85% of households in the project region have received planting material, agricultural training and further education on nutrition, basic health and hygiene.
UNODC project XSPK26, Increasing Food Security and Promoting Licit Crop Production and Small Farmer Enterprise in Development in Myanmar, 2011-2015, funded by the BMZ
Germany co-operates with a number of countries in the area of Alternative Development. Myanmar has integrated Alternative Development in its national drug strategy in co-operation with Germany. Colombia has realigned its Alternative Development strategy and added a stronger environmental focus.
Colombia and Peru spend substantial amounts of public funding to promote coffee and cocoa cultivation in remote regions. In March 2020, 99,097 Colombian families engaged in coca growing were taking part in a government programme for Alternative Development. The programme was initiated as part of the peace deal after the end of the civil war in 2016.
When settlers moved to today’s Nolberth at the beginning of the new millennium, they had to wade through knee-deep mud to get to the main road six kilometres away and draw water from the river. As the drug dealers came directly to the villages to buy dried coca leaves from them, most of the families grew coca.
Today, the families cultivate cocoa instead. A few years ago, a cocoa co-operative was founded in the village. It sells cocoa beans to the French chocolate company Kaoka. Nine years ago, Daniel Cruz was growing cocoa for the first time. “I had no idea that you also had to prune cocoa trees”, recalls the 45-year-old smallholder farmer. It was the project‘s knowledge transfer and the farmer‘s willingness to change his crop production that made the change.
This favourable development was made possible by the BMZ-funded UNODC project for Alternative Development, which provided know-how on producing premium-quality cocoa and liaised contacts between the farmers and the French importer. Thanks to a ten-year purchase guarantee from Kaoka, the former coca families now have economic prospects for the future.
UNODC Project PERU87, Sustainable agricultural development to reduce poverty through an environmentally sustainable and women empowering approach in Peru and Bolivia, 2011-2016, funded by the BMZ.
of all respondents agreed that only 86 million people in the world use cannabis.
But the fact is:
In 2018, almost 192 million people worldwide consumed cannabis, while 19 million used cocaine and 30 million opiates. Most narcotics are consumed in industrialised and emerging countries, but the drug crops are cultivated in remote and neglected areas in developing countries. In 2019, the production of heroin and cocaine was among the highest levels recorded in modern times.
of all respondents were also right!
Because the fact is:
In 2018, almost 192 million people worldwide consumed cannabis, while 19 million used cocaine and 30 million opiates. Most narcotics are consumed in industrialised and emerging countries, but the drug crops are cultivated in remote and neglected areas in developing countries. In 2019, the production of heroin and cocaine was among the highest levels recorded in modern times.
of all respondents agreed that over 720 million people worldwide use cannabis.
But the fact is:
In 2018, almost 192 million people worldwide consumed cannabis, while 19 million used cocaine and 30 million opiates. Most narcotics are consumed in industrialised and emerging countries, but the drug crops are cultivated in remote and neglected areas in developing countries. In 2019, the production of heroin and cocaine was among the highest levels recorded in modern times.
Circle size defines users in absolute numbers.
Colour intensity defines annual prevalence among population.
Circle size defines users in absolute numbers.
Colour intensity defines annual prevalence among population.
Opium already featured prominently in the Opium Wars between China and the United Kingdom in the 1840s and 1850s. With the intention of healing drug dependence, a German pharmaceutical company then first developed heroin from opium at the end of the 19th century.
Opium already featured prominently in the Opium Wars between China and the United Kingdom in the 1840s and 1850s. With the intention of healing drug dependence, a German pharmaceutical company then first developed heroin from opium at the end of the 19th century.
Opium already featured prominently in the Opium Wars between China and the United Kingdom in the 1840s and 1850s. With the intention of healing drug dependence, a German pharmaceutical company then first developed heroin from opium at the end of the 19th century.
of all respondents were also right!
Because the fact is:
The consumption of opiates in the form of raw opium or heroin did not reach its peak in popularity in the 1970s with the hippie generation, but rather much earlier.
of all respondents also believe that the consumption of opiates experienced its first peak in the 1920s.
But the fact is:
The consumption of opiates in the form of raw opium or heroin did not reach its peak in popularity in the 1970s with the hippie generation, but rather much earlier.
of all respondents also believe that opiate use experienced its first peak in the 1970s.
But the fact is:
The consumption of opiates in the form of raw opium or heroin did not reach its peak in popularity in the 1970s with the hippie generation, but rather much earlier.
The opium poppy, Papaver somniferum, is an annual plant. In Afghanistan, the plant is harvested between May and August. Producing heroin from opium takes one to two days.
The global area under opium poppy cultivation is almost 30 percent larger than a decade ago. Afghanistan accounts for more than 80 percent of the global cultivation.
In many poppy growing areas, opium is still used as a traditional medicine and household remedy for pain relief, dysentery, malaria, fever and snakebites. Raw opium is extracted from opium poppy, which is actually a long-known crop originating from Southern Europe.
1. Opium gum is extracted from the pod with a sharp knife.
2. Cooking raw opium with lime creates the morphine base. Mixed, boiled with ammoniac and filtered, it forms the morphine heroin base which is then processed into heroin through a complex process involving several chemicals.
3. In the producing country, the heroin base is packed in bundles.
4. Transportation to consumer countries - by land, sea and air.
5. Before consumption, the heroin is heated up.
There is a difference between opiates, which derive their sedative effect from raw opium (e.g. morphine and heroin), and opioids, which are produced synthetically. Continued heroin use leads to psychological and physical dependence. Methadone is a purely synthetic product used in drug dependence treatment as a substitute for heroin. Unlike heroin, it does not induce euphoria when used, but simply alleviates withdrawal symptoms for people who are dependent on drugs.
of all respondents also think that coca is just another word for cocaine.
But the fact is:
The drug cocaine, with its stimulating effect, is derived from the leaf of the coca bush. Cocaine use can lead to psychological dependence.
of all respondents also think that cocaine is the plant from which the drug coca is produced.
But the fact is:
The drug cocaine, with its stimulating effect, is derived from the leaf of the coca bush. Cocaine use can lead to psychological dependence.
of all respondents were also right!
Because the fact is:
The drug cocaine, with its stimulating effect, is derived from the leaf of the coca bush. Cocaine use can lead to psychological dependence.
Coca cultivation is concentrated in the Andean countries of Bolivia, Colombia and Peru. The number of households cultivating coca bush in these countries is estimated at 280.000 to 370.000 in 2019.
In 2019, global coca cultivation has reached a historic peak of 244.200 hectares. In the European Union and also in Germany more cocaine was seized than ever before.
In the Andean region, especially in Peru and Bolivia, the coca leaf is chewed and consumed as tea to treat altitude sickness and pain.
The coca leaf has played a special role for the people of Bolivia for over 4,000 years. Today, Bolivia has recognised the use of coca leaf as a national tradition and permits the cultivation of coca plants in certain regions of the country, such as the Chapare and Yungas regions.
1. Coca leaves grow on coca bushes and can be harvested three to four times a year.
2. In makeshift laboratories, cement, gasoline and other chemicals are added to the coca leaves to form a coca paste.
3. Coca paste is packed in blocks and sent further processing either in the producing country or in the consumer country.
4. Organised crime groups usually dilute the processed cocaine hydrochloride with different substances to bulk up the volume and earn higher profits.
5. It is then sold illegally by street vendors.
6. Cocaine is consumed as a white powder.
of all respondents also believed that cultivating drug crops made them rich. After all, the drug barons are demonstrating it.
But the fact is:
Only a very small fraction of the high price for cocaine reaches the smallholder families, which are at the lowest end of the drug supply chain. The profits of the drug dealers are much bigger.
of all respondents were also right!
Because the fact is:
Only a very small fraction of the high price for cocaine reaches the smallholder families, which are at the lowest end of the drug supply chain. The profits of the drug dealers are much bigger.
of all respondents also believed that cultivating drug crops made them rich. After all, a large number of illegal drugs are consumed worldwide.
But the fact is:
Only a very small fraction of the high price for cocaine reaches the smallholder families, which are at the lowest end of the drug supply chain. The profits of the drug dealers are much bigger.
In Germany, one gram of cocaine sold for about €70 in 2018.
Source: UNODC 2010, rounded figures, refering to US market
In many regions of Afghanistan, growing opium poppy secures the household income of thousands of smallholder farmers. On average, the poppy harvest accounts for more than half of the annual income of a farming family. According to UN estimates, in 2019, between 325,000 and 600,000 people worked in opium poppy farming in the three main cultivating countries of (Afghanistan, Mexico and Myanmar). A UN study in Myanmar shows that households that grow opium poppy do not necessarily have a higher income than those who do not cultivate the crop.
of all respondents were also right!
Because the fact is:
In many countries, there is no other income opportunity for smallholder farmers than cultivating drug crops due to their living conditions. Drug crop cultivation is a phenomenon of remote rural regions. Farmers are often geographically marginalised and economically, socially and politically disadvantaged.
of all respondents also assumed that mainly international drug cartels cultivate drug crops.
But the fact is:
In many countries, there is no other income opportunity for smallholder farmers than cultivating drug crops due to their living conditions. Drug crop cultivation is a phenomenon of remote rural regions. Farmers are often geographically marginalised and economically, socially and politically disadvantaged.
of all respondents also assumed that mainly multinational agricultural enterprises cultivate drug crops.
But the fact is:
In many countries, there is no other income opportunity for smallholder farmers than cultivating drug crops due to their living conditions. Drug crop cultivation is a phenomenon of remote rural regions. Farmers are often geographically marginalised and economically, socially and politically disadvantaged.
Because they lack market access for legal agricultural products, many farming families feel compelled to grow and sell drug crops to the cartels. Sometimes, this is the only way to generate any income at all.
Alternative Development programmes provide farmers with incentives to participate in legal economic activities and address the actual root causes of the problems.
Alternative development addresses the root causes of illicit drug crop cultivation rather than fighting the symptoms.
Root causes
Moly Checya was eight years old when her family moved to the rainforest. In the early 1990s in Peru, she says, there were only two reasons to go to the rainforest: either to join the terrorist organisation ‘Shining Path’, which carried out bloody massacres throughout the country, or ‘to earn a living’, as her mother puts it: growing coca for the drug mafia.
The income from coca cultivation was higher than what Moly Checya’s father had earned as a miner in the very poor highlands, but the money also brought violence to the region. First came the ‘Shining Path’: “The terrorists confiscated everything we had,” recalls Moly Checya. “They kidnapped my sister and held her prisoner for a year.” Every family in the area had victims.
The terror began to decline slowly in the mid-1990s. Due to a lack of alternatives, Moly and her husband, Paul, started to plant coca in the impoverished region. It was profitable, but outlawed by the government. Peruvian police squads, specialised in fighting illicit coca growing, sprayed the coca fields with defoliant and uprooted the plants. After that, there was nothing to live on. “It made no difference to them that we had nothing left to eat”, recounts Moly Checya. After their coca plants had been destroyed, the family was ruined.
With the help of an Alternative Development project ran by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and financed by the German Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), the family was given new economic prospects. The project helped Moly and Paul set up a coffee plantation and trained them in proper management. They turned their backs on drug crop cultivation and today no longer depend on illicit crops.
UNODC Project PERU87, Sustainable agricultural development to reduce poverty through an environmentally sustainable and women empowering approach in Peru and Bolivia, 2011-2016, funded by the BMZ.
builds trust between state institutions and local communities by involving them in broader rural development strategies, including the improvement of social services like health and education.
Ending poverty in all its forms everywhere. Its consequences are felt worldwide in our politically and economically closely interwoven world.
Eradicate hunger, achieve food security and better nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture. With the special initiative "ONE WORLD - NO HUNGER", the German development cooperation is contributing to achieving this goal.
Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages. This is one of the most important tasks.
Ensure inclusive, equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all. - Because education is a human right.
Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls. Gender equality is a fundamental factor for sustainable development worldwide.
Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all. - This is a fundamental requirement for sustainable development worldwide.
Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all. Because without energy, development is not possible.
Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment as well as decent work for all.
Build a resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialisation and foster innovation. After all, many rural regions in developing countries do not yet have adequate transport routes and means of transport.
Reduce inequality within and among countries. Reducing these inequalities contributes to sustainable economic growth and strengthens the social cohesion of a society.
Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable. The BMZ supports a wide range of projects that sustainably improve the living conditions of the urban population.
Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns. The change to a sustainable economy and lifestyle will only succeed if we change our consumption habits and production techniques.
Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts. Germany is a pioneer in the field of energy system transformation and would like to further strengthen this role worldwide in the interests of sustainable development.
Conserve and sustainably use oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development. - An essential factor of sustainable development.
Protect restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss.
Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels.
Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalise the global partnership for sustainable development. Only with such a global partnership the goals of Agenda 2030 can be achieved.
of all respondents were also right!
Because the fact is:
Drug crop cultivation areas are often situated in economically marginalised regions in which the population is confronted with poverty, insecure land rights and often violence. The people living in these regions have barely any access to healthcare facilities or education. Basic infrastructure, such as a net of paved roads, is missing.
of all respondents thought that drug money has turned the cultivation areas into prosperous regions.
But the fact is:
Drug crop cultivation areas are often situated in economically marginalised regions in which the population is confronted with poverty, insecure land rights and often violence. The people living in these regions have barely any access to healthcare facilities or education. Basic infrastructure, such as a net of paved roads, is missing.
of all respondents felt that drug crop cultivation regions are well connected to the transport network so that drugs can be processed and delivered quickly.
But the fact is:
Drug crop cultivation areas are often situated in economically marginalised regions in which the population is confronted with poverty, insecure land rights and often violence. The people living in these regions have barely any access to healthcare facilities or education. Basic infrastructure, such as a net of paved roads, is missing.
The population in these regions often does not have paved roads, health facilities, schools, markets or other fundamental structures. Farmers are particularly isolated from legal markets, leaving them with very limited opportunities other than cultivating illicit drug crops.
The connection between insufficient government control, instability and increased drug crop cultivation is evident in many opium poppy cultivation areas in Afghanistan. According to the Afghanistan Opium Survey 2018, more than half (53%) of the villages where opium poppy is grown are reported to be under the control of rebel groups.
Opium poppy cultivation has a destabilising effect because rebel groups generate income by getting involved in the drug business. Mounting conflicts between the government and rebel groups put the rural population in an increasingly precarious position. They find few legal alternatives for earning a stable income.
Click on the audio icon in the menu bar to hear the story of Sabino Tintaya.
With many thanks to the Brachland-Ensemble for producing the audio features.
UNODC Project BOLI79, Sustainable agricultural development to reduce poverty through an environmentally sustainable and women empowering approach in Peru and Bolivia, 2010-2017, funded by the BMZ.
helps to integrate marginalised small-scale farmers in the legal economy, overcoming inequalities within society and between regions. It supports the provision of an infrastructure, as well as access to public services and legal markets.
Ending poverty in all its forms everywhere. Its consequences are felt worldwide in our politically and economically closely interwoven world.
Eradicate hunger, achieve food security and better nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture. With the special initiative "ONE WORLD - NO HUNGER", the German development cooperation is contributing to achieving this goal.
Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages. This is one of the most important tasks.
Ensure inclusive, equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all. - Because education is a human right.
Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls. Gender equality is a fundamental factor for sustainable development worldwide.
Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all. - This is a fundamental requirement for sustainable development worldwide.
Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all. Because without energy, development is not possible.
Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment as well as decent work for all.
Build a resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialisation and foster innovation. After all, many rural regions in developing countries do not yet have adequate transport routes and means of transport.
Reduce inequality within and among countries. Reducing these inequalities contributes to sustainable economic growth and strengthens the social cohesion of a society.
Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable. The BMZ supports a wide range of projects that sustainably improve the living conditions of the urban population.
Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns. The change to a sustainable economy and lifestyle will only succeed if we change our consumption habits and production techniques.
Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts. Germany is a pioneer in the field of energy system transformation and would like to further strengthen this role worldwide in the interests of sustainable development.
Conserve and sustainably use oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development. - An essential factor of sustainable development.
Protect restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss.
Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels.
Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalise the global partnership for sustainable development. Only with such a global partnership the goals of Agenda 2030 can be achieved.
of all respondents also thought that women only take care of the family and men earn money by cultivating drug crops.
But the fact is:
In the cultivation of opium poppy or coca, women are intensively involved from sowing to harvest. In addition, they often take care of the household, children and family. They thus bear multiple responsibilities.
Despite this, they have significantly less access to resources and goods than men, such as land rights and income. They are also often disadvantaged in terms of decision-making in their families and communities.
of all respondents were also right!
Because the fact is:
In the cultivation of opium poppy or coca, women are intensively involved from sowing to harvest. In addition, they often take care of the household, children and family. They thus bear multiple responsibilities.
Despite this, they have significantly less access to resources and goods than men, such as land rights and income. They are also often disadvantaged in terms of decision-making in their families and communities.
of all respondents also said that women are in charge of the cultivation of drug crops and men take care of of the family.
But the fact is:
In the cultivation of opium poppy or coca, women are intensively involved from sowing to harvest. In addition, they often take care of the household, children and family. They thus bear multiple responsibilities.
Despite this, they have significantly less access to resources and goods than men, such as land rights and income. They are also often disadvantaged in terms of decision-making in their families and communities.
Women are the ones in charge of food security for their families, and they possess valuable knowledge about natural resources. For the Alternative Development approach, women are undoubtedly key to sustainable rural development.
Effective Alternative Development promotes gender equality. Projects improve women's access to resources such as income or land and empowers them in decision-making processes.
Ending poverty in all its forms everywhere. Its consequences are felt worldwide in our politically and economically closely interwoven world.
Eradicate hunger, achieve food security and better nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture. With the special initiative "ONE WORLD - NO HUNGER", the German development cooperation is contributing to achieving this goal.
Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages. This is one of the most important tasks.
Ensure inclusive, equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all. - Because education is a human right.
Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls. Gender equality is a fundamental factor for sustainable development worldwide.
Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all. - This is a fundamental requirement for sustainable development worldwide.
Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all. Because without energy, development is not possible.
Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment as well as decent work for all.
Build a resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialisation and foster innovation. After all, many rural regions in developing countries do not yet have adequate transport routes and means of transport.
Reduce inequality within and among countries. Reducing these inequalities contributes to sustainable economic growth and strengthens the social cohesion of a society.
Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable. The BMZ supports a wide range of projects that sustainably improve the living conditions of the urban population.
Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns. The change to a sustainable economy and lifestyle will only succeed if we change our consumption habits and production techniques.
Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts. Germany is a pioneer in the field of energy system transformation and would like to further strengthen this role worldwide in the interests of sustainable development.
Conserve and sustainably use oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development. - An essential factor of sustainable development.
Protect restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss.
Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels.
Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalise the global partnership for sustainable development. Only with such a global partnership the goals of Agenda 2030 can be achieved.
At the end of the 1980s, Silvia and Angel Iparraguirre fled from violence of the ‘Shining Path’ terrorist organisation. In their new home in Peru’s Ucayali Province, they cultivated coca to survive, as the majority did, but after a short time, the government destroyed their illicit fields. Thanks to a UNODC project, with assistance from BMZ, the village now makes a successful living from growing cocoa.
Silvia is the first woman to have reached the position of local chairperson. She mentions the importance of the trainings on women’s empowerment arranged by the project. “At the first meetings, women did not take part at all or sat right at the back”, recalls project manager Ernesto Parra. The promotion of gender equality is a condition of German project funding.
Through trainings, the women, who at the time were all growing coca learned to organise themselves. They founded a women’s committee and elected Silvia Iparraguirre as their president. Because she negotiated so well with the authorities on the future of their village, she has become the village leader.
Angel, Silvia’s husband, is proud of his wife: “Before, when we grew coca, there was a lot of chauvinism. Although women worked all day long in the fields, the man was the one who brought the money home and said: I decide what happens here.” By strengthening the participation of women and their inclusion into cocoa plant cultivation, the relationship between farmers has transformed into an equal partnership: couples manage the cocoa plantation and earn their profits together.
UNODC Project PERU87, Sustainable agricultural development to reduce poverty through an environmentally sustainable and women empowering approach in Peru and Bolivia, 2011-2016, funded by the BMZ
of all respondents also thought that the government was using chemicals to make the plants burst like a balloon that had grown too big.
But the fact is:
Instead of addressing the local root causes, many governments take repressive measures against drug crop cultivation. Coca bushes and opium poppy plants are sprayed with chemicals or destroyed with slashers, and plots of land are lit on fire, often before legal income alternatives are in place. At the same time, this leads to the relocation of cultivation areas in many regions. This is called the ‘balloon effect’.
of all respondents were also right!
Because the fact is:
Instead of addressing the local root causes, many governments take repressive measures against drug crop cultivation. Coca bushes and opium poppy plants are sprayed with chemicals or destroyed with slashers, and plots of land are lit on fire, often before legal income alternatives are in place. At the same time, this leads to the relocation of cultivation areas in many regions. This is called the ‘balloon effect’.
of all those questioned also said that the absence of police measures during the rainy season leads to a balloon-like increase in drug cultivation.
But the fact is:
Instead of addressing the local root causes, many governments take repressive measures against drug crop cultivation. Coca bushes and opium poppy plants are sprayed with chemicals or destroyed with slashers, and plots of land are lit on fire, often before legal income alternatives are in place. At the same time, this leads to the relocation of cultivation areas in many regions. This is called the ‘balloon effect’.
The proper and co-ordinated sequencing of Alternative Development interventions is crucial for success. Before considering eradication measures, viable economic livelihood options must be secured. Therefore, achieving significant drug crop reductions in the long term requires integrated rural development. Among other aspects, the strengthening of producer organisations, adequate market access, partnerships with the private sector, as well as favourable climatic conditions are key for sustainability.
United Nations ‘Political declaration and plan of action on international cooperation towards an integrated and balanced strategy to counter the world drug problem’, 2009
Eradication measures alone rarely result in less coca or poppy cultivation. Resistance to crop eradication often incites greater violence. Some of the chemicals used contaminate the groundwater and soils and harm the health of the local population. This can spiral into a vicious circle that destroys livelihoods.
The cultivation of coca and opium poppy can also cause considerable harm to the environment. Deforestation, soil erosion and water contamination are direct consequences of rural drug economies.
encourages sustainable agricultural and agroforestry systems, which helps to reduce CO2 emissions and preserve biodiversity.
Ending poverty in all its forms everywhere. Its consequences are felt worldwide in our politically and economically closely interwoven world.
Eradicate hunger, achieve food security and better nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture. With the special initiative "ONE WORLD - NO HUNGER", the German development cooperation is contributing to achieving this goal.
Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages. This is one of the most important tasks.
Ensure inclusive, equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all. - Because education is a human right.
Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls. Gender equality is a fundamental factor for sustainable development worldwide.
Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all. - This is a fundamental requirement for sustainable development worldwide.
Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all. Because without energy, development is not possible.
Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment as well as decent work for all.
Build a resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialisation and foster innovation. After all, many rural regions in developing countries do not yet have adequate transport routes and means of transport.
Reduce inequality within and among countries. Reducing these inequalities contributes to sustainable economic growth and strengthens the social cohesion of a society.
Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable. The BMZ supports a wide range of projects that sustainably improve the living conditions of the urban population.
Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns. The change to a sustainable economy and lifestyle will only succeed if we change our consumption habits and production techniques.
Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts. Germany is a pioneer in the field of energy system transformation and would like to further strengthen this role worldwide in the interests of sustainable development.
Conserve and sustainably use oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development. - An essential factor of sustainable development.
Protect restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss.
Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels.
Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalise the global partnership for sustainable development. Only with such a global partnership the goals of Agenda 2030 can be achieved.
Willy Alonzo is a successful cocoa farmer in the Peruvian village of Ricardo Herrera. This was not always the case. Ricardo Herrera is located in a former coca growing area in the Huánuco region. As there were hardly any income sources, Willy‘s family began to cultivate coca at the beginning of the 1980s.
Coca brought in money and demand was high, but then the special police units arrived, sprayed the coca fields with a chemical defoliant and uprooted the plants. “Suddenly we had nothing left anymore and left the village, like many others. The soils were ruined and the water had been contaminated by chemicals”, recalls Willy‘s mother, Epifania Enríquez.
After leaving school, Willy also initially grew coca. It took a long time to convince him to try legal crops such as cocoa as proposed by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). He was too afraid of being left with nothing again if he gave up growing coca. Yet, the project is aware of the problems farming families are facing: it takes four years to get the first harvest from a cocoa plant.
During this time, those working for the project showed Willy Alonzo how to bridge the lean period with maize, beans, chicken and guinea pig breeding. “I planted cocoa for the first time eight years ago”, Willy remembers. The effort and confidence in Alternative Development have paid off. The cocoa harvests are a huge success. Today, Willy has managed to make a clean break from coca.
UNODC Project PERU87, Sustainable agricultural development to reduce poverty through an environmentally sustainable and women empowering approach in Peru and Bolivia, 2011-2016, funded by the BMZ
This exhibition is a production of the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH on behalf of the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).
Responsible: BMZ, Division 122
Editor: Sector Project Sustainable Rural Areas (GIZ)
Editorial team GIZ: Sarah David, Dorothea Hohengarten, Petra Jacobi, Jan Westerbarkei
Design and programming: Framework GmbH, Cologne + RMH Media GmbH, Cologne
