AID URGED FOR POPPY FARMERS 10/18/2002

KABUL, Afghanistan - President Hamid Karzai said Thursday that Afghanistan
must offer alternative livelihoods to poppy farmers if the country is to
eradicate soaring opium production, and he called on other nations to help
in the effort.

U.N. officials estimate the country's opium harvest could top 2,500 tons
this year, putting Afghanistan among the world's top producers and
exporters of opium.

The estimated harvest is a massive increase from 2001, when Afghanistan
produced 185 tons of opium under the former Taliban regime, according to
the U.N. International Drug Control Program. In 2000, the year before the
Taliban banned poppy production, output totaled 3,276 tons.

"Victory in this war is not only vital for the people of Afghanistan but
also for the whole international community," Mr. Karzai said in a prepared
statement.

Many farmers rely heavily on opium sales to feed their families. Mr. Karzai
said providing alternatives to poppy cultivation was vital to the
eradication effort.

"They need to see the physical evidence out there in the fields and
farmlands, that we are able to provide other means for them to improve
their lives," Mr. Karzai said.

The government banned opium production nationwide in April, offering
farmers $500 per acre of poppy. But the ban has done little to dissuade
farmers, who can earn as much as $6,400 an acre for the crop, according to
the United Nations.