NCJ Number
211422
Date Published
June 2006
Length
23 pages
Annotation
This report presents the findings of annual surveys of illicit crop cultivation (coca) in Bolivia, Colombia, and Peru, which are conducted jointly by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime's Illicit Crop Monitoring Program and the governments of the three countries.
Abstract
Since 2000, coca cultivation in the Andean region has seen nearly a 30-percent decline to 158,000 hectares. In 2004, however, the increase in coca cultivation in Bolivia and Peru was larger than the decrease in Colombia, producing a 3-percent increase in the region. Colombia is a dramatic success story, as in 2004 coca cultivation decreased by 7 percent to 80,000 hectares; and since 2000, cultivation has been reduced by half, constituting one of the most striking reductions in illicit crops cultivation in recent history. Coca cultivation in Bolivia remains well below the peaks of the 1990s, although it did increase by 17 percent to 27,700 hectares during 2004. Peru's coca cultivation area increased 14 percent in 2004 to 50,300 hectares, reaching the level of 1998. To date, there is no indication of an expansion of cultivation into neighboring countries. Weak government action in certain areas, combined with civil unrest, continues to make them vulnerable to drug traffickers. In all three of the countries, the overwhelming majority of farmers indicate their willingness to abandon illicit crop cultivation if they are assisted in developing another means of avoiding poverty. International cooperation in developing alternative legitimate economic pathways for the farmers is the key to reducing the supply of coca to drug traffickers. 7 figures, 2 tables, and maps that show coca cultivation areas.