NCJ Number
211425
Date Published
June 2005
Length
80 pages
Annotation
This report presents data and commentary on trends in coca cultivation in Peru identified in a 2004 survey conducted jointly by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the Peruvian Government.
Abstract
The 2003 survey reported that Peru's area under coca cultivation had declined 5.3 percent compared to the previous year; however, the 2004 survey found that Peru's area of coca cultivation had grown faster than at any other time in the past 10 years. During 1 year the total area under cultivation increased by 14 percent to 50,300 hectares, and potential cocaine products increased an estimated 23 percent, to 190 metric tons. Peru still trails Colombia, but now accounts for nearly one-third of the world's cocaine production. The resurgence of coca cultivation in Peru is due primarily to insufficient government attention to key growing areas and the high prices paid to farmers for coca leaf in these areas. It is possible to counter this resurgence of coca cultivation because virtually all the increase in coca cultivation was concentrated in two areas notorious for the absence of the rule of law and the lack of development programs. Coca cultivation remained relatively stable in the other six main growing areas, which are characterized by economic opportunities that provide alternatives to coca cultivation. Unfortunately, however, only 11 percent of Peruvian farmers dependent on coca cultivation currently have access to sustainable sources of legitimate income due to lack of national and international funding. Peru needs more support from its government and from international agencies in increasing lawful employment, production, and productivity. Demand-reduction efforts in illicit drug-consuming countries could also assist in reducing the demand for coca cultivation. 17 maps and data on coca cultivation, opium poppy cultivation, yield and production of coca leaf, and prices