The land-drugs nexus: how illicit drug crop cultivation is related to access to land

Abstract

Illicit drug crops are mostly cultivated in rural areas affected by poverty, landlessness, insecure land rights and conflicts over natural resources. Land is one of the key factors of production in areas where the illicit drug economy is present. Whether or not the rural population has secure access to land influences its decision regarding which crops to cultivate: insecure land tenure makes farmers more vulnerable to the cultivation of illicit crops that can provide short-term income. Secure land rights and access to land can serve as incentives for long-term investments in arable land and facilitate access to credit. The present article examines the land-drugs nexus, analysing alternative development experiences and field research findings from Afghanistan, Bolivia (Plurinational State of), Colombia, Myanmar and Peru. The article concludes that alternative development programmes can benefit from land governance and titling of land. In that regard, the Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests in the Context of National Food Security of the Committee on World Food Security of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations can provide important guidance.