Harvesting Hunger: The Impact of Opium Ban on Food Security in Afghanistan

In April 2022, the Taliban imposed a ban on opium cultivation in Afghanistan. As opium was the main crop cultivated in many parts of the country, the ban upended the livelihoods of farmers and cultivators. Leveraging spatial variation in satellite-derived measures of opium cultivation along with detailed household survey data, we examine if, following the ban, there was any effect on food security in the affected areas. Our findings from a difference-indifferences framework suggest that food insecurity emerged in the immediate aftermath of the ban but gradually diminished over time. The sale of livestock and the shift of production from opium to grain on arable soils are potential coping mechanisms for decreasing food insecurity in the medium run.