Thursday, September 03, 2009

Hard times?

Putting two entirely different items together, on the one hand, we see from The Independent that the price of Kalashnikovs has doubled in Afghanistan and weapons are now fetching $600 apiece.

On the other, according to the latest UN report, wholesale (farm gate) prices in Afghanistan have fallen by a third in the past year: from $70/kg to $48/kg for fresh opium; from $95/kg to $64/kg for the dry variety while, in 2009, opium cultivation in Afghanistan decreased by 22 percent, from 157,000 hectares (ha) in 2008 to 123,000 ha today.

More on Defence of the Realm.