| Local ownership of Poppy for Medicine projects prevents corruption |
|
Linked to perceptions of inequity and poverty, corruption has had a severely negative
impact on current eradication-based counter-narcotics efforts in Afghanistan. As a
counter-narcotics initiative, the
Poppy for Medicine project model specifically
addresses the threat of corruption. Anchored in Afghan villages,
Poppy for Medicine
projects would operate at the most securable and controllable - and least corrupt -
level of Afghan society: where a villages’ capacity to socially control the behaviour of
its inhabitants, combined with the villages’ common interest in the economic benefits
of the project, would preclude local corruption by project participants.
| Positive collaborative relationships needed to prevent corruption |
|
As outlined earlier , by facilitating the development of collaborative
relationships between the Afghan government and rural communities, the integration
of existing community-level social control measures and state-level institutions into
the process of securing
Poppy for Medicine projects would strengthen the rule of law
and promote good governance. As a comprehensive and positive counter-narcotics
initiative based on the even-handed provision of sustainable alternative livelihoods to
Afghanistan’s farming communities,
Poppy for Medicine projects would ensure
proper remuneration for all stakeholders, addressing the poverty and perception of
inequality that fosters corruption.