Drug policy in development cooperation: the alternative development approach

Small farmers who grow coca or opium poppy, the plants from which drugs such as cocaine, crack and heroin are obtained, are among the poorest and most marginalised population groups in their countries – despite the fact that the crops that they grow form the foundation of powerful drug economies. Structural deficits are the drivers for the illicit cultivation of drug crops, such as fragile statehood, the lack of access to markets and commercialization, the lack of access to arable land as well as food insecurity.

German development cooperation has 30 years of experience in addressing illicit drug economies. The challenges for development policy underlying the global drug problem are at the heart of the work GIZ carries out on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).

Measures to reduce the illicit cultivation of drug crops are handled as part of GIZ’s rural development work. The cultivation of coca and opium poppy (and the production of cocaine, opium and heroin) poses considerable problems for development and security in the producing countries and enables these drugs to be consumed in Germany and Europe.

Alternative development as understood by BMZ involves promoting legal crops in areas in which coca and opium poppy are grown, so that drug crop cultivation is gradually replaced by other types of licit farming and non-agricultural sources of income. These crop substitution measures form part of an integrated approach to rural development, which tackles the root causes of drug crop cultivation.

GIZ advises BMZ on how the German alternative development approach can be implemented on the ground and mainstreamed in international practice. International positioning activities include participation in multilateral processes at the level of the United Nations (UN) and the European Union (EU) and cooperation with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), drug and development agencies in partner countries and foundations, think tanks and non-governmental organisations. In addition, GIZ reviews and advises on alternative development projects and implements currently the alternative development component of the EU’s COPOLAD programme (Cooperation Programme between Latin America and the European Union on Drugs Policies, 2011 - 2015).