FZD Airport, Afghanistan, 2004

Afghanistan is the world's largest producer of opium, accounting for 87 percent of the global total in 2004. Three years after the Bonn Agreement, illegal drugs represent 60 percent of GDP and risk transforming the country into a narco-state, threatening the nascent peace and stability that have emerged after over two decades of war. Badakshan province, of which Faizabad is the capital, is the third largest area under cultivation in the country. In spring, fields of purple, pink and white poppy are openly grown throughout the province, within sight of the walls on which this message - notably in English - is written. This year, there has been renewed attention by the Afghan government and international community to fight illegal drugs and find alternative livelihoods for the 2.3 million people who depend on its cultivation for their survival.