Against the weighty claims of success by Afghan government in countering narcotics, not only opium production has increased but also people have started investing in narco-businesss to secure their future amid withdrawal plan of US-led NATO forces from Afghanistan. According to Jean-Luc Lemahieu, head of the UN Office of Drugs and Crime in Afghanistan, opium is emerging as a new gold standard in Afghanistan, where traders and farmers are hoarding the drugs as a source of ready cash to hedge against the risk of a power vacuum when foreign troops leave.

"You see suddenly people are rushing to opium and cannabis as in the euro zone we were rushing to the Swiss franc before the euro," he said. The aim of international community and Afghan government has been discouraging poppy cultivation and motivating farmers towards alternative crops. However, since opium can readily be converted into cash, its growing importance in a poverty-hit country like Afghanistan should not be surprising.

As we will move ahead, opium production is to further increase and more farmers will prefer cultivating poppy in their fields. Already the government has failed to expand its writ beyond capital and some other cities of Afghanistan; with the withdrawal of US troops by the end of 2014 the Afghan government will move backward rather than emerging as a strong administrator of this country.

With foreign combat forces leaving by end-2014, and with much of their cash and air power expected to go with them, the Afghan government will need more help fighting poppy cultivation, experts say.

Throughout the last ten years, the international community has been funding Afghanistan in all areas. Nonetheless, government armed opposition, the Taliban, have used narco-business as a major source of funding their operations.

They have not only protected this source successfully but also are encouraging Afghan farmer to cultivate more opium. It is said that the Taliban offer loans to farmers who obey their instruction and threaten those who do not.

As 2014 nears, condition is to further deteriorate in Afghanistan which will benefit opium production and the Taliban who will try to pull out more income from the business.