Reduction in cultivation is creating a humanitarian crisis in isolated villages along the border, say aid workers
Opium production in Myanmar has fallen dramatically over the past 12 months and China and Thailand have hailed the reduction as a major success in the campaign to stamp out the region's drug trade.
Myanmar's two neighbours have prodded Yangon to reduce opium cultivation amid worries about the rising drug dependence among their youngsters.
But aid workers in the region are warning about a dark side to this success story. They say little has been done to prevent a humanitarian crisis in the villages along Myanmar's isolated, mountainous border with China, villages that for centuries have relied on the sale of opium poppies to survive.
Hundreds of thousands of people have been left dependent on food handouts as a result of the reduction in poppy cultivation, they say.
More than 500,000 people were now dependent on food aid, said Sheila Sisulu, of the World Food Programme (WFP), who visited areas hit by the crisis last month.
