Coca Leaf Production in Colombia Grows by 52%

Colombia's ability to produce cocaine has reached historical levels, according to a report by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, UNODC.

Coca leaf crops covered 146,000 hectares in 2016, up 52% from 96,000 in 2015.

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About 866 tonnes of cocaine were produced in 2016, the previous year's estimate was 649.

Bo Mathiasen, the UNODC’s representative in Colombia said the rise has a two-fold significance, "The data indicate a worrisome situation but also a favourable scenario to achieve a sustainable solution".

Mathiasen said that he held out hope for a reduction in cultivation because the nation had signed a peace agreement with the nation's biggest rebel group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, FARC, which controlled much of the drug-producing areas.

The government has put in place plans to eradicate 100,000 hectares of coca by the end of 2017.

Half of that amount is to be forcibly eradicated, and the other half removed through crop substitution agreements with coca farmers.

The exchange program is included in the deal with FARC, who renounced drug trafficking as part of their demobilization process. 

In the wake of last November's accord ending over 50 years of conflict, experts and state officials are hopeful that the country's coca production will decline this year.

Former FARC rebels have recently handed in all of their weaponry and the implementation of the crop substitution plan is expected to run smoothly. 

However, the rise of coca production has been used as an argument by some to criticize the peace agreement and promote the fumigation of crops with glyphosate.

Spraying with the herbicide had been suspended due to health concerns but it resumed in January following pressure from conservative sectors.