Voices from the borderlands 2020: Illicit drugs, development and peacebuilding

This research enabled us to explore intersections between drugs, livelihoods and experiences of violence along the drugs value chain, ranging from drug production in Colombia, trade and transport in Afghanistan, to drug consumption in Myanmar.

Illicit trading networks are central to households’ income and survival in the borderlands. At the same time, licit and illicit trading networks are intimately connected and traders and transporters often deal in multiple licit and illicit commodities. Legal and illegal trading networks and routes are extremely adaptive, responding to shifts in conflict dynamics and forms of regulation. Tightening border regulation and management has impacts on markets and trading relationships, which adversely affects the economic and social wellbeing of borderland communities.

Increased trade flows have fuelled the emergence of frontier boom towns, which have created both economic opportunities and insecurity and growing inequality in borderland communities. This again shows how illicit economies generate complex costs and tradeoffs for people, households and communities.