Opium cultivation in Myanmar jumped 33 percent last year, the highest in nine years. It's the world's second-largest producer of opium, after Afghanistan. A UN report suggests economic, security and governance disruptions that followed a military coup takeover in 2021 have left farmers little option but to move back to opium. The junta has refused to respond to the report. The UN is warning that without economic stability it's likely opium cultivation and production will continue to expand. Ernestien Yensema is a researcher at the Transnational Institute in Amsterdam - an international research and advocacy institute committed to building a just, democratic and sustainable planet. She is stating that in rural areas farmers as the least important person in the supply chain, opium for them is a solution to make money, a source of income.