Alternative development is closely associated with reductions in drug crop cultivation at the local level. At present, local successes in such reductions cannot be directly attributed to alternative development interventions because the motivations and circumstances that determine household drug crop cultivation remain largely unexplored. Research has tended to focus on aggregate trends in drug crop cultivation at the national, regional and village levels. The specific socio-economic, cultural and environmental circumstances that influence household production are consequently overlooked in project design. Rather, alternative development initiatives have adopted a uniform approach where emphasis is placed on the high economic returns that the opium poppy and the coca bush are reported to accrue per unit of land.