Under the global Illicit Crop Monitoring Program (ICMP), the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime established an opium monitoring system conducting annual opium surveys in Afghanistan. The system includes four distinct but interrelated components (Farmer’s Intention Survey, Rapid Assessment Survey, Annual Opium Survey, and Bimonthly Price Collection). This report presents the findings, district by district, from the 2003 Rapid Assessment Survey conducted in February 2003. The survey included 126 villages, 45 districts of 5 provinces (Nangharar, Kunar, Kandahar, Helmand, and Uruzgan). The sample was sufficient to provide a cultivation trend through a comparison with the situation prevailing in the same villages in previous years. Information on poppy cultivation was obtained for 134 districts in 22 provinces. General findings are presented in four areas: eradication, opium poppy cultivation appearing in new areas, security, and staggered planting. Findings include: (1) relatively intensive eradication campaigns were reported in Helmand, Kandahar, and Uruzgan provinces; (2) farmers tended to cultivate opium poppy in increasingly remote and inaccessible areas; (3) security was a concern in most districts due to either ongoing military operations or to farmers reactions to the eradication campaign; and (4) staggered planting seemed to be increasing in Afghanistan due in part to the uncertainties created by the ban on opium poppy cultivation and eradication activities. Maps, tables, and annexes