host: welcome to "global 3000." cocoa instead of caine -- how peruvian farmers are taking a stand against the drug trade. cars instead of tuk-tuks -- what's the solution to india's ever-worsening traffic problem? and unveiled and ready for a dance -- women in saudi arabia are enjoying new freedoms.

coca plants -- the precious raw material the drug cocaine is extracted from -- are cultivated in many south american countries. according to the u.n., almost 2,000 tons of cocaine are produced worldwide every year. the cocaine trade is a multibillion dollar business. it is also brutal and dangerous, causing suffering to many, including those who live in the regions where the coca plants are grown, like in peru. reporter: wilfredo samuel is taking roll call. some of the assembled crew are still boys. and none of them have any real military training. but they're still determined to push back against illegal coca plantations here in peru's rio ene valley. william: the coca plantations are getting bigger and bigger. we don't want them. we want to grow legal products like cocoa and coffee.

reporter: we're accompanying a civilian defense group formed by the ashaninka indigenous people. the region has been under an official state of emergency for the better part of 30 years. this area used to be rainforest but now it's dotted with countless illegal coca plantations over hundreds of square kilometers. the ashaninka say the plantations have been getting ever larger in recent years. after just a short while, the group passes by a coca field. it was planted by strangers from outside the region. victor: look at all that, all of those coca plants! it's an invasion. we're not doing this, it's all illegal people, who come here from far away. reporter: coca farming is extremely lucrative but its social impact is devastating. processed into crack, a smokable form of cocaine, it's become a plague in neighboring brazil. brutal drug cartels are

battling for control of the global cocaine market. the police carry out the occasional raid but that does little to stem the tide. meanwhile in europe, the u.s. andbut for wilfredo and thee a ashaninka people, cocaine poses a threat to their traditional way of life. >> unlike those invaders, we indigenous people have official documents that prove this land belongs to us. and that needs to be respected. reporter: meanwhile the fields of coca keep spreading like a cancer. the ashaninka say that they're the only ones pushing back. even though this coca farming is illegal, the ashaninka aren't permitted to simply destroy the fields. they have to report the plantations and hope that the legal system deals with them.

angel: we're really fed up that our government gives us such little support in fighting this. reporter: in the 1990's, peru's government was mired in a brutal conflict with the communist shining path insurgency. they withdrew into peru's remote coca-farming areas and continued to engage in violent skirmishes with the military. many indigenous people, including many ashaninka, were killed. since then, local farmers have been permitted to form self-defense groups which continue to try to push back the illegal coca farmers. angel: we ashaninka don't want to ever become victims of a violent conflict again. that's why we have no other choice than to defend ourselves. reporter: coca farming is antithetical to the culture and way of life of the ashaninka people. and coca is drawing ever more outsiders to the region.

peru's government has been unable to quash the expansion of illegal coca plantations. angel: coca farming is more lucrative than anything else here. it's much more profitable than cocoa or coffee. there's just no comparison. reporter: the authorities have meanwhile acknowledged that coca farmers won't switch to a legal crop of their own accord. peru is now planning to change its anti-drug strategy to promote a voluntary eradication of illegal coca through what they call a social pact. ricardo: in the coming twelve months as a first step we want to cut coca plantations by a thousand hectares. bit by bit, on a voluntary basis.

we have to make that appealing to coca farmers by providing them with incentives. for example, everyone who voluntarily destroys their coca fields will receive financial compensation. reporter: the ashaninka welcome the initiative. until now, they've tended to see the state as part of the problem. angel: we know that corruption is widespread within the government. the chaos and the state of emergency in our region has allowed them to profit from the coca business. some of them make secret deals with the narcotraffickers. reporter: it's a many-layered problem and the ashaninka are bearing the brunt of it. to protect themselves from the

coca farmers, they've been forced to carry weapons -- shotguns and bows and arrows. they're determined to be a visible presence in the area to discourage the expansion of coca fields here. for now, their key demand from the government is for more weapons to protect themselves from the drug cartels. richard: we would even die to protect this land for our children. but for that, our patrols need modern weapons. reporter: today the patrol doesn't come across any coca farmers but they do find any number of coca fields, which they'll report to the authorities. but given the world's insatiable hunger for cocaine, the rampant spread of coca here is likely to continue. host: cars are taking over the world -- at the end of the 1970s there were just over 275 million passenger cars, and

today there are almost 1.3 billion. more growth and greater prosperity lead to more cars. asia currently boasts the most cars -- more than half a billion -- followed by europe and north america. meanwhile africa and south america have just a fraction of that. more cars means not only more traffic jams and more accidents, but also more pollution. road traffic is responsible for 18 percent of global co2 emissions. alternative, more sustainable options are gradually becoming available, but there's a long road ahead. reporter: around the world from paris to vienna everybody is trying to solve the transport problem. but while car sales in the west have mostly stagnated, countries like india are still at the beginning of the curve. and things have changed dramatically here, just since i was growing up in bangalore.

now when i make my yearly trips home, the city has changed so much that i barely recognize it. to understand what kickstarted this, we need to rewind to a time when i was this tiny. as i was taking my first steps, india was seeing a leap forward. in the 1990's, the central government liberalized the economy, lowering import tariffs and taxes which meant, among other things, that the car market could mature. bangalore city specifically began to sell itself as asia's i.t. hub. american companies outsourced their software work here and people from around the country migrated. the population and incomes soared, as did car sales. >> to me specifically, a car has always been a style statement. i want to just keep improving the car i have. >> the suv is ideal because the roads are so bad. reporter: car ownership in india is still very low compared to european

or north american countries, and almost two-thirds of the population still cycles, walks or takes public transport like buses or metros. but over 80% of people surveyed say th would le to own a car. which adds up, over the country's population. prof. verma: the economy is aspiring and society is aspiring. it often conflicts with larger sustainable development goals. it wasn't the situation when americans or europeans were getting wealthier. so they enjoyed their time by enjoying their wealth, their cars, etc. but today indians are told not to do so, adopt these sustainable modes and so on. reporter: cities' responses have historically been to create more space for cars, widening roads where they can or building flyovers. but professor verma's research shows that infrastructural interventions will never be effective. prof. verma: any opportunity where you create more road space

to accommodate more personal vehicles will only encourage more people to buy cars, because it's affordable, and we haven't reached saturation levels. in no time, say even 6 months you'll realize that extra , widened space is filled with cars. reporter: often, road designs have been directly copied from the west, conceived by planners who visited u.s. cities in the 1990's, and brought back roadmaps. but these don't work in cities that are so densely built and have no space for cars. trucks or suvs now drive on roads that can barely handle two at a time. such car-centric designs have spilled onto the way newer residential complexes from bangalore to new delhi are being developed too. this complex came up around a year ago and there a thousand plus families living here. to access their basic needs like food or school they have

to walk a minimum of, say, 15 minutes. which isn't practical. and so people living here are more likely to become more and more dependent on their cars. 15 minutes may not sound like much but it isn't exactly a cakewalk. the car-centric design tends to ignore the development of all other forms of transport including walking, cycling even to go to the bus stop. which are all of course more climate-friendly. an obstacle course for me but for the elderly, or those with disabilities, problems are much, much worse. and this is having a disastrous impact on indian cities. air pollution is on the rise across the country. and the quality of life index is dropping. where once children played cricket on the street, cars now park. globally, vehicle emissions are soaring faster than any other sector. but it isn't just cars -- two-wheelers are the most commonly owned private vehicles, and almost all freight in india is transported by trucks.

and both contribute significantly. your car for anything else? -- do you see yourself giving up your car for anything else? >> not really, no. i think because of our roads, the traffic, so no, the car's not going anywhere anytime soon. >> i do feel guilty, i know all that carbon footprint, but what do you do? if there's no other system in place you just have to have a car. prof. verma: governments at central and state levels need to have very clear cut, focused policies to nudge travel choices and behavior in a way where you have these alternatives modes which we are promoting, whether it is public transport, or walking, cycling, as more attractive modes to use. policies that disincentivize the personal vehicles and incentivize the use of public transport, walking cycling. reporter: changing the way people interact with transport has and is happening the world over, especially after the pandemic

brought some of these issues painfully to light. since january 2021, france has slapped a weight tax on heavy vehicles like suvs, adding as much as 40,000 euros to a new car's price tag. copenhagen has built over 400 kilometers of bike lanes. and experts say pilot projects are needed before such concepts are wholly adopted in india. aswathy: sometimes when you just take a solution that worked, let's say in bogota, and just plonk it directly in a small town in south india such as trichy, it may not work. so what you do need to do is bring the concept, quickly test it on the ground to see does this work in our context. reporter: the buzzword at the moment is "transit-oriented development," which is to put public transport like buses or metros at the center and develop life around it. aswathy: if we could invest even a small percentage, less than like five percent of the funds that are invested into the metro, for

improving access within the neighborhoods around metro stations, then large populations living in the center of the city would be able to access the metro. reporter: at the moment, over 80% of public spending goes to big-ticket projects like flyovers and highways. the rest is split between buses and metros with less than a 2% going to improve lives for cyclists and walkers. if we had to go back 30 years and re-do it all, things would probably be quite different. of course it's always easier in retrospect. but india is still developing and still has a rare chance to leapfrog into a sustainable future. so we're at a difficult point in time, where millions of people still have unfulfilled aspirations. but we need to find creative ways to put the planet and the quality of people's lives back at the center of the story.

♪ host: the dream of driving has only recently become true for women in saudi arabia. until 2018, the gulf state was the only country in the world that banned women from driving. those who ignored that ban were jailed. and women are also gaining more rights in other areas, albeit in small steps -- they no longer have to wear a headscarf, they can travel abroad on their own without a man, and they can go out and party. reporter: this is saudi arabia. and so is this. wasn't this the country with strict rules about segregating men and women? where concerts were forbidden in public spaces? drorar: i could have never imagined something like this would happen with me, because we are,

we were a very conservative country. entertainment was something that was looked down on. solskin: i think i am a typical saudi woman in the sense that i am strong, that i am resilient and you can't tell me who i am and who i am not, so how dare you tell me? reporter: this is solskin. solskin is her dj name, and it means "sunshine" in danish. solskin: it's fine, it's fine, i'll hug around. friend: how are you today? solskin: good! how are you? reporter: solskin has a day job as a magazine editor. during the week, she works in riyadh, the saudi capital. solskin: so i am an anxious person. i get nervous. so i figured if i can at least get as much done beforehand then i can relax and enjoy and go with the flow. so right now i am just picking my songs. picking the vibe that i think dorar would enjoy. reporter: and this is the artist she'll be performing with tonight --

dorar, who used to work in human resources for a pharmaceutical company. dorar: 7 months ago i quit my job. so i was like i can't do this -- anymore. i can't be in a 9-to-5 job writing paperwork, like what the --. reporter: dorar's family lives in jeddah. she moved to riyadh on her own. just a few years ago, this would have been unimaginable. women weren't permitted to live alone -- a male relative had to be part of the household. now dorar works for an audiovisual production company. she also dj's at night. saudi women performing as dj's -- some people here still find bit unusual, or even shocking. but that doesn't bother dorar. she wants to encourage others to follow their dreams. drorar: i know in the end it's not about me being a woman or it's not about me being saudi, it's about showing that you know that attitude.

and i just wanna be part of the inspiration to let people know you can do whatever you want if you feel like it. reporter: saudi arabia is a kingdom. in 2015, salman bin abdulaziz was crowned king, and his son, mohammed bin salman, or mbs for short, the prince. a year later, mbs announced the vision 2030 project -- a reform intended to strengthen the economy. saudi arabia was to become a strategic hub between the middle east and the rest of the world and align itself more closely with the international community. that also entailed a cultural shift, including integrating women into the workforce and granting them more personal freedoms. but music, dj's and parties all existed before vision 2030. solskin: the underground scene was very intimate; it was in people's houses. things are kind of literally

hidden, because it had to be, because if you had speakers in your trunk you could be arrested. what are you doing with these? reporter: promoting the music industry is also part of the vision 2030 strategy. solskin: suddenly now it's just, "here is more opportunity, here is funding, here is education," because we as a society, we decided, governmental at least, we decided that art in particular is something to be invested in. reporter: dorar was still in school when the country began to change. drorar: it was a very fast paced change. in 2016 we weren't able to drive, and then 2017 i see my classmates driving themselves to their classes. and just having this freedom to go out for lunch. reporter: now, just a few years later, she's looking forward to her set tonight. and she'll also be paid for it. drorar: this change opened up so many doors not just for me to be in

the music industry but for me to discover myself and discover, you know, the community that i relate to. and obviously it is very empowering that i can make money out of this now. it's something that i want to tell my children, my grandchildren later. reporter: but are these new freedoms accessible to all saudi women? officially, women are no longer forced to wear headscarves, face coverings, or the long robe known as the abaya. the female employment rate has doubled and many rules concerning male guardianship have been eliminated. and yet, the reforms are contradictory. people who raise their voice to demand equal rights for women are liable to be locked up or silenced. more than two-thirds of saudi arabia's population is under the age of 30, and young people are embracing new entertainment experiences. like the soundstorm festival, a 3-day electronic music event that features international and local artists and draws a crowd

of about 200,000 each day. >> i couldn't imagine at all feeling this, coming to such a place. like 5 years ago here in riyadh, such a thing won't happen. i really like the freedom here. everyone is encouraged to be themselves. they can express themselves through fashion, makeup and nothing will be judged. reporter: saudi arabia is no longer as closed as it used to be. and while the mindset of the general public may not be changing as fast as the growing music industry, the opportunities that have arisen, have already changed lives. at least for solskin and dorar. their set is tonight. ♪ solskin: i don't know how you would define a saudi woman. but i amretty surehe looks like me, s looks like dorar, and others with the abaya and the niqab that is also a

typical saudi woman. we are all of that and everything in between. i know that we are resilient, that we can find a way. so in that sense i'd be honored to call myself a saudi woman. drorar: later i wanna be producing, maybe open up a club somewhere. i want to be playing music and seeing people in front of me having a good time and you know flowing with the music. that's basically my dream. ♪ host: this week our global living room is in indonesia. ♪

>> welcome to my house in baduy village, lebak banten. please, come in. [rooster crowing] we call this room "imah." we use it to eat with the family. sometimes if there are guests, they will sleep and eat together here. the stove is called "hawu," where my wife cooks in the morning, afternoon, and evening. we cook using firewood. we store our rice seeds in this case. we'll be planting them next month. everything is prepared.

here, have a look. this is a relic of my ancestors. we can't sell this se'eng. my father inherited it from his parents. this is my photo. this is my wife, sarinah, and this is my child. this is a photo of my father, mr. caikin. this is my mother. there are my sons. one of them is named sadiman, and the other is cesih. thank you for visiting my home.

bye! ♪ host: and that's all from us at "global 3000" this week. write to us at global3000@dw.com.

berlin. a meeting of more than 50 countries under latest plans to help ukraine against russia. the u.s. is hosting its -- in its german base. ukraine will arrive by this fall. ukrainian troops will be training inside germany. as ramadan ends, a truce begins in sudan. witnesses say there is no let up in the fighting. more than 400 people have been killed as the army battles paramilitary