During the day, Wajir looks ordinary if not laid back. The scorching sun confines people indoors. The surrounding is dusty and a handful of people are on the gravelly meandering streets. A closer look though reveals a booming business activity - miraa (Khat) buying and selling. Khat has overtaken many as a major income generating commodity.
'Khat' is a popular stimulant chewed ...
During the day, Wajir looks ordinary if not laid back. The scorching sun confines people indoors. The surrounding is dusty and a handful of people are on the gravelly meandering streets. A closer look though reveals a booming business activity - miraa (Khat) buying and selling. Khat has overtaken many as a major income generating commodity.
'Khat' is a popular stimulant chewed across east Africa. It is crossing cultural divides and becoming a drug of choice for an increasing number of young people worldwide especially in Europe. The khat plant, Catha edulis , has been chewed by east Africans for hundreds of years and plays a large part in the social lives of both men and women. It is banned across America, Canada and most of Europe, but remains legal in Britain.
For many, miraa elicits blessings and tribulations in equal measure.
Miraa has a startling negative consequence on individual’s social behaviour. Many families in Northern Kenya have been estranged while health of others affected as a result of addiction to this leafy twigs. According to statistics from the local Khadhi’s court the rate of divorce is worrying.
Cause of divorce
“No single day passes without a divorce case being heard at the court,” said Sheikh Mohamed, the local Khadhi.
Users may feel depressive mood, petulance, loss of appetite, and difficulty in sleeping at the end of a Khat session. Dried khat leaves can be brewed in tea or cooked and added to food. After ingesting khat, the user experiences an immediate increase in blood pressure and heart rate. The effects of the drug generally begin to subside between 90 minutes and three hours after ingestion; however, they can last up to 24 hours. Such effects have crept into families leading to quarrels and domestic violence.
The region’s dismal performance in national examinations is partly attributed to the excessive use of the ‘Somali tea’ as many school children fall into the Khat ditch.
“Some students even munch during school hours to avoid being sleepy” claimed Ahmed Ugas, a student of a local secondary school.
A closer look at 2010 Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) final results, students from Northern Kenya performed poorly as compared to other regions in the country.
“Brilliant children end up being Miraa addicts while still in school, graduating with unimpressive scores,” stated Adan Kassim, the principal of Furaha Secondary school.
“Khat contains the alkaloid called cathinone, an amphetamine-like stimulant which is said to cause excitement, loss of appetite and euphoria,” states the website of the National Campaign against Drug Abuse (NACADA) in Kenya.
khat trade in Somalia Photo Richard Lough Credit: World Vision Report
Mental dependence
In 1980 the World Health Organization classified the ‘African salad’ as a drug that can produce mild to moderate mental dependence. The plant which is mainly produced in Meru and Maua Counties in Eastern provinces of Kenya has a huge market in the Horn of Africa.
Tones of Miraa are daily exported abroad largely to Somalia and neighbouring countries and generates billions of dollars in profits. It is also a lucrative cargo for international airlines companies that transport it to different destinations around the world.
However, little is known of what is viewed as major cash-crop despite its continued consumption by millions of people in the Horn of Africa and other European countries. Its mild narcotic effects are however, a common knowledge.
In Eastern province of Kenya, Khat is potentially rewarding cash crop. The employment opportunity created through the cultivation of Khat is very high in that large numbers of people are involved in its different stages of preparation; growing, harvesting, sorting, packing, transporting, loading and unloading the commodity.
“Khat is our only source of livelihood,” noted Sahara Garore a miraa vendor in Wajir town.
“We use it to pay school fees, feed our families and pay medical bills,” she continued.
Socially too, Khat has considerable communal benefits. It is served to welcome and entertain guests, weddings and during election campaigns to lure voters.
Miraa has also earned the wrath of religious leaders who condemn it as a social and religious evil.
