UN study against banning khat

The International Poverty Centre (IPC) in Brasilia, a think tank associated with the United Nations Development Programme, speaks out in a recent study against banning the drug khat, which is widely consumed across East Africa as well as in Yemen. The plant, the leaves of which have a narcotic effect, has become so important for farmers’ incomes in the main producing country, Ethiopia, that a strict ban would do considerable economic damage, the study says. Khat is now Ethiopia’s second most important export after coffee; the plant accounts for 15% of the total Ethiopian export revenue. In the past ten years, many Ethiopian farmers switched to growing khat after the slump of national and international prices for other crops such as coffee in the 1990s. According to the IPC study, khat is grown on 13% of all cultivated land in Ethiopia and contributes 30 to 50% of farmers’ total income. The authors call for regulation of the production, distribution and consumption of khat rather than a total ban. The evidence of khat consumption’s impact on health remains inconclusive. (ell)