Miraa or otherwise Khat farmers, traders and consumers are very sad right about now after a January 5th 2013 ban on Kenyan miraa by the Netherlands.  The Netherlands Secretary of State for Health, Welfare and Sports has listed the good crop as a drug, thus directing traders to stop stocking miraa at Schipol Airport in Amsterdam. The ban is already being felt, as the Royal Dutch Airlines (KLM) has stopped airlifting miraa to Holland.

Khat Money

Being the huge foreign exchange earner its is for the country, Khat export ban will definitely hurt many as the sub-sector is worth an estimated KES 1.6 billion annually.  A USAID survey shows that Miraa exports earned Kenya KES 16.5 billion in the last five years, making it the top export fresh product destined for Africa. The survey says the value of miraa (khat) exports has been growing at an average of 9.7% annually and accounted for 54.2% of the fresh produce export from Kenya to other African states.

Miraa is legally grown in Kenya and it grows in three regions. These are; Kerio Valley in the Rift Valley Province, and Embu and Nyambene hills in Eastern Province. According to Kenya Miraa dot Com, the best quality twigs come from Nyambene Hills.

Being a legal crop here, Kenyans constitutionally chew on various types of miraa namely alele, kangeta, asili and giza. Mogoka, the soft miraa leaves are also sold seperately as second a second grade product. A “kilo” of export quality dents go for upwards of KES 1, 000, at least in Eastleigh, Nairobi, while Mogoka goes for as little as KES 20.

Already, politicians are playing politics on this ban, with some installing false hope to farmers just in poor efforts to 'borrow' votes. However, some serious foolproof negotiations to lift the ban will go a long  way to keep this crop in business.