Advertisement

Economic disaster looms in Meru as Britain moves to ban khat imports

Saturday July 27 2013
miraa

Farmers at Laare in Ntonyiri, Meru County, sort khat to be transported to Nairobi. Uncertain future looms after Britain banned imports of the stimulant crop to its market. Photo/FILE

When most urban centres in Kenya are expanding and attracting hordes of investors, the opposite is happening in Maua Town, Meru County, about 280 kilometres northeast of the capital Nairobi.

Investors are preparing to leave. Others have scaled down their investments.

The town, christened the “global headquarters” of the trade in khat, faces an uncertain future after Britain banned imports of the stimulant crop to its market.

It is gloom and doom in a town whose topography makes one feel like being at the lowest point of the world after a steep descent on the 50km northward drive from Meru Town, the county headquarters.

That feeling is being reinforced by the ban, that could just break the economy of this region and force a major shift to alternative economic livelihood.

Several investors have abandoned developing their properties because of the fear that the inflow of money could dry up and theirs will become “ghost” buildings unless, of course, they lease them out at rock-bottom prices.

Advertisement

Kirimi Mbogo, a lawyer practicing in Maua and the main partner at Mbogo and Muriuki Advocates, claims to have put on hold a $500,000 property development project as he awaits the final decision by the British.

“I have received all the financing to develop the property into apartments but I am waiting to see if the ban succeeds,” Mr Mr Mbogo said. “If that happens, then I will not proceed.

“Without the export income from khat, business here will be drastically reduced.”

And Mr Mbogo should know: In four years since he set up shop in Maua, he has expanded his law firm from two to 10 staff members.

Despite being a small town that one can walk across in 10 minutes, Maua supports a whopping 32 law firms. Most of the work for lawyers is from conveyancing, disputes and leasing of khat farms.

Like many traders here, 90 per cent of Mr Mbogo’s business is khat-related and he is categorical that if the ban comes to pass he will shift his business elsewhere and only maintain a token presence in Maua.

Applied brakes on business

James Marete, a wholesale trader, is also a worried man.

“I think at best we shall go from a scale of 10 to one in terms of our earnings,” Mr Marete said. “I have applied the brakes on expanding this business until the matter is resolved.

“The worst affected will be our direct customers, the khat farmers, because it is the only source of income for most of them.”

While khat is grown in several areas within Meru, the export quality variety, “Kangeta,” named after a local shopping centre, is only grown in Igembe, the area served by Maua Town. This type is preferred for export because it can retain its stimulant content 78 hours after harvesting — unlike the other types that do not remain succulent for more than 48 hours.

Khat, also variously known as miraa or mairungi, is a high-value stimulant crop with greenish leaves and short reddish-brown twigs that are plucked from the main branches of the khat tree when harvesting.

The leaves and the bark of the twigs are chewed to give the brain a stimulating effect. It is for this reason that Britain is banning the crop as it says its long-term use affects the health of the user.

Britain also alleges child labour in the khat business, saying it denies children a chance to go to school.

However, local leaders cite statistics compiled by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics under the Kenya Integrated Household Budget Survey (2005-2006), which show that school attendance in Meru compares favourably with other districts.

For instance, in Meru South District (now in Tharaka-Nithi County), primary school attendance was 90 per cent, compared with 83 per cent in Kakamega and 84 per cent in Kisumu.

They also rubbish an allegation of a higher disease burden in Meru because of consumption of khat, saying the data has annual per capita out-of-pocket spending on health in the region as $18 compared with $21.7 in Kisumu, $14.8 in Nyeri and $8.1 in Kajiado.

The data reveals that Meru is among the richest regions in Kenya. Meru Central emerged as the third richest district at the time of the survey with a poverty index of 23.2 per cent. In Meru North, the main khat-growing area, it was 31.2 per cent and Meru South 30.8. The national average was 47.5 per cent.

Alternative means of livelihood

Meru had the lowest average rate of absence from work due to sickness over 14 days, at 3.5 per cent, compared with 18.3 in Bomet, 29.2 in Kajiado, 15.1 in Kirinyaga and 25.8 in Makueni.

The alternative means of livelihood for local farmers — should the ban succeed – will be to supplement their income with another agricultural activity, said James Karani, a social worker in Maua. The area can support growing of tea and is well served by Kiegoi Tea Factory. The other option is bananas, which generally do well in the region.

The farmers will also need to shed some of the cultural attachments to khat. For instance, it is taboo to cut a khat stem — though the farmers would need to clear the land for other crops — and the twigs are central to ceremonies such as dowry negotiations.

Britain was the last khat market in Europe after the Netherlands and other European countries banned its sale in their territories. Khat is illegal in Tanzania, although it is still sold in the black market, while a negligible amount is exported to Uganda.

In the even of a British ban, Somalia would remain the only export market for khat.

The khat trade is mostly informal, meaning it is difficult to get the actual sales figures. Local farmers and traders however estimate that the crop harvested here generates about $6 million daily across the sales chain that stretches from farmers, brokers and transporters to exporters.

Local traders estimate that 3.6 tonnes of khat is exported every day to Britain, nearly all of it from Igembe. This fetches about $106,000 at the farm gate level but the value increases tenfold because of the high pricing in London and the advantage of currency exchange.

Another seven tonnes is taken to Somalia, fetching another $100,000, but the value multiplies exponentially because of higher pricing in the export market.

The khat that is sold locally is mainly grown in Ntonyiri area, northwest of Maua. This means a UK ban would directly affect mainly Igembe farmers.

The option is to divert the export variety to the local market. But farmers and traders say this would create a situation of near permanent oversupply and affect the price, which is the main leverage in khat business.

And it could be worse, considering that the traditional khat is now facing competition from a new, cheaper variety locally known as “muguka.”

In case of a British ban, one of the things farmers will hope for is the faster normalisation of the political situation in Somalia as the Somali community is one of the biggest clients of khat.

Somalis also control 70 per cent of the khat export trade, with the remainder being in the hands of members of the Ameru. The two communities have an equal grip on the national khat market.

The khat marketing chain is a simplified process. Farmers harvest the crop and deliver it to designated brokers, usually at the nearest shopping centre. The brokers then deliver the twigs to the distributors, who either export directly or deliver to Eastleigh Estate in Nairobi, from where vendors from different parts of the country get their supply.

In a town that bustles with activity for 24 hours to serve the “global” khat market, it is slowly dawning on the farmers and traders in Maua that life could soon be different.

“We are looking at a dead end for the local economy,” said Julius M’Ntokilunga Omolo, a khat farmer and transporter.

The desperation setting in is such that the local community is ready to volunteer their people to be used as guinea pigs for research by the British to ascertain that khat is not a narcotic as designated.

While just a few months ago a visitor seeking information on khat would be treated with suspicion, today visitors have free access to the farms as farmers have pinned their hopes on anything that they believe can stop the impending ban.

The men here literally walk with bowed heads as they stare at the possibility of their income being slashed with obvious consequences to their ego and social standing.

Less money for food

Women are anxious that if the ban happens there will be less money to buy food, forcing them to start cultivating food on the steeped ridges. The land is not even enough with a family having, on average, not more than three acres of land, most of which is under khat.

Nearly every family in Igembe is a net food buyer because growing food crops under the khat trees is not encouraged. Again, food crops will not do well because khat trees are often taller and have broader branches, blocking the sunlight needed for photosynthesis.

Nahason Kubai, an elderly man who has grown khat for more than 30 years, spends a minimum of $15 every day to buy food for his family of seven children. His three-acre parcel of land is exclusively used for the most expensive variety of khat, “Alele,” which is only consumed by people with high incomes.

Mr Kubai’s sole income is from the khat, which he inherited from his father, though he has since bought or leased land with khat crops.

Khat grows naturally. Some trees are as old as 300 years, according to local elders, and they still produce khat.

“It would take a minimum of 10 years from planting khat to harvesting it,” said Mr Kubai, adding that it takes about 20 years for the tree to start optimum production.

Advertisement