Men carrying large green bundles on their shoulders jostle against each other as they walk down the narrow aisles packed with tin-roofed shacks selling khat and other products. Between 2019 and 2022, khat represented around 10 percent of national exports, according to figures from Ethiopia's Central Bank. The Harar region and the neighbouring areas of East Hararghe and West Hararghe are now home to half of Ethiopia's khat farms, spread across some 281,000 hectares (over 690,000 acres). Youssouf Mume has long since cut down his mango trees and replaced his peanut, sorghum, corn and coffee plants with khat. "In a good year, we can make 150,000 birr (around $2,600)," selling some 200 kilos of khat, she says -- a significant sum in Ethiopia.

Source: Ethiopian News May 14, 2024 10:06 UTC