Kenya to resume khat exports to Somalia in 2 weeks

By Andrew Wasike

NAIROBI, Kenya (AA) – In the next two weeks, Kenya will be able to resume its khat (locally known as miraa) exports to Somalia after a ban -- imposed in 2016 by the previous Somali government -- is lifted.

Kenya’s Agriculture Minister Peter Munya told reporters on Friday that the decision was reached during talks after the inauguration of Somalia's new President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud on Thursday.

“Negotiations were completed. What is remaining is just the paperwork so that the business resumes. Trading of miraa and other products will resume in the Somali market within two weeks,” Munya said.

The former government in Somalia headed by President Mohamed Farmaajo banned Kenyan khat imports in 2016, lifted the ban for a few months in 2020, and enforced the ban again in the same year.

According to the Nyambene Miraa Trade Association, the largest organization of khat crop farmers, dealers, transporters, traders, and consumers, following the ban on khat from Kenya, farmers were locked out of the lucrative market that used to contribute millions of Kenyan shillings to the Kenyan economy daily.

Mostly used in northeast Africa and the Arabian Peninsula, and by expatriate communities from these regions, khat is a leafy green plant containing two main stimulant drugs which speed up the mind and body.

Thousands of farmers were left without a market for their khat, especially in central Kenya, with the ban on export. They were forced to sell their produce locally at low prices. Thousands of people dealing in khat, including packers, transporters and traders, lost their jobs due to the ban.

According to the Central Bank of Kenya, the value of khat exports from Kenya decreased by 3.24 billion Kenya shillings ($27.7 million) to 11.83 billion Kenya shillings ($101 million) in 2019.

In 2021, Kenya’s Finance Ministry said that the export of miraa contributed only 1.3 billion Kenya shillings ($11 million) in tax to the government.

Farmers in Kenya had been hit hard in 2014 when the UK, one of the world’s largest khat importers then due to its Somali diaspora, banned the plant.

The new Kenya-Somalia agreement will see Somalia selling its fish stocks in the Kenyan market, Munya said.