Editing Khat (section)

==Society and culture==

===Cultivation===
[[File:Khat fields in western yemen.jpg|thumb|Khat cultivation in western Yemen near [[At Tawilah]]]]
Khat has been grown for use as a stimulant for centuries in the [[Horn of Africa]] and the [[Arabian peninsula]]. There, chewing khat predates the use of [[coffee]] and is used in a similar social context. Its fresh leaves and tops are chewed or, less frequently, dried and consumed as tea, to achieve a state of euphoria and stimulation. The leaves or the soft part of the stem can be chewed with either chewing gum or fried peanuts to make it easier to chew.

In [[Uganda]], it is grown in the central region, especially in [[Kasenge]] ([[Wakiso]]), [[Butambala District]], [[Mabira Forest]], and in some parts of the western region of the country.<ref name="Kciy"/> In [[Kenya]], it is grown in [[Meru County]] and [[Embu County]].

One reason for the widespread cultivation of khat in Yemen is the high income that it provides for farmers. Some studies done in 2001 estimated that the income from cultivating khat was about 2.5&nbsp;million [[Yemeni rial]]s per hectare, while fruits brought only 0.57&nbsp;million rials per hectare. Between 1970 and 2000, the area on which khat was cultivated was estimated to have grown from 8,000 to 103,000 hectares.<ref name="encyemen">{{Cite encyclopedia|encyclopedia=The Encyclopedia of Yemen |edition=2nd |publisher=Alafif Cultural Foundation |pages=2309–14 |year=2003 |language=ar}}{{full citation needed|date=September 2013}}<!-- Title of entry, original/transliterated titles of the book, and ISBN, please. --></ref> In 2000, according to a [[World Bank]] estimate, khat accounted for 30% of Yemen's economy.<ref name="ec" />

===Uses===
Although the practice of khat-chewing is still primarily restricted to its original area of cultivation in the [[Red Sea]] area,<ref name="Kciy"/> the khat plant is native to the whole of the eastern side of Africa from Kenya southwards to [[Tanzania]], [[Malawi]], [[Zambia]], [[Zimbabwe]], where it grows on rocky outcrops and around the fringes of woodlands. In southern Africa the shrub's range is scattered but still grows in the [[KwaZulu-Natal]], [[Eastern Cape]], [[Western Cape]] and [[Mpumalanga]] provinces of [[South Africa]], in addition to [[Eswatini]] and [[Mozambique]].<ref name="Pzce">{{cite web |title=Catha edulis |url=http://www.plantzafrica.com/plantcd/cathedulis.htm |publisher=PlantZAfrica.com |access-date=15 January 2014 |archive-date=22 July 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130722075019/http://www.plantzafrica.com/plantcd/cathedulis.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Traditionally, khat is used as a socialising drug as in Yemen, where khat-chewing is predominantly a male habit combined with conversation, hookah smoking, and tea drinking.<ref name="Sanaa">{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspondent/6530453.stm |title=Yemen's khat habit soaks up water |first=Alex |last=Kirby |newspaper=BBC News |date=7 April 2007 |access-date=26 January 2014}}</ref> Khat is so popular in Yemen that its cultivation consumes much of the country's agricultural resources. An estimated 40% of [[Water supply and sanitation in Yemen|Yemen's water supply]] goes towards irrigating it,<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://news.sky.com/story/752130/yemen-legal-high-is-fueling-extremism |title=Yemen: Legal High Is 'Fueling Extremism' |first=Tim |last=Marshall |newspaper=[[Sky News]] |date=15 January 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304070003/https://news.sky.com/story/752130/yemen-legal-high-is-fueling-extremism |archive-date=2016-03-04 |access-date=1 October 2022}}</ref> with production increasing by about 10% to 15% every year. One "daily bag" of khat requires an estimated {{convert|500|L|gal}} of water to produce.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2011/04/11/110411fa_fact_filkins?currentPage=all |title=After the Uprising |first=Dexter |last=Filkins |newspaper=[[The New Yorker]] |date=11 April 2011 |access-date=5 April 2011}}</ref> Water consumption is high and [[groundwater]] levels in the [[Sana'a]] basin are diminishing, so government officials have proposed relocating large portions of the population of the city to the Red Sea coastal areas.<ref name="Sanaa" />

In countries outside the core area of growth and consumption, khat is sometimes chewed at parties or social functions. It may also be used by farmers and labourers for reducing physical fatigue or hunger, and by drivers and students for improving attention.

More recently, in 2019, reports indicate that [[child soldiers in Yemen]] have been chewing khat in order to remain alert on the battlefield.<ref>{{Cite news | url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/yemen-crisis-meet-the-child-soldiers-who-have-forsaken-books-for-kalashnikovs-10187235.html |title = Yemen crisis: Meet the child soldiers who have forsaken books for|work = [[The Independent]]|date = 19 April 2015}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/22/world/middleeast/yemen-saudi-arabia-child-soldiers.html |title = For Yemen Child Soldiers, a Refuge Mixes Play with Saudi Propaganda|newspaper = The New York Times|date = 22 February 2019|last1 = Kirkpatrick|first1 = David D.}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.economist.com/middle-east-and-africa/2018/01/04/the-drug-that-is-starving-yemen |title=The drug that is starving Yemen |date=4 January 2018 |magazine=[[The Economist]] |access-date=1 October 2022}}</ref>

===Distribution===
[[File:Qat_Dealers_(2285813285).jpg|thumb|Qat dealers]]

In recent years, improved roads, off-road motor vehicles, and air transportation have increased the global distribution of this perishable commodity and, as a result, the plant has been found in places such as Australia, [[Netherlands]], Canada, the [[United Kingdom]], the [[Levant]], [[Rome (Italy)]], New Zealand<ref name="NZ_Herald_10415187">{{cite news|url=https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/concerns-over-african-methamphetamine-like-drug-in-hamilton/AKRI7CPLWSYLDJZRVKR77AW6AA/ |title=Concerns over African methamphetamine-like drug in Hamilton |first=O'Rourke |last=Simon |date=13 December 2006 |newspaper=[[The New Zealand Herald]] |access-date=12 April 2025}}</ref> and the United States. In the US, freshly-packed khat leaves are sold in the African and Middle Eastern markets of [[Boston]], [[Dallas]], [[Los Angeles]], and [[New York City]], where the demand is highest.<ref>Zecharia Madar, "The Khat Phenomenon in Yemen and the Dangers it Poses", in: ''Ascending the Palm Tree – An Anthology of the Yemenite Jewish Heritage'', Rachel Yedid & Danny Bar-Maoz (ed.), E'ele BeTamar: Rehovot 2018, p. 144 {{OCLC|1041776317}}</ref>