Editing Khat (section)

===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>