For Yemenis, the mild narcotic qat is as much a part of the social fabric as an after-dinner drink in the West and, as with brandies, connoisseurs want the best varieties. But the trees that produce the most sought-after leaves now lie in a war zone.
Mohammed Ahmed Ghanem runs a stall selling qat in the Yemeni capital.
Prices for an afternoon’s worth of the stimulant leaves can run anywhere between US$2 and US$100 depending on quality.
PHOTO: AFP
But the very best, known as Shami, is no longer available, Ghanem acknowledges ruefully.
The escalation since August of the Yemeni government’s conflict with Shiite rebels in the mountains of the far north mean that growers can no longer get their produce to market in Sanaa.
Shami is one of a number of varieties of qat cultivated with a view to satisfying the leisured elite of what is one of the world’s poorest countries.
“If I didn’t use qat, I’d be cut off from all my friends and relatives,” one well-to-do user said as he lounged on cushions in a Sanaa salon, his cheeks bulging with a wadful of leaves.
Qat is legal in Yemen, but like many better-off users he did not want his name used in print.
In neighboring Saudi Arabia, as in the US and some European countries, the drug is banned. And even in Yemen, the authorities have tried — with limited success — to restrict its use in government offices.
“I know all about the economic and social costs but I can’t live without it,” the user said.
Every day, he knocks off work around noon to buy his day’s supply. It is the bitter juice of the leaves that users extract through prolonged mastication, so it is important that they be as fresh as possible.
He then changes out of his Western-style suit into traditional Yemeni cloak, belt and dagger and heads down to the salon.
“It’s the best moment of the day,” he said.
For Yemeni men, the qat session is an opportunity to cement social ties, to debate issues of the day, to put the world to right. But increasing numbers of women and teenagers indulge in the habit too.
Sales of qat in Yemen are estimated to run to US$800 million a year, a huge sum in a country with GDP per head of less than US$1,000.
Qat can earn farmers three times the revenue of any other crop but irrigating it takes a huge toll on the country’s aquifers, with 85 percent of the country’s wells used for qat cultivation.
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