A Historical Overview of Khat Production in Ethiopia

Medhanit Tamirat

doi:doi:10.11648/j.ss.20200902.12

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A Historical Overview of Khat Production in Ethiopia

Medhanit Tamirat

Published in Social Sciences (Volume 9, Issue 2)

Received: 8 October 2019 Accepted: 27 February 2020 Published: 23 March 2020

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Abstract

This paper tries to study the history of Khat production and expansion in Ethiopia. Khat has been consumed in Ethiopia for long period of time. Some sources moreover, mention Ethiopia as the origin of Khat production and the country that takes the lion share of Khat export to the rest of the world currently. The above mentioned notion has triggered the researcher to look at the history of this herbal and its production, consumption and contemporary use in Ethiopia. Different qualitative data collection techniques have been employed to get in to the bottom of the abovementioned topic. Here the researcher has conducted interview with elders who are believed to narrate the history of Khat, farmers who primary production has been Khat and consumers who use to consume Khat for long period of time. Moreover, secondary source of data like books, articles and term papers are also used to grasp the necessary information. After extensive data collection scheme and analysis, the researcher has reached into a conclusion that ancient Ethiopian rulers have been presented Khat as a gift for leaders of the south Arabia and this led the researcher to conclude that Ethiopia is one of the origin places of Khat if not the only country. Ethiopia is still the biggest Khat producing country with immense varieties that are mentioned inside this paper. Ethiopia could also be mentioned as the country where Khat is consumed immensely.

Published in	Social Sciences (Volume 9, Issue 2)
DOI	10.11648/j.ss.20200902.12
Page(s)	49-55
Creative Commons	This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright	Copyright © The Author(s), 2020. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Khat, Khat Production, Khat Consumption and Khat Varieties

References

[1]	P. J. Greenwa, (1947), Khat, The East African Agricultural Journal, 13: 2, 98-102, DOI: 10.1080/03670074.1947.11664588.
[2]	TayeHailuFeyisa and Jens B. Aune, (2003), Khat Expansion in the Ethiopian Highlands: Effects on the Farming System in Habro District, Mountain Research and Development, Vol. 23, No. 2, pp. 185-189.
[3]	Carsten Niebuhr, Robert Heron, (2011), Travels Through Arabia and Other Countries in the East, Volume 1 Paperback – July 11, 2011.
[4]	Adugna, F., Jira, C., and Molla, T. (1994) ‘Khat Chewing among Agaro Secondary-School Students, Agaro, Southwestern Ethiopia’, Ethiopian Medical Journal, 32 (3), pp 161–166.
[5]	Admase, Yerase,(2017), The Khat Conundrum in Ethiopia: Socio Economic impact and policy Direction, Forum for Social Studies (October 31, 2017), Addis Ababa.
[6]	Bally, P. R. O., (1945), Catha edulis. East African medical journal, 22: 2-4.
[7]	HizqielGebisa, (1997), consumption, Contraband and Commodification: A history of Khat in Hararghe, Ethiopia e. 1930-1991, A PhD Dissertation.
[8]	Getachew M., (1996), The Cultivation of and Use of Khat Among the Oromo of Harar with Particular Reference to Haromaya Woreda. Addis Ababa, Ethiopia: Addis Ababa University.
[9]	Omar, Asha and Besseling, Renee, (2008), Khat-A drug of Growing Abuse, BlomsTryckeri AB.
[10]	Beke, T. Charles, (1843), On the Countries South of Abyssinia, Journal of the Royal Geographical Society, London, 23rd November.
[11]	John Spencer Trimingham, (1952), Islam in Ethiopia, Barnes & Noble, London, p228.
[12]	AmareGetahun and A. D. Krikorian, (1973)”Khat: Coffee rival from Harar, Ethiopia: Botany. Cultivation and Use” Economic Botany, 27 (), p 354.
[13]	Peters, D. W. A., (1952), Khat: its history, botany, chemistry and toxicology. The pharmaceutical journal, 169: 17-18.
[14]	Gebissa, E. (2004) Leaf of Allah: Khat and Agricultural Transformation in Harage, Ethiopia 1875–1991. Oxford: James Currey Publishers.
[15]	Gebissa, E. (2008) ‘Scourge of life or an economic lifeline? Public discourses on khat (Catha edulis) in Ethiopia’, Substance Use & Misuse, 43 (6), pp 784–802.
[16]	Getahun, A., andA. D. Krikorian, (1973), Chat: coffee's rival from Harar, Ethiopia. I. Botany, cultivation and use. Economic botany, 27: 353-377.

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APA Style

Medhanit Tamirat. (2020). A Historical Overview of Khat Production in Ethiopia. Social Sciences, 9(2), 49-55. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ss.20200902.12

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ACS Style

Medhanit Tamirat. A Historical Overview of Khat Production in Ethiopia. Soc. Sci. 2020, 9(2), 49-55. doi: 10.11648/j.ss.20200902.12

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Medhanit Tamirat. A Historical Overview of Khat Production in Ethiopia. Soc Sci. 2020;9(2):49-55. doi: 10.11648/j.ss.20200902.12

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@article{10.11648/j.ss.20200902.12,
  author = {Medhanit Tamirat},
  title = {A Historical Overview of Khat Production in Ethiopia},
  journal = {Social Sciences},
  volume = {9},
  number = {2},
  pages = {49-55},
  doi = {10.11648/j.ss.20200902.12},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ss.20200902.12},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ss.20200902.12},
  abstract = {This paper tries to study the history of Khat production and expansion in Ethiopia. Khat has been consumed in Ethiopia for long period of time. Some sources moreover, mention Ethiopia as the origin of Khat production and the country that takes the lion share of Khat export to the rest of the world currently. The above mentioned notion has triggered the researcher to look at the history of this herbal and its production, consumption and contemporary use in Ethiopia. Different qualitative data collection techniques have been employed to get in to the bottom of the abovementioned topic. Here the researcher has conducted interview with elders who are believed to narrate the history of Khat, farmers who primary production has been Khat and consumers who use to consume Khat for long period of time. Moreover, secondary source of data like books, articles and term papers are also used to grasp the necessary information. After extensive data collection scheme and analysis, the researcher has reached into a conclusion that ancient Ethiopian rulers have been presented Khat as a gift for leaders of the south Arabia and this led the researcher to conclude that Ethiopia is one of the origin places of Khat if not the only country. Ethiopia is still the biggest Khat producing country with immense varieties that are mentioned inside this paper. Ethiopia could also be mentioned as the country where Khat is consumed immensely.},
 year = {2020}
}

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TY - JOUR
T1 - A Historical Overview of Khat Production in Ethiopia
AU - Medhanit Tamirat
Y1 - 2020/03/23
PY - 2020
N1 - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ss.20200902.12
DO - 10.11648/j.ss.20200902.12
T2 - Social Sciences
JF - Social Sciences
JO - Social Sciences
SP - 49
EP - 55
PB - Science Publishing Group
SN - 2326-988X
UR - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ss.20200902.12
AB - This paper tries to study the history of Khat production and expansion in Ethiopia. Khat has been consumed in Ethiopia for long period of time. Some sources moreover, mention Ethiopia as the origin of Khat production and the country that takes the lion share of Khat export to the rest of the world currently. The above mentioned notion has triggered the researcher to look at the history of this herbal and its production, consumption and contemporary use in Ethiopia. Different qualitative data collection techniques have been employed to get in to the bottom of the abovementioned topic. Here the researcher has conducted interview with elders who are believed to narrate the history of Khat, farmers who primary production has been Khat and consumers who use to consume Khat for long period of time. Moreover, secondary source of data like books, articles and term papers are also used to grasp the necessary information. After extensive data collection scheme and analysis, the researcher has reached into a conclusion that ancient Ethiopian rulers have been presented Khat as a gift for leaders of the south Arabia and this led the researcher to conclude that Ethiopia is one of the origin places of Khat if not the only country. Ethiopia is still the biggest Khat producing country with immense varieties that are mentioned inside this paper. Ethiopia could also be mentioned as the country where Khat is consumed immensely.
VL - 9
IS - 2
ER -

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Author Information

Medhanit Tamirat

Department of Archaeology and Heritage Management, Wolaytta Sodo University, Sodo, Ethiopia

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Plain Text BibTeX RIS

APA Style

Medhanit Tamirat. (2020). A Historical Overview of Khat Production in Ethiopia. Social Sciences, 9(2), 49-55. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ss.20200902.12

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ACS Style

Medhanit Tamirat. A Historical Overview of Khat Production in Ethiopia. Soc. Sci. 2020, 9(2), 49-55. doi: 10.11648/j.ss.20200902.12

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AMA Style

Medhanit Tamirat. A Historical Overview of Khat Production in Ethiopia. Soc Sci. 2020;9(2):49-55. doi: 10.11648/j.ss.20200902.12

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@article{10.11648/j.ss.20200902.12,
  author = {Medhanit Tamirat},
  title = {A Historical Overview of Khat Production in Ethiopia},
  journal = {Social Sciences},
  volume = {9},
  number = {2},
  pages = {49-55},
  doi = {10.11648/j.ss.20200902.12},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ss.20200902.12},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ss.20200902.12},
  abstract = {This paper tries to study the history of Khat production and expansion in Ethiopia. Khat has been consumed in Ethiopia for long period of time. Some sources moreover, mention Ethiopia as the origin of Khat production and the country that takes the lion share of Khat export to the rest of the world currently. The above mentioned notion has triggered the researcher to look at the history of this herbal and its production, consumption and contemporary use in Ethiopia. Different qualitative data collection techniques have been employed to get in to the bottom of the abovementioned topic. Here the researcher has conducted interview with elders who are believed to narrate the history of Khat, farmers who primary production has been Khat and consumers who use to consume Khat for long period of time. Moreover, secondary source of data like books, articles and term papers are also used to grasp the necessary information. After extensive data collection scheme and analysis, the researcher has reached into a conclusion that ancient Ethiopian rulers have been presented Khat as a gift for leaders of the south Arabia and this led the researcher to conclude that Ethiopia is one of the origin places of Khat if not the only country. Ethiopia is still the biggest Khat producing country with immense varieties that are mentioned inside this paper. Ethiopia could also be mentioned as the country where Khat is consumed immensely.},
 year = {2020}
}

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