The Ministry of Agriculture and local authorities in Sana’a governorate’s Manakhah area started last week a campaign to root out qat trees from the farmers’ fields and replacing them with almond and coffee trees.
This move seeks to reduce the volume of lands planted with qat trees and replacing them with cash crops like coffee and food crops like corn, wheat and beans. It will also help reduce water depletion and achieve food security.
According to the Minister of Agriculture and Irrigation Mansour Al-Hushabi, this move is the beginning for new initiatives aiming to reduce qat plantation and excessive water consumption and to expand the plantation of food crops.
Al-Hushabi added that his ministry is keen about providing support for farmers and encouraging them to adopt modern irrigation system as well as almond and coffee seedlings at a very low price.
Qat and Water
Water, Environment and Rural Development Officer at World Bank Office in Yemen, Naji Abu Hatem pointed out that planting qat trees threatens the country’s food production and water reservoirs.
Abu Hatem praised the recent tendencies as to rooting out qat trees and promoting the plantation of cash and food crops.
In this regard, several studies blame qat for the quick depletion of some water basins, especially in Sana’a, Amran, Taiz and some parts of Ibb and Dhamar.
About 90 percent of Yemen’s underground water reservoirs, according to experts, are pumped for qat plantation and 5 percent is used for irrigating fruit, vegetables and other crops; the remaining 5 percent is pumped for human uses.
Past Experiences
Attempts to root out qat trees dates back to early 1970s when the Former Prime Minister Muhsen Al-Aini started a campaign to eliminate qat trees from Yemen; however, his efforts never went beyond his homeland located in Bani Bahlol’s Al-Hamami area in Sana’a governorate.
There have been also other efforts to root qat trees here and there, but most of these efforts were not successful.
Since Yemen’s reunification in 1990, there have been several efforts and campaigns, whether by the government or local society organizations, to reduce qat plantation through raising awareness.
Young people have worked to establish civil society organizations concerned with warning young generations, men and women against chewing qat. The established organizations focused qat-related problems like underground water depletion in most provinces, spread of diseases like cancer due to the abuse of chemical fertilizers and pesticides.
Al-Afif Cultural Foundation was among the first civil society organizations to work in awareness-raising fields and it established a specialized society for combating qat-related problems.
Other organizations worked in some other provinces and tried to raise the awareness among citizens in general and young generations in particular; however, their efforts were not that much successful.
Early this year, some farmers in Ma’aber’s Wasetah Village in Mareb started illuminating qat trees and replaced them with food crops like wheat and corn, vegetables. The village is located in Gahran’s valley, which is considered to be Yemen’s food basket.
Governor of Dhamar Yahya Al-Amri announced then that qat trees were illuminated from about one hectare and assured that the local authority will provide facilities and incentives to all farmers who root out qat trees from their farms.
Qat Statistics
Statistics indicate that there are something between 300-500 million qat trees planted in Yemen’s different valleys, mountains, plains, etc. Out of 21 Yemeni governorates, qat is planted in 14 governorates.
During 1970s, qat trees were planted in 8,000 hectares, now it occupies over 130,000 hectares – something equal to about 10 percent of the country’s total cultivated area.
More and more men, women, young people and children are joining the list of qat-addicts and the country’s gross domestic product qat, according to 2006 estimations, was YR 200 billion.
Laws about qat
There were attempts by the government to regulate qat consumption and plantation, but they were not successful. In 2005, the government prohibited chewing qat inside government institutions and military and security camps.
This resolution was applied for few months and later everything returned to their past situation, especially when military and security personnel left their camps and went to chew qat in cafes and motels.
Further, Former Minister of Health and Head of Health and Population Committee at Parliament Dr. Najeeb Ghanem presented a law draft to parliament on qat and it was approved by 68 MPs. It seeks to unite the official and popular efforts to reduce qat chewing and protect children and young generations against qat-chewing risks.
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