Somaliland:Qat and its Multi furious Impact-Report

written by MGoth January 25, 2018

University of Hargeisa

Department of environmental science

Report : Qat and its multi furious impact

presented by :

Abdirasak Hassan ali

Shukri abdi yoonis

Najma ismael abdi

Warda naasir ibraahim lecturer : Ahmed ibrahim Awaleh

Hana ibraahim osman

Mustafe abdilahi abdiqadir

Contents

Acknowledgement………………………………………………………………1.0

Executive summery………………………………………………………………………..1.1

Introduction…………………………………………………………………….1.2

Internationally policy regulation of Qat…………………………………… .1.3

Objectives……………………………………………………………………….1.4

Impact of Qat…………………………………………………………………..1.5

Policy regulation of Qat………………………………………………………..1.6

Challenges obstacles the successing the process……………………………1.7

Conclusion………………………………………………………………………1.8

Recommendation………………………………………………………………1.9

Reference………………………………………………………………………1.10

1.0: Acknowledgement

We are gratefully acknowledging and thanking to mr Ahmed ibraahim awaleh for his courageous role for writing this report also we are expressing thanks for those who initiate writing publications involving environment as the writing of this report will not be possible without them apart from these our scenery gratitude is due to our team who appear coherent advices and suggestions in order for this paper to be completed :

Abdirasak Hassan ali hana ibrahim osman

Warda nasir ibrahim mustafe abdilahi abdiqadir

Shukri abdi yonis

Najma ismael abdi

;lastly we are expressing great full thank to our lecture mr Ahmed ibraahim Awaleh

Definition of terms

Wielding = means having

Psychotic = having characteristics of insane

Sympathomimatic= secretions secreted by the adrenal medulla in response to stress

Hypertension: a common dis order in which blood pressure remains abnormally high

Advocacy= active support of an idea

Key words

Qat, impact of Qat, Somaliland policy reduction of Qat, challenges obstacles the process

1.1: Executive summery

This paper is widely investigating the qat and its multifarious impact which has on the development , socio-economic level of the people and whole the country , the Somaliland population is estimated to be around 3.5 million who mainly depends on on livestock as a source of income in other word, it is accounted to be among the poorest countries in the continent but the truth is beyond this , thousands of dollars is exported daily from Somaliland to ethopia where the qat comes from. In the horn of africa khat, is an institution , wielding enormous economic impact as well as playing major social and cultural role in the societies , in Somaliland especially the capital you won’t find much qat –related dissent. ‘’ it brings people together , it facilitates discussions of issue and exchanging information’’ says local journalist despite this, qat has social , health , economic and environmental problems

1.2: Introduction

Qat also known [ khat, miraa] which is a green leaved plant [ cathaedulis] and belongs to the celastraceous family . it is dicotyledonous ever green flowering plant that grows in the equatorial climates mainly in the Arabian peninsula and the regions around the horn of africa such as ethopia , Kenya , Somalia, and also Yemen , this plant also grows to a lesser extent in Uganda Tanzania, Rwanda,zimababwi, Zaire, Angola , Malawi, and Mozambique. the qat is know by various names in different regions, it is called miraa in Kenya, qat in Somalia , or Chad in Yemen and ethopia.

Qat is slow growing shrub or tree that attains a height of 1-5m [3ft 3in-16ft5in], however it can reach height of up to 10 m[33ft] in equatorial areas. This plant usually grows in arid environment at a temperature range of 5–35c [41–95F] it has ever green leaves, which are 5-10cm long and 1-4 broad. the environment and climatic condition in which it is grown determine the chemical profile of Qat leave and to some extent its taste . for example in Yemen there are 44 types of qat cultivated in different geographic areas of the country ,normally Qat have an a stringent taste and an aromatic smell, which adds more palatable taste for its consuming . In the horn of Africa where the qat is native khat chewing has a history as social custom dating back thousands of years analogous to the use of cocacola leaves in south America . in Somaliland chewing qat is widely practiced habit ,practically every three peoples among folks who inhabit same area two of them practice the custom of chewing Qat . this in turn interrupted the country’s situation and created a lot of chaos problems , amongst economic problems ,introducing in appropriate habits , social problems , , health , and environmental problems

1.3: Internationally Policy regulation of drugs The world health organization [ WHO] classified it in 1980 as drug of abuse that can produce psychological dependence , although WHO organization doesn’t consider khat addiction to be seriously problematic, anyway it is a controlled substance in some countries such as Canada , Germany ,united state while its production, consumption, are legal in some countries ,including Djibouti, Kenya, Uganda , Ethiopia, and Somalia

1.4: Objectives

The aim of presenting this paper is to:

Identify the lasting solution around the issue of the use of Qat
Share the people side effect which results the prolonged use of Qat
Present the solutions to curb the use of chewing Qat
Inform service providers to the identified problem
Present the people , environmental health problems from resulted the use of chewing Qat
Develop an action plan by using negotiation authorities methods
Make a recommendation involving the minimization of Qat
Prove the challenges obstacles for the Reduction Qat

1.5: impacts of Qat

In the horn of africa khat, is an institution[i]n , wielding enormous economic impact as well as playing major social and cultural role in the societies , in Somaliland especially the capital you won’t find much qat –related dissent. ‘’ it brings people together , it facilitates discussions of issue and exchanging information’’ says local journalist despite this, Qat has a health ,socially , environmentally , and economical problems

Health impact

Health is one of the basic human needs , apart from shelter and feeding , but when humans came to the earth they spoil its nature and caused much destructions to its constituents such air atmosphere and everything evolving nature despite these, the prolonged practicing bad habits such as smoking , chewing Qat cause its consumers to acquire newly disease which were not known before among these are cardiovascular diseases , ,loss of appetite, diabete,melit, damage to the liver and kidney , the qat which is the only drug that is used widely in our country are responsible for the health problems that become paradox such as insane and psychotic. Here below are described common health problems which are seen in the Qat chewers

Effect of qat on human appetite and body weight: the appetite suppressant effects of chewing leaves of the Qat have been reported for several centuries , cathinone affect appetite centrally , by acting in the hypothalamus apart from its central effect , it enhances sympathomimatic activity leading to delay in gastric emptying in healthy volunteers khat decreased hunger and increased fullness , this was associated prolonged gastric emptying a high plasma level of the anorectine hormone ,leptin , has been found 4 hours after heavy khat chewing session [400g], this hormone may contribute to the decreased appetite and body weight

Khat and cardiovascular system: khat has a direct effect on the cardiovascular system due to the direct sympathomimetic activity of cathinone causing clear increase in heart rate and blood pressure in humans . according to a study by toennes and widler[1], significance increases in systolic and diastolic blood pressure persist for between 3 to 4 hours after the onset of qat chewing , similar findings were found by getahun , where the prevalence of hypertension was significantly higher among khat chewers [13.4%] than non-chewers [10.7%], the health problems of qat isn’t brief from the above mentioned but they are immense from this but the health problem of chewing qat remains to exist as the qat is legal across the country

Economic impact: the Somaliland population is estimated to be around 3.5 million people who mainly depends on livestock as a source of income in other word, it is accounted to be among the poorest countries in the continent but the truth is beyond this , thousands of dollars is exported daily from Somaliland to ethopia where the qat comes from ,’’ according to the customs department, the amount of qat that officially comes into the country on daily basis is between 55,000kg and 65000kg [55 and 65m/t], this amount is estimated between $ 300,000 and $ 330 daily-this means that every month the amount of foreign currency [hard cash ]that leaves Somaliland is estimated between $9 to $9.9 million in regarding this it means that every year an estimated amount of between $108 million and $ 120 million is spent on importing qat from ethopia , in addition leaving this huge amount of money from the counry caused the scarcity of foreign currency and this contributed from the inflations which present currently from the country this in turn will threaten the lives of lower classes who are likely to fail for obtaining daily food.

Social impact: Qat is termed as drug and drugs generally affects the behaves of societies who consumes in other word consumption of qat introduces bad behaviors among the society , it causes the increase of crimes , robbery and looting the innocent civilian properties despite this, chewing Qat accounts to be responsible for daily break off families in the consumed societies which in turn brings neglects to the childrens who are likely to acquire immoral behaves or to become violence who always run to result crimes among the societies which they are in. qat chewing introduced a lot of problem which we cant count them all in here however , the amongst include as follows :

Arguments: consumption of qat ,bring disputes among its chewers which may result a hostile from man and his wife from a manger to his staffs due to the tensions resulted from the qat chewing , according to the study made on 2014 ‘’ two or three family breaks on every week due to the arguments resulted from chewing qat

Violence: many people especially youths in our country becomes violently due to the searching of Qat , searching of it brings them to do illegal actions such crimes robbery which in turn brings them consequences that they don’t thank , apart from this , the social impact of Qat can be seen not only the major cities but in every aspect of the country

1.4: environmental impact of Qat

Prior before the fallen of central government of Somalia the environmental health situations , have been safely from any pollution or alteration from its nature system however , as the urbanized areas begun to increase , newly areas are demanded for residential purposes so the increase of urbanized areas coupled with in population caused the alteration of nature system in our environment apart from this many efforts have been carried aimed to curb the environmental problems around the world and especially in our country among these are passing legislative law of environmental policy in our country , regular awareness involving deforestations , waste disposal generated from the use of domestic locals such as the consumption of qat which is the most waste in generated by major cities in the country

despite this , the impact of Qat on the environment is touchable because it is what behind the deforestation that have been continue for the last two decades , spoiling the soil with the contaminations resulted from the charcoal consumption in the most of the capital city of Hargeisa in spite of these the main problems which the Qat has on environment is mentioned below:

Deforestation: Qat chewers especially those who live in the rural areas tend to cut trees and then sell them , in order to obtain qat , this in turn caused severe environmental problems , amongst erosion of land due to lack of cover as the trees is known to prevent soil erosion because its roots binds and hold the soil particles together , however immense of deforestations aimed for commercialization of charcoal and other purposes caused the land cover to be removed immensely which caused prolonged droughts , increase the speed of wind , efforts have been carried yet the rate of deforestation is increasing at an alarm

Waste : in urbanized areas wastes generated by the cities, qat is accounts to be the most according to the other domestic wastes , in urban areas of our country where the scene of beauty have to be seen is completely hidden by the waste of Qat in addition, chewers of Qat tend to urinate frequently more compared to the usual person which bring them to urinate

on the public places such streets and this contribute to the contaminations resulted from the consumption of Qat in other word waste of Qat contributes to the loss of soil fertility as it was originally grown poisonous pesticides

Encourage the use of plastic bags : plastics are non-biodegradable , it has an adversely impact on the environment, plastics prevent plants to appear their flower , or to regenerate into newly once . qat chewers are those who use plastic bags immensely , and take their role for polluting the environment , Somaliland banned the use of plastic bags when it seen its impact on the environment , and towards the nature system however it is used as smuggler

Noise pollution: the entering of Qat is accompanied by the high noisy sound resulted from blaring horn which is a sign indicating that Qat is brought, this accounts the most obvious problems which the Qat has on the society . the noise created by cars loading the qat may cause restless , among the people , hearing loss and it creates un stability which resulted from sleep deficiency

1.5: policy action that has to be developed to reduce problems emanating from qat consumption

Consumption of qat are among the wicked problems that held in our societies, despite these , there have been times that it was tried to enact laws , but it wasn’t succeed due to a number of challenges amongst the standard living of people which is mostly low , awareness of community, high job unemployment in regarding to this, Qat consumes to a large number of societies who daily feed from what they get from selling of qat yet ,its effect is immensely compared to its benefit and as Islamic people our beloved religion is banning if the materials problem is greater compared to its advantage in other word every one of us can understand the effect of qat to every aspect of live in our society towards the economy, social style life however the following can be regulated from the consumption of Qat :

Raising the awareness of population: increasing the awareness of population and introducing its impact through discussingt and highlighting its serious problems , such as ,{ impotency and psychosis} may contribute for the reduction of Qat consumption , also using the media such tv social and radio which acts as a most effective once as it can reach remote areas where other media is impossible to be available

Creating leisure activities to the youths : making places where the youths take their spare time is another chance for reduction the consumption of khat in our country as the youths having more freely times tend to do in appropriate actions such as consumption of Qat , smoking habits which may in turn bring them serious health problems, in other word enhancing other leisure activities will contribute to the reduction of Qat consumption also Qat consumption can be reduced by making comprehensive policy that creating employment among those who are now engaged in qat business , particularly single /women mothers and provide them with direct assistance through microfinance provisions

Regulation the consumption pattern of qat: making the times of consumption of qat into fixed hours especially into the main towns by allowing it only after lunch till late afternoon { 1: 00PM-500PM} instead of the current 24hr, it is expected that this policy will limit the consumption of qat by almost 30% apart from this there are other factors which may contribute for implementing this that is intended to reduce the consumption of qat among these factors , stakeholders which have their role , they involve directly or indirectly for qat consumption in other word , they have an obvious impact to the use of qat, despite these, they play vital role for the success of the process or failing as the stakeholders ranges from large scale stakeholders such as companies to the small scale stockholders which are single mothers who use to commercialize the Qat however they may influence for the implementation of banning Qat due to following :

They may obstacle the implementation of policy : as the number stakeholders involving the Qat is greater starting from small scale stake holders to large stake holders they may oppose for implementing this policy which banning the consumption of Qat for instance if the consumption of qat is regulated they may lower the price in order for the chewers to encourage for the continuity of chewing qat

Stakeholders will create alternative programs : stake holders will tend to create new ideas as they encounter challenges for consumption of khat and have in mind that the qat acts as source of income to many families they will tend to create new investment programs such as creating recreation places , in wild which may enhance the quality of environment and their interest will remain as it were before

1.6: The actions to be take for implementing the policy mentioned above

Mobilization, these include to train people for how to do the advocacy ,

Education , raising the awareness through : trainings involving the serious impacts of qat, streaming the curriculum of the country to the impact of qat

Here below is described the actions to be taken when a policy is developed Advocacy

Then the government is vesting the responsibility of implementation

Authorities

1.7: The main challenges that will stand against success the process

As we mentioned before the Qat is wicked problem that is difficult to solve her , and as we know qat caused a lot of problems amongst socially and economically however ,efforts have been made to minimize the effect of Qat despite these, the following main challenges will tend to obstacle the abstaining the consumption of Qat these include ;

Qat as source of income: despite its effect the Qat acts as source of income to many family lives and this will tend to obstacles or banning of Qat , is not only acts as income families but also government generates large immense of many through taxations which the government in turn used for the provisions include infrustructes social amenities , salaries so banning of qat will take longer due to above mentioned things

Socio- cultural factors : in some societies especially in our Somali community believe qat as a something blessing which the use once they held ceremonial festivals such as religious festivals . . ‘’ it brings people together , it facilitates discussions of issue and exchanging information’’ says local journalist in other word this factors will be the main challenge that will obstacle for the abstaining the qat

Stakeholders: this ranges from the small stakeholder to the large stakeholder which also have their role among these include companies and small business commercials

1.8: Conclusions

There is a need for a greater level of awareness of khat use in Somaliland communities and its associated problems including health effects, impairment in functioning, family disharmony, and marginalization from society. Primary care practitioners are well placed to provide assistance to individuals with problematic khat use, employing harm minimization strategies. A culturally sensitive approach is warranted and outreach primary care services have an important role in attempting to engage with members of the Somali community around this issue. Further training of primary care practitioners including drug and alcohol service practitioners is necessary to improve awareness of khat and its effects. Universal strategies of motivational interviewing and harm minimization adapted to suit the cultural context, such as by involving members of the Somaliland community and family members, are warranted.

1.9 : Recommendations

The following will contribute to the limitation of qat :

Increase public awareness of the potential health hazards of qat chewing
Integrate education on khat into the curricula of the primary and secondary
. There is a need for cultural gathering places and activities or events that bring the Somali community together socially and provide alternatives, should be Establishing Somali clubs where people can meet informally to:
hear seminars and presentations
watch relevant TV and other documentary programmes
read Somali and Arabic language newspapers
engage in Somali cultural activities and events
More scientific research needs to be carried out into the physical and emotional effects of Qat.
Qat users need to be offered help and support from service providers from within the Somali community. This should include counselling for users and their families and mentoring schemes provided by Somali people. This would require the provision of training for Somali/British men and women so that they can offer support within the community.
. There needs to be much greater awareness of the health and social impacts of Qat use amongst young Somali residents, in particular young men, as well as for service providers and the local authority.

1.10: Reference

^ Jump up to:^a ^b ^c Dickens, Charles (1856) [Digitized February 19, 2010]. “The Orsons of East Africa”. Household Words: A Weekly Journal, Volume 14. Bradbury & Evans. p. 176. Retrieved 9 January 2014. (Free eBook)
^ Jump up to:^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ Al-Mugahed, Leen (2008). “Khat Chewing in Yemen: Turning over a New Leaf: Khat Chewing Is on the Rise in Yemen, Raising Concerns about the Health and Social Consequences”. Bulletin of the World Health Organization. 86 (10): 741–2. doi:2471/BLT.08.011008. PMC 2649518 . PMID 18949206. Retrieved 9 January2014.
^ Jump up to:^a ^b Nutt, D.; King, L.A.; Saulsbury, C.; Blakemore, Colin (March 2007). “Development of a rational scale to assess the harm of drugs of potential misuse”. Lancet. 369 (9566): 1047–53. doi:1016/S0140-6736(07)60464-4. PMID 17382831.
^ Jump up to:^a ^b ^c ^d “Haight-Ashbury Free Medical Clinic”. Journal of Psychoactive Drugs. Haight-Ashbury Publications. 41: 3. 2009.
Jump up^Sadeh ve’yerek – Newspaper of the Vegetable Growers Association, Issue 230, Tel-Aviv (March 2011). [Hebrew]
Jump up^ “2006 in Pictures”. Archived from the original on 1 December 2009.
^ Jump up to:^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q ^r ^s ^t ^u ^v ^w ^x Al Zarouni, Yousif (2015). The Effects of Khat (Catha Edulis) (First ed.). London: Yousif Al Zarouni. ISBN 978-1-326-24867-3.
Jump up^“Khat facts”. ADF. Retrieved 14 May 2013.
Jump up^“Catha edulis”. Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN). Agricultural Research Service (ARS), United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Retrieved 10 December 2017.
^ Jump up to:^a ^b Rätsch, Christian (2004). The Encyclopedia of Psychoactive Plants: Ethnopharmacology and Its Applications. Park Street Press, U.S. ISBN 978-0892819782.
^ Jump up to:^a ^b “Protected Trees” (PDF). Department of Water Affairs and Forestry, Republic of South Africa. 3 May 2013. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 July 2010.
Jump up^“Growing Catha edulis”. Plot55. Archived from the original on 26 August 2013. Retrieved 26 January 2014.
Jump up^“Catha edulis”. Plantzafrica. Retrieved 15 January 2014.
Jump up^Simon, O’Rourke (13 December 2006). “Concerns over African methamphetamine-like drug in Hamilton”. The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 12 October 2011.
^ Jump up to:^a ^b Kirby, Alex (7 April 2007). “Yemen’s khat habit soaks up water”. BBC News. Retrieved 26 January 2014.
Jump up^Marshall, Tim (15 January 2010). “Sky News report on Yemen’s Qat”. Sky News. Retrieved 4 April 2010.

Economic hazard associated with qat consumption aerticle published by Hussein m.A. AGeely

Socio economic impact of Qat article published by abdinazir master of finance of micro economy at bader university

[1] Scientis

Somaliland:Qat and its Multi furious Impact-Report

ADVICE TO THE NEWLY ELECTED PRESIDENT OF SOMALILAND

Somaliland: Petition to the Government of Canada

Related Articles

Leave a Comment Cancel Reply