From Plantations in East Ethiopia to International Markets: Kat under Control

Abstract

This article is based on the author’s fieldwork in Dire Dawa, Awaday, and Harar in eastern Ethiopia from November 2012 through June 2013, in February 2014, and April 2015. It focuses on the effects of the extensive global distribution network of the khat (catha edulis) plant and the obstacles encountered along these routes on the sector in which khat is produced and sold. At the center of our analysis is the question of social transformations, generated by globalization, over the course of which this evergreen shrub came to be a link between local and global levels, between plantations and retailers. We must also understand what impact its cultivation and circulation have on the exercise of state power in the eastern margins of the country.