In Kenya, khat makes middlemen rich, not growers

MERU, Kenya — Life around Meru in central Kenya revolves around the cultivation of khat, a plant with narcotic properties, to such an extent that it has altered the social fabric of local communities.
In Muringene, some 300 kilometres (186 miles) north of Nairobi, the locals live both thanks to khat, or miraa as it is called here, and for the sake of consuming khat.
Most of what they produce is exported to Somalia, where it has been used for centuries mainly by men, or to Britain, which has what is thought to be the largest Somali community in the global diaspora from the war-wracked country.
Several million euros worth of khat leave the region each year but the paradox, according to the Catholic charity Caritas active here, is the business has had little impact on the villages' standard of living.Read More