Saturday September 17, 2016
Workers harvest miraa at a farm near Kangeta market in Meru County on September 15, 2016. Miraa farmers got a reprieve after Somalia lifted a ban on miraa flights to Mogandishu and are agitating for new markets.
News that Somalia had banned miraa (khat) flights to Mogadishu hit Meru County like a thunderbolt.
The disturbing news came just a few years after the Netherlands and Britain outlawed the twigs, branding them a drug.
The 2013 ban had major economic repercussions in Meru with miraa farmers, traders and transporters counting heavy losses.
Following the recent Somalia ban, there was uncertainty in the miraa zone for more than a week with traders and farmers trying to figure out what next. Heavy losses were recorded.
The Standard on Saturday has established that the price of miraa fell drastically affecting the livelihood of thousands of farmers and traders.
According to Dr James Mithika Ntongai, the one-week ban led to a fall in price by up to 80 per cent. Leaves worth Sh10,000 fetched only Sh2,000.
The miraa business contributes not only to the country’s economy but also livelihood of several farmers.
Isaiah Kiyuki of Public Service and Civic Education in Meru County Government estimates that Kenya sold miraa valued at Sh6 million to Holland and Britain daily.
Value chain
Jacob Miriti Ngozi, the coordinator of a miraa farmers group, says before the European ban, the Meru economy was thriving.
The two bans have caused a huge dent in the market. For instance in Maua, about 20 pick-up trucks that used to ferry khat to the airport, are now out of business.
Given the depressing reality, there is need for speedy solutions before the situation turns dire.
“The most urgent thing for now is to get back the London market. We want the Sh1 billion promised to miraa farmers used in finding a new market. Even if it is shared among the about 500,000 miraa farmers it will not amount to much per farmer,” he says.
Following the ban, the heat was felt by locals across the miraa value chain.
Charity Kamui who grows a type of banana whose leaves is used in wrapping miraa, says the ban cost her good business since she lost Sh500, an amount she made daily.
She says since the ban, several young people who depended on it resorted to doing drugs to earn a living and keep themselves busy.
But what led to Somali ban?
Speculation started when the Somalia administration said the move was a retaliation following Meru Governor Peter Munya’s foray into Hargeisia, the capital of Somaliland, a state seeking autonomy from the larger Somalia, to seek market for miraa and discuss lowering of taxes. Leaders and locals have mixed views on the turn of events.
“I believe miraa ban was because of the IGAD meeting and not Governor’s Munya excursion to Somaliland to look for miraa market. We need more market for miraa not politicising it or any other crop,” says Kiyuki.
Supporters of Governor Munya argue that the move was stage managed by Jubilee leadership in liaison with Senator Kiraitu Murungi to cast Munya in bad light and weaken him politically given his stand on the Jubilee Party.
But Kiraitu’s supporters have dismissed the claim as malicious and farfetched. The Senator’s personal assistant Mutwiri Muthomi wonders why Kiraitu was being unfairly dragged into the saga yet he had nothing to do with it.
“These are mere propaganda originating and being spread by Munya’s people. Kiraitu cannot stage manage something that will affect the livelihood of his people. In fact the Senator has been instrumental in charting forward miraa matters and lobbied for the task force on miraa farming that bore Sh1 billion for promoting the crop’s matters,” he said.
Avert standoff
In essence, any leader gunning for county votes must be in good books with miraa farmers, traders and marketers.
As normalcy returns, what the dealers in miraa want is for the county and the national governments to work together to avert another standoff. At the end of the day, what miraa farmers want is more market and less politics.