Plant

Khat

Catha edulis

Also known as: Catha edulis, qat, miraa, chat

A flowering evergreen shrub native to the Horn of Africa and parts of the Arabian Peninsula. The young leaves and shoots, chewed fresh, contain cathinone — a natural amphetamine-like stimulant. Khat chewing is foundational to social and economic life across Yemen, Somalia, Ethiopia, Djibouti, Kenya, and the broader region; an estimated 10–20 million people chew daily. The substance is legal in producing countries and widely consumed; it has been banned in many Western countries on stimulant-control grounds. Yemen's economy in particular depends heavily on khat — an estimated 40% of the country's arable agricultural water consumption goes to khat cultivation.

Photo via Wikimedia Commons — see source for license.

Scientific

Catha edulis (family Celastraceae) is the only commercially-significant species in its genus. The plant is an evergreen shrub or small tree growing to 5–10 m, native to high-elevation regions of the Horn of Africa (Ethiopia, Eritrea, Djibouti, Somalia) and parts of the Arabian Peninsula (especially Yemen).

The active compounds are cathinone and cathine — naturally-occurring phenethylamines structurally related to amphetamine. Cathinone is more potent but degrades rapidly after harvest (within 48 hours, the cathinone breaks down to less-active cathine), which is why khat is chewed fresh and why air-shipped khat supply chains operate on tight timelines.

The chewing effect is similar to a moderate dose of amphetamine — increased alertness, talkativeness, mild euphoria, suppressed appetite. Chronic use can produce dependency, cardiovascular problems, periodontal disease, and (in some users) psychiatric symptoms.

Cultural and economic

Khat chewing in Yemen is one of the most-documented daily-substance traditions in any culture. The afternoon qat session — typically 3–6 hours of social chewing in dedicated rooms (mafraj), often with attached water pipes and conversation — is a foundational unit of Yemeni social life. Business deals, family negotiations, political discussions, and friendship-building all happen in qat sessions.

Yemen’s economic dependence on khat is significant and contested:

~40% of arable agricultural water is used for khat production
~10% of the country’s GDP is khat-related
Khat cultivation has displaced food crops, contributing to Yemen’s food insecurity
The 2015–present war has further entrenched khat agriculture as one of the few viable cash crops

Somali, Ethiopian, and Kenyan khat trade is similarly socially central. The Kenyan miraa (Somali / Kenyan name for khat) trade supports the agricultural economy of the Meru region; the substance is air-shipped daily to Somalia and the Somali diaspora.

International legal status

Khat is legal in producing countries and is widely tolerated. Western countries have variously banned it: the US classifies cathinone as Schedule I (banned), with cathine as Schedule IV (regulated); the UK banned khat in 2014; Canada and Australia ban it. The Netherlands legalized it from 1976 until banning it in 2013. The mixed legal status reflects different cultural/political readings of essentially the same pharmacology.

Sources

Wikipedia — Khat

A plant entry in the 0mn1.one [[directory]].

What links here, and how

Inbound connections from across the wiki, grouped by lens and by relationship. These appear automatically — every entity page declares what it links to, and that data populates here on the targets.

Cultural

counterpart to

Coffee Yemen's two iconic stimulant plants — coffee was first cultivated for stimulant use by 15th-century Sufis in Yemen; khat predates it as the regional chewed stimulant. Today they compete for the same farmland and water.

General

shares approach with

Frankincense auto-linked via shared tag: horn-of-africa
Myrrh auto-linked via shared tag: horn-of-africa

3 inbound links · 8 outbound

Scientific

Cultural and economic

International legal status

See also

Sources

What links here, and how