CCWA Discussion Board

Recently, the Council Fellows (CCWA’s youth group) held a viewing of the film Black Gold, a documentary about the coffee industry and the fair trade movement.  In addition to discussing the choice that we have between non-fair trade and fair trade coffee, the film introduced viewers to the difficult choice that faces many African farmers: grow coffee and struggle to survive, or grow khat, an illegal narcotic, and potentially escape poverty. The choice to grow khat over coffee is not an issue that affects just African farmers.  As recent reports in the Columbus Dispatch have shown (see Dispatch article “Somalis Try to Eradicate ‘Bad Habit’ from Africa”), khat is a drug that has a direct affect on communities right here in Columbus!  

     
For readers who are unfamiliar with khat, it is a flowering plant that contains the stimulant cathinon, which can cause euphoria.  It is illegal in the United States and has recently been banned in Somalia.  The chewing of khat leaves has been a traditional a social activity in Eastern Africa much the same way chewing coca leaves is in South America or drinking coffee is here in Columbus.  However, the abuse of Khat can lead to psychological dependence and in turn wreck havoc on society.  As Hassan Omar, president of the Somali Community Association of Ohio, notes in the Columbus Dispatch “It’s not good for the community. It’s not good for the family.” 

Yet with legislation being pushed by Columbus Senator Steve Strivers (R-Upper Arlington) that would make it easier to prosecute the use of khat the question still remains:  should we actively look to prosecute the possession of khat, a drug viewed by some in the Columbus Somali community as an integral part of their tradition?  Also, if farmers in Africa are chopping down coffee plants and planting khat, as Black Gold shows us, what types of policies here in the U.S. would encourage farmers to not grow khat?  And what is our relationship as consumers of coffee to farmers in Africa?