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The diseconomics of “chat”: Is it a cash crop or is it crashing the fragile Ethiopian economy?

By Wondirad Seifu, February 18, 2006, The Reporter

There is a raging controversy among historians in which some argue that ‘chat’ was initially grown in Ethiopia and then introduced into Yemen. Others argue the other way round. Nonetheless, as far as Ethiopian is concerned, chat used to mainly grown in the south- eastern part of the country. Its consumption was also limited to this area as par t of religious rituals.

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Chat is a green plant containing an active substance chemically known as cathinon, which in fresh chat has a pronounced influence on mental activity, including other body systems. Cathinon has a limited lifetime that and, converted in to its weak state, is known as cathine, following a day-long time that the chat leaf is cut off from its host tree.

However, at present, chat is produced and chewed in all regions of the country where formerly its commercial value was unknown and a person who chewed it was perceived by the society as odd, mad or both. Chat is now available in the country’s markets with various trade names usually referring to their places of origin: Awedai, Gelemeso, Wendo, Sebeta, etc.

Surprisingly, as an exception, there is a chat known by the trade name of “COLOMBIA”. It is produced in the northern part of the country, around Bahir Dar city. It is difficult for me to establish the reason why it assumed such a foreign country’s name, although chat was hardly known in the area a couple of decades ago. Earlier, a bundle of the same chat, now called Colombia, was sold for less than a birr. Now Colombia is sold in Addis, measured in grams and commanding a very high price.

Through evolution and revolution, chat has evolved as one of the leading export commodities of the country in which much has been done by the latter following the fall of the Derg. As part of the chat revolution, a significant portion of the peasants have switched to the production of chat by abandoning what they had produced previously. They believed that chat is a good cash crop as the government gives due recognition to it officially and proud of its cash-generating potential for the economy.

It is undeniable that the government’s agricultural blueprint known as Agricultural Development-Led Industrialization (ADLI) has fostered chat’s development in a bid to foster international trade in the commodity.

Until recently chat was sold in very limited areas in Addis. Now you can find it everywhere in the city in chain stores and even in political corridors. As such, with misconceptions and confusions, the consumption of chat has been regarded as fashionable for teenagers, a desirable habit for the unemployed, a socialisation lubricant for all age-groups and an unavoidable addiction for some as well as a stimulant and an energizer for both white and blue-collar workers. It is outrageous to see the proliferation of chat-chewing houses with various style, size and service charge. There are highly congested chewing houses with a service charge ranging from 0.5 to one birr, not including the chat’s price. There are also such houses with complete accommodation of up to 50 birr and above. It is rather frustrating to come across kids under 15 chewing chat to their heart’s content. It is such type of temporary feeling that you would borrow from the cathinone of fresh chat. It is with extensive chewing of chat that cathinone is readily available for maximum effect.

An affinity to alcoholic drink is claimed to be one of the outcomes of chewing chat in such a way as it delays intoxication and boosts the appetite for excessive alcoholic consumption. Then it leads you to totally deny recognition of the existence of anything, even yourself, leave alone AIDS.

Consider about 300 Kebeles in Addis with a modest assumption of 10 to 30 chat chewing houses in each Kebele along with their customers of 20 to 25 persons a day. Please note that these figures do not include those who chew in private houses, cars, work place and open spaces.

With such figures, what would be the social, economic, cultural, health etc implications of chat? It is fearful to imagine a chat addicted and work-disoriented society. If you project the problem to the national level, the diseconomies of chat will boil down to a negative magnitude that would not be recovered by the income generated from the chat economy.

In search of the solution for the chat’s problem, banning the leaf would be in immediate proposition.

Unfortunately , to ban is too bad since I heard an incident in which a truck driver was severely beaten by a host of disgruntled chat chewers blaming him for coming too late from the time he was expected to arrive. A policeman then brought the situation under control. He furiously warned the poor driver not to commit such a grave mistake again.

Apparently, the chat chewing habit has entrenched itself deep in the society. Therefore, priority should be given to the youth who are chanting the slogan: “Better to chew chat than sitting idle”. This calls for employment opportunities. The other method would be to discourage peasants from producing chat and let the planners plan for zero-level export earnings from chat. Importantly, political leaders should demonstrate their social responsibility by reversing the chat revolution ahead of harming the Ethiopian fragile economy.

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