It can be as early as 7 in the morning, or 10, or as late as 2 p.m. It doesn’t matter. Whenever the qat market opens, customers come.
And make no mistake, qat is popular. What in decades past was an occasional indulgence for the country’s rich has become, one study says, a near-daily habit for a staggering 90% of the population — including men, women and children as young as 12. , and where 85% of the population needs aid, according to a 2020 government report. Qat — also known asor khat— is Yemen’s top cash crop, its cultivation the main livelihood for most of the 37% of the population working in agriculture, according to the U.N.’s Food and Agriculture Organization.“Fighter? No. I’d prefer to be a qat merchant than go fight,” says Musheer Sadeq Shamiri, a portly 35-year-old qat trader installed on his perch in the Ajar market.
That may be, but critics also cite it as a primary driver of the country’s many ills because of its drain on both human and natural resources, such as water. For them, qat’s widespread use is a burden that Yemenis can ill-afford.
Tragic for the children
definitely NOT the panacea.
DC leaders could use a few of leaves