Miraa exports to Somalia expected to resume in two weeks

Exports of Miraa (Khat) to Somalia will resume soon, Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Peter Munya has said.

This follows the successful bilateral talks between President Uhuru Kenyatta and new Somalia President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud.

Munya said on Friday that they are currently preparing a memorandum of understanding with Somalia.

“Exportation of miraa will be opened in the next two weeks, what is happening now is paper work to make sure everything I ready," he said.

President Kenyatta this week attended the inauguration of the new Somalia leader in Mogadishu. Somalia suspended the importation of the chewable stimulant from Kenya in 2020 following icy relations with former President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmaajo's administration.

Miraa is widely grown in Meru county- and parts of Embu- and has been a major earner for farmers. To reciprocate the opening up of the Somalia market to Kenyan traders, Kenya will also allow fish imports from its war-scarred neighbour.

In 2019, the value of Miraa exports contracted by Sh3.24 billion from the previous year. The industry has been facing several challenges. At one time, Kenyan farmers had access to the Europe market before the a majority of the European Union and G8 countries, the US and Canada banned the use of miraa after reclassifying it as a controlled drug.

In 2017, Meru's annual miraa production was estimated at KSh5. 1 billion with exports to the UK alone accounting for around 15 per cent or KSh772 million per year.