Pubdate: Tue, 26 Aug 2008 Source: Wall Street Journal (US) Page: A12 Copyright: 2008 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. Contact: http://www.wsj.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/487 Author: Mariam Fam Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topic/qat YEMEN WIELDS CAPITALISM IN WAR ON NARCOTIC PLANT One Investor Pays Farmers To Grow Alternative Crops SANA'A, Yemen -- Like many countries, Yemen has been hit hard by soaring food prices. But the food problem has an added dimension here. Farmers use much of the nation's scarce water and arable land to cultivate qat, a mildly narcotic stimulant chewed by many Yemenis throughout the day. Now, some officials hope they can kill two birds with one stone by getting farmers to convert part of their land to coffee beans or food crops from qat, pronounced "cat." The alternative crops could bring in cash from exports or help Yemen reduce its dependence on imported staples such as wheat. And officials hope to lure growers away from planting a drug that has long been blamed for keeping worker productivity low here. "You need to be pragmatic and propose economic solutions for a possible substitution" of qat, which remains a popular cash crop, says Salah Al-Attar, the chairman of Yemen's General Investment Authority, a government body promoting investments. Indian businessman Shabbir Ezzi's family company has invested about $1 million in a project that encourages farmers in East Haraz, a mountainous region west of Sana'a, to grow more of Yemen's prized coffee beans and less qat. Easy to grow and sell domestically, qat appears to have ballooned at the expense of other crops, although reliable farming statistics are hard to come by here. Between 2002 and 2006, one agriculture ministry official estimates, the number of acres used to cultivate qat increased by more than 40%. According to a separate estimate, qat plants cover as much as 20% of all agricultural land in the country. Yemen's stability is of interest to the U.S., because al Qaeda maintains an active presence here. After the Sept. 11 attacks, Yemen declared its support for the U.S.-led war on terror, and in the last two weeks, Yemeni security officials have announced the arrests of a number of suspected members of the group. To some, chewing qat is a moral issue. The Ismaili religious community, a Shiite sect, has spearheaded an antiqat drive in East Haraz. In the years before Mr. Ezzi moved to Yemen, religious leaders, including those visiting from India, have been speaking to farmers against the drug, persuading some of them to uproot qat trees. Mr. Ezzi is part of the religious community, but he steers clear of "say-no-to-qat" messages. Instead, he guarantees a fixed minimum price for coffee from farmers. That insulates growers if local prices fall. And he boosts his price if farmers increase the quantity they bring him. The more farmers grow for him, he says, the more profit his venture will make selling coffee to buyers in the U.S. and Europe. He says the project isn't yet in the black. In addition to cash payments, Mr. Ezzi hands out coupons to farmers for specific amounts of coffee. They can use the coupons to buy machinery, new coffee plants and medical care. About 500 farming families currently sell him coffee. "We decided to appeal to the farmers from a commercial angle, explaining to them how coffee in the long run is higher in value than qat," says Mr. Ezzi, whose family also runs paper-processing businesses in India and Egypt. "No matter what language anyone speaks, everyone understands one common language: money." Some government officials and international agencies are watching the experiment. "If it's proven successful...it can serve as a model," says Mohamed El-Kouhene, country director for the United Nations's World Food Program. The WFP has been working with the government to encourage farmers to plant other crops, like wheat. Yemeni officials have also given more agricultural machinery and seeds to encourage wheat and corn output. The effort faces significant challenges: Chewing qat is a way of life for many here, and demand is strong. Growing qat typically is more profitable than growing coffee beans, and the tall and leafy qat plants require less attention than coffee trees. Still, some families in Haraz are giving coffee a try. "When the farmers see they can bring in more money for coffee, this encourages them to uproot more qat," says Murtada Ali. He still grows qat in steep terraces carved out of the mountains. But now the plant grows alongside his coffee crops. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom