A coin has two sides, depending on what side, different perceptions arise. Either the heads or the tails of it.
Heads
Miraa is known to most Kenyans through the images of several men and sometimes women sitting and chewing on a green or purple like a stem. The media outlets in Kenya provide such images to the public with glaring headlines with words such as ‘drug trafficking’, ‘drug lords’, and ‘war on drugs’. The media has demonized not only the existence of said crop but also its cultivation and subsequent trade, labelling such agricultural and trading activities as ‘drug trafficking’ and ‘against morals’.
Miraa refers to the leaves and branches of the khat plant that contains stimulants. These fresh, succulent stems and leaves are harvested regularly from the trees and are highly valued for their stimulating effects such as an increase in heart rate, locomotor activity and oxygen consumption. Effectively consumers of khat become cheerful, talkative and wide awake. In others, it may cause them to fall into pleasant dreams. Khat has been compared in numerous studies as closely resembling coffee than more violent stimulants.
However, despite such effects khat has been termed as a controversial substance due to several health issues that arise from its use, such as insomnia, malnutrition, and tooth decay. Additionally, consumption of miraa has been linked to social problems such as violence, marital discord and the use of children to harvest miraa at the expense of their education.
Tail
Miraa is closely associated with Eastern Kenya, more specifically, Meru as this is where it is mainly grown. In Kenya, miraa is a booming business with an estimated 500,000 Kenyans depending on khat cultivation and sale for their livelihood. Furthermore, miraa is reported to bring in an estimate of $400,000 a day in Kenya alone. The miraa industry is said to be at the core of the regional economy that when Somalia banned khat imports from Kenya for a single week in 2016, farmers lost millions of dollars.
In comparison to cash crops such as coffee and tea, miraa is a drought-resistant crop. It can survive through the drought with little effect to its yield. Additionally, unlike most crops miraa can be harvested several times in a year while other ‘highly regarded crops’ can only be harvested once a year. With the growing changes in climate, miraa has acted as a profitable, easy to grow, easy to harvest crop in comparison to coffee and tea. Furthermore, the huge demand for miraa in Somalia has made the miraa industry profitable. Additionally, it has enabled women in counties such as Garissa to act as distributors, effectively lifting their families above the poverty line.
Despite its controversial image, miraa has an economic impact in Kenya in areas such as Meru, which is the cradle of miraa growing and in areas such as Garissa that acts as a central point for locating well-known distributors. Hence showing the two sides portrayed of the same coin that is miraa. It is through this complicated and nuanced image of miraa that the author suggests claiming ownership to it.
Theories on the Origin of khat
The origin of khat is contested with three prominent theories. The first theory argues that cultivated khat originated from Yemen moving to Ethiopia and finally settling in Kenya. The second theory propounds that Miraa originated from Ethiopia and later on spread to both Yemen and Kenya. The third and most plausible theory is that khat grew in Kenya separate from Ethiopia and Yemen.
Miraa grown in Kenya
In a recent study done by the National Museums of Kenya and researchers from the US Department of Agriculture, DNA tests confirmed that Meru miraa is unique to the region and genetically different from its relatives that have been cultivated in other parts of the world such as Yemen and Ethiopia.
The team formed to conduct the study collected 1561 leaf specimens of both wild and cultivated miraa from Kenya, Ethiopia, Yemen, Madagascar, Tanzania, Malawi, Zimbabwe and South Africa. This was done with the aim of analyzing their genetic composition. The study revealed that miraa from Ethiopia and Yemen was of a different species that was associated to globally dispersed cultivation. Indicating that miraa was not originally from Yemen or Ethiopia.
The report was given by the US Department of Agriculture further revealed that the miraa grown in Kenya had no genetic inclination to cultivated or dispersed miraa. This inferred that Khat found in Kenya had an independent origin. It is in this stride then that the term Miraa should be associated with Kenyan Khat, which is different from other Khat grown in the world. This association with Kenya can be done through Intellectual Property Law under Geographical Indications.
Miraa under Geographical Indications
Miraa can be protected under Geographical indications, which are names given to specific products based on the unique qualities of the product that are made possible because of the region it grew in. Just as the name Champagne is associated to the region of Champagne in France where the grapes used to make Champagne are found, Miraa can be a term used only to describe khat grown in Kenya that has genetic differences from khat grown in other regions of the world.
For an agricultural product to gain protection under a Geographical Indication, there needs to be an established link between the product and its original place of production. This first involves showing that the product originates from a given place. For example, the study referenced above can indicate that the khat grown in Kenya, specifically, Meru is native to this region. Secondly, the characteristics, qualities or reputation of khat grown in Meru is tied down to this region to the extent it has the regional name ‘miraa’. Additionally, Miraa as a Kenyan product has a higher stimulant composition in comparison to other forms of khat.
This can help establish a link between the product and its original place of production.
Protecting Miraa under Geographical indications will ensure that not all khat products are clustered as one when they are completely different. This will allow khat growers in Kenya to sell their product as an original product that is specific to Eastern Kenya. Which adds to the value of Miraa due to its originality. Additionally, this will help consumers of khat differentiate Miraa from khat grown in other parts of the world. They will have the knowledge of the specific components of the plant such as the type of khat that is a stronger stimulant in comparison to another depending on the region of cultivation. It is therefore very necessary to register Miraa as a geographical indication to establish its originality to Kenya and its distinctness from khat grown in other parts of the world.
It is very essential for the reader to realize that the writer of this piece advocates khat grown in Kenya (miraa) to be differentiated to other forms of khat grown in other parts of the world. This implies that miraa will be registered as a Geographical Indication internationally through the TRIPS agreement. However, is it also necessary for Kenya to register miraa as a Geographical Indication to Eastern Kenya, specifically Meru? miraa is largely grown in Meru and should be differentiated from others grown in Kenya. However, registration of a geographical Indication in the local market is not possible in Kenya due to lack of a national legislation on geographical Indication. This begs the question, is a national legislation on Geographical Indications necessary in Kenya based on the origin of miraa to Meru?
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Sharon Muoki
Strathmore Law Clinic
