Officials at the Ministry of Trade & Regional Integration have revoked the licenses of 830 khat exporters. They claim they took the measure following an assessment that uncovered illicit trading activity. Khat cultivation and distribution have increased rapidly despite official reluctance to promote marketing and consumption. Over the past decade, annual harvests increased three-fold, registering a little more than three million quintals last year. The cash crop has been one of the top-five revenue-generating export commodities since the early 2000s. Earnings from khat exports accounted for 11pc (402.5 million dollars) of the total 3.6 billion dollars generated last year, representing 24pc higher than khat export revenues recorded in the previous year Close to a quarter of khat produced last year was exported to major markets such as Djibouti and Somalia. Consumers in these countries bought 710,000qtl of khat last year, close to 80pc going to the latter. Last month, officials at the Trade Ministry doubled the price threshold for khat exports to Somalia to 10 dollars for a kilo.
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