Kenya resumes miraa exports to Somalia After Two-Year Ban

Somalia banned miraa imports from Kenya in 2020 following a diplomatic fallout between the two countries during the leadership of former President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo.
 

News Keydmedia Online
24 July 2022

MOGADISHU, Somalia - Kenya resumed Miraa exports to Somalia on Sunday, July 24 after a deal between President Uhuru Kenyatta and President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud last week.

Agriculture minister of Kenya Peter Munya confirmed in a Twitter post that the first flight of Miraa, the crop mainly grown in the Meru region left for Mogadishu on Sunday morning.

This morning [Sunday, the first Miraa Cargo flight takes off to Mogadishu. Our commitment as government to support miraa farmers and all other sectors in accessing local and international market opportunities remains steadfast," Munya tweeted.

 The minister said 22 Traders who have been approved by the Agriculture and Food Authority of Kenya and received their export licenses started exporting the narcotic leaves to Somalia today.

Somalia banned miraa imports from Kenya in 2020 following a diplomatic fallout between the two countries during the leadership of former President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo.

Local miraa farmers had been putting pressure on Uhuru's administration to negotiate with Somali authorities over the ban to get back their biggest market. Their dream came true after a new Somalia president was elected in May.

 According to anti-khat campaigners, the drug trade in Kenya used to send at least 16 flights of Miraa to Mogadishu alone earning $400,000-$800,000 a day, showing a high demand for khat in Somalia, a country beset by three decades of conflict with a failed economic and governance systems.

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