ETHIOPIA: Farmers turning to khat
ADDIS ABABA, 9 Apr 2003 (IRIN) - Farmers in lowland areas of eastern Ethiopia are increasingly turning to the narcotic khat, according to the UN’s Emergencies Unit for Ethiopia (EUE).

It said the sharp rise in the use of the mild stimulant may be due to the fact that local people were becoming despondent about their future in the drought-hit Haraghe region of eastern Ethiopia.

“In general, all over the visited Haraghe lowlands, people seem to be socially discouraged,” the EUE said in a report on the food crisis in the region.