Qat in Yemen: 72% of Men X 6 hours a day
Spending 28% of income in low income homes.
Some children start chewing as young as seven.
Julie G. Viloria-Williams has over 25 years of experience with the World Bank in sustainable people-based development. She held positions in Indonesia, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Eastern and Central Asian countries before becoming the Middle East and North Africa regional expert in September last year. She is the team leader in the Qat dialogue task in Yemen, which represents the World Bank’s assistance to Yemen in dealing with this issue. Her job involves research into the issues and development needs of countries within the MENA region, and identification of potential threats, especially on the issues that affect the livelihood of citizens.
“Because of the urgency of the Qat problem in Yemen, it has become the World Bank’s fourth pillar in the bank’s new country assistance strategy along with growth, governance and the Millenium Development Goals,” she said. Based on the December country assistance strategy consultation, the World Bank’s assistance to Yemen will take the form of grants, rather than loans, to be provided over the next three years.
During her recent visit to Yemen, Viloria-Williams met with the various stakeholders and discussed with them the issue of Qat. She also attended some focus groups, during which she realized just how deep the problem is.
“In many families children as young as seven start chewing because of parental influence, especially because mothers, who are usually uneducated, think of Qat as means to bind their children to the family,” she said.
As a part of its campaign against Qat, the WB will be producing a documentary on Qat in Yemen, in both Arabic and English, she anticipates that it will be broadcast on Yemeni TV among other media channels in a bid to spread awareness.
Size of the problem
According to a detailed survey carried out by the World Bank in mid 2006, 72 percent of men and 33 percent of women chew Qat for an average of 6 hours per day. Qat absorbs 10 percent of the average household income and over 28 percent for low income groups. Qat production, trade and consumption accounts for 10 percent of GDP, and is the cause of many health problems. The study sampled more than four thousand Yemenis from around the Republic.
