While attending a conference in Sanaa lastJune, I met Dr. Ismâ‘î'l ‘Abd AllâhMuharram, Director of AREA (al-Hay'at al-‘Ammali-al-Buhûth wa-al-Irshâd al-Zirâ‘î) inDhamâr. It was a thrill for me to meet him for the first time,especially when he remarked that previous work of my own had beenhelpful in writing his new booklet entitled Zâhiratal-Qât fî al-Yaman (The Phenomenon of Qât inYemen). This is a 33-page Arabic resource, citing 12 sources inArabic and 6 in English.
As Dr. Muharram notes in his introduction,qât is an issue not only for Yemen's agriculturaldevelopment, but also for the economic, social and health aspectsstemming from its production and use. The call by President‘Alî ‘Abdallâh Sâlih to stop the use ofqât in the work place and public offices made it all themore important that accurate and up-to-date information on this"phenomenon" be provided to the public.
The booklet begins with an introductiondefining the botanical and biochemical qualities of the plant. Dr.Muharram notes the main issue in the debate over the introduction ofqât into Yemen: although at least one historical textimplies it came to Yemen in the reign of the Rasulid al-Malikal-Mu'ayyad Dâ'ûd, it is not mentioned either in thetravels of Ibn Battûta, nor is it hinted at in the extantagricultural treatises from the Rasulid era. At any rate, it seemsclear that qât came to Yemen with Sufis. In recenthistory, the major expansion of qât cultivation beganafter the 1962 revolution in the north.
The text provides a handy summary of some ofthe main findings, including those by scientists and socialscientists, about qât for an Arabic reader. You willfind information about the plant itself, where it is grown, theecological context of its cultivation, production estimates (e.g.,80,000 ha in production in 1990 compared with 57,000 for fruits and25,000 for coffee), production costs, and social issues. In additionthere is a brief summary of some of the relevant publications. Thesummary presents a number of issues that need further study andanalysis.
To contact AREA, the address is AREA, POB87148, Dhamar, Yemen. The e-mail address is area@y.net.y.
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