Sapping the Vitality: The Role of Qat Production in Water Security in Sana’a, Yemen

To deal with the impending water scarcity and prolific waste of water within the Sana’a Basin, Yemen, the media, ministries, and international donor communities all posit that the best solution to this crisis is to reduce or eliminate qat (alternately spelled khat)—a narcotic leaf often demonized for its negative water, health, and economic impacts.

Within this narrative, qat cultivation is portrayed as the primary barrier to water sustainability; this barrier can only be overcome through reducing or eliminating this crop and doing so is in the best interest (economically and socially) of Yemen as a whole, of the agriculturalists who cultivate and depend upon crops, and of the consumers. This paper will critically analyze the above narrative through three sections:

1. Assessment of the validity of this development narrative on qat reduction as the best means of creating a sustainable and secure water supply for the Sana’a water basin. By analyzing the solutions presented in reports from three development stakeholders, including the World Bank and the Yemeni government, I will assess whether the real solutions suggested and case studies cited fit into this narrative. 
2. Next, the paper will engage in a historical review of qat, development, and water resources in Yemen, focusing on attitudes towards qat and social and economic changes and inequalities associated with qat cultivation. 
3. Finally, this paper will propose a counternarrative illustrating that qat reduction does not absolutely equate to water security and development improvements for involved parties and that such proposals may not be in the interests of agriculturalists.