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Ezekiel Gebissa. Leaf of Allah: Khat and Agricultural Transformation in Harerge, Ethiopia, 1875-1991. Athens: Ohio University Press/Oxford: James Currey/Addis Ababa: Addis Ababa University Press, 2004. xiv + 210 pp. Photographs. Maps. Appendixes. Bibliography. Index. $44.95. Cloth. $24.95. Paper.
Khat (kat or chat) is a mild recreational stimulant widely used in the Horn of Africa and on the Arabian Peninsula, equivalent in social context to the kola nut in West Africa. Its infusion is from chewing (not ingesting) the recently harvested leaf. Freshness commands the highest demand and best price; thus the interval from harvesting, to trimming, to sale and consumption must be minimal. Although somewhat addictive, the stimulant's only apparent drawback is that it produces a green mouth and tongue. Khat was historically used in Muslim communities since it moderated hunger during fasting, and in farming and commercial communities, where it energized labor in peak periods.
Ezekiel Gebissa provides a much needed economic history of the industry, focusing on the Harerge region of Ethiopia, where much of...