Qat cultivation affects food security

Qat cultivation has drastic implications for national food security, said Abdul-Kareem al-Arhabi, Deputy of Prime Minister and Minister of Planning and International Cooperation during the launch of a workshop about special policies on qat held in Yemen last Sunday.

Qat cultivation depletes more than 30 percent of water that should be used for agriculture.  He called to join efforts to face this problem, wishing that the workshop could generate positive outcomes and a clear strategy to deal with this problem and to hold a second conference on qat. 

The Minister of Agriculture and Irrigation Mansor al-Hoshabi said that qat cultivation occupies large areas of agricultural lands, adding that qat is a big challenge facing the increase of food crops production.

Some 40 participants are taking part in the two-day workshop that would discuss the problem and will try to forge a clear vision about how to deal with qat and to find out solutions and options to reduce its cultivation, the organizers said

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