Bundles of choice: Variety and the creation and manipulation of Kenyan Khat's value

Abstract

This article examines the enormous variety evident in the ‘social life’ of Kenyan khat (miraa) and the role of this variety in the creation and manipulation of value. The article, after a discussion of the literature on value and its relevance to miraa, describes variables used in distinguishing the many different types of miraa, describes how consumers associate themselves with certain varieties and suggests why some varieties are more valued – culturally and economically – than others. The article then looks at the international trade in miraa, and how value is manipulated as exporters – well positioned to exploit different ‘fields of value’ – blend different varieties together to ensure a decent financial reward. It concludes by emphasising that understanding miraa requires an appreciation of its complex particularity.

Keywords:

• Khat
• value
• commodities
• variety

Acknowledgments

The research from which this article derives was first undertaken towards my PhD, kindly sponsored by a Carnegie grant, a bursary from the University of St Andrews, and later by an esrc studentship. I have undertaken further research on khat/miraa as a research assistant on an esrc/ahrc funded project under their ‘Cultures of Consumption’ programme. Many thanks must go to Pauline Whitehead, Roy Dilley, Paul Baxter, Paul Goldsmith, Mario Aguilar, Noel Lobley, David Anderson, Michael Carrier, Katie Cesarz and, of course, Nicholas M'Mucheke and all my Kenyan friends. In fond memory of Douglas Webster.

Notes

1. Bundles of miraa are wrapped in banana leaves for the sake of freshness. Banana leaves no doubt have a long history in the tropics as a form of packaging, and are an essential piece of kit for the miraa trade, as is banana fibre, used to tie up bundles of the commodity. Banana leaves are so associated with the trade that gomba – the Kiswahili word for a banana plant – has come to be used metonymically in referring to miraa itself. Banana leaves are also hung up outside miraa kiosks to signal to customers that fresh miraa has arrived.

2. This article is based on long-term anthropological fieldwork on miraa in Kenya (16 months' fieldwork) and the UK. My main methodology has been participant observation – visiting many chewing sessions and sitting in many kiosks – combined with key informant interviews. In both Kenya and the UK, traders and consumers have treated my presence and questions with great tolerance despite the substance's controversial status. As well as having a wonderful research assistant in Kenya – Nicholas M'Mucheke – who has the knack of putting everyone at their ease, sharing miraa also aided my fieldwork: traders and consumers warmed quickly to a European chewing, and the substance can make people loquacious. Miraa is a great methodological tool for anthropologists!

3. For a comprehensive account of Igembe agriculture (with much mention of miraa), see Goldsmith 1994. Also, see Bernard 1972, and Carrier 2003. The Tigania and Igembe generational system has been well covered by Peatrik 1999.

4. Goldsmith contrasts well the success of miraa – a crop grown with little government help in ‘traditional’ intercropping ways – with the dramatic recent failure of coffee, often grown as a ‘monocrop’ in a very ‘modern’ way (see 1994 passim).

5. On miraa use amongst the Somali diaspora, see: Nencini et al. (1989), El-Solh (1991), Stevenson et al. (1996), Griffiths et al. (1997), and Carrier (2003).

6. Miraa is now illegal in the US, Canada and elsewhere, leading to many smuggling operations from London, where miraa remains legal. It is a substance that often travels in and out of a legal status, leading Cassanelli (1986) to term it a ‘quasilegal’ commodity.

7. However, there is a danger of building straw men in critiquing economic theory and economists: see van Binsbergen on the ‘mutual stereotyping of disciplines’ (2005: 12). Also, while emphasising the role of cultural particularities in the valuation of miraa, I would not wish to be seen to be resurrecting the formalist-substantivist debate of the 1960s. This debate led to much caricaturing as extreme positions were developed to differentiate each side's position: in reality substantivists often used some formalist terms and tools in their analyses, while formalists often mentioned cultural factors of relevance in economic systems (see Isaac 1993).

8. For more on handas see Goldsmith (2004) and Carrier 2003.

9. Varieties produced in Marsabit are an interesting mix of those resembling Ethiopian miraa, and those more similar to Nyambene varieties.

10. See Goldsmith 1994:123.

11. At the time of my fieldwork, there were around 110 –120 Kenya Shillings to one pound sterling.

12. Geisshüsler and Brennheisen (1987) suggest there is some correlation between concentrations of cathinone in miraa from various parts of the world and perceptions of quality and hence price. Regarding Kenya they compare giza and kangeta, arguing that the former is considered better by consumers, is more expensive and has more cathinone. However, this is too simplistic, as giza and kangeta both come in different qualities, and the fact that a bundle of giza usually has more stems than kangeta suggests that quantity is a factor in the price difference too. Also, many of my informants in Kenya regarded kangeta as higher in quality than giza, and in the UK many consumers prefer chewing the Ethiopian varieties on offer (generally regarded as less potent than Kenyan ones) because that is what they became accustomed to when living in Somaliland. Ethiopian miraa retails for a higher price in the UK (£5) than the Kenyan, too. Matters are complicated!

13. In my experience, consumers chew at varying rates, so the rate at which cathinone is absorbed must vary widely between different individuals. Some people chew swiftly at first to build up the miraa stored in their cheek, and then slow down their consumption rate.

14. I am unsure of the etymology of ncoolo, although I suspect it is related to ncoro, a horn used ritually by Meru women (Peatrik 1999:321). The shape of an ncoolo bundle certainly resembles a horn.

15. One wonders how the value of mbaine will be affected as more and more trees earn the epithet, and the proportion of mbaine miraa on the market increases.