My Areas of Interest:
The Risks of Khat for People and Environment
Alongside solar energy and oil spills, I am interested in the impact of khat on people and nature. My investigative article “Green Advance” traces the spread of the khat plant in the nature reserves Jabal Bura, the last tropical forest on the Arabian Peninsula, and Uthma. It demonstrates how khat farming, and the rampant use of pesticides that goes with it, has an impact on the reserves and further exacerbates Yemen’s water stress. That is, a single field of khat requires as much water as five fields of fruits. Khat thus threatens the biodiversity in those regions.
