Farmers of Ethiopia turn to khat as world coffee prices tumble

By William Wallis in Nairobi

Farmers in Ethiopia, where the drinking of coffee originated 3,000 years ago, have begun cutting down coffee bushes and replacing them with the drug khat, according to research by Oxfam, the British aid group, which says the slump in world coffee prices is boosting the global drugs trade.

The research - published on Tuesday to coincide with a crisis meeting of coffee farmers, industry officials and international institutions in Geneva - says production has dropped by 17 per cent since 1998 in the Ethiopian province of Harar, an area reputed by tasters to produce some of the world's finest Arabica beans.

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