Khat plant, Catha edulis, is a stimulant plant with historic roots in the Kenyan highlands, which locals typically chew for the effects it produces.
The plant contains cathinone and cathine (both natural amphetamines), which have been categorized as narcotics under a 1994 law.
At the time the law was enacted, the product faced a brief prohibition, as it is said to illicit the feelings of alertness, focus, and happiness.
However, the cultivation and sale of the leaf is now legal in East Africa, and is typically associated with long-distance truck drivers, night shift workers, motorbike taxi drivers, and those in need of an extra push.
Today, the United States and Europe still recognize the plant as illegal despite it being a very viable crop in the East African region.
Kenya produces about 80% of the world’s Khat supply, which has a particularly strong market in Somalia and Yemen.
In 2024, Kenyan farmers produced over 32,000 metric tons of khat, valued at approximately $100 million, according to the Agriculture and Food Authority of the nation, as seen on Bloomberg.
While there is promise with this plant, it is primarily consumed via chewing, leaving an innovative gap that is now being explored by entrepreneurs in the region.
Jaba juice, and the economic viability of Khat
Several enterprising individuals in Kenya, including a businessman named Brian Kiriba, have found new inventive ways of exploiting this hallucinogenic plant.
After returning home from abroad, where he had lived for most of his life, Brian Kiriba discovered how common it was to chew the plant in Kenya and devised a method to make it not only more enjoyable but also profitable.
Given how bitter and pungent Brian thought the leaf was, he decided to create a blended recipe with Khat as the main ingredient that felt more pleasant, understanding that there was market potential in the psychoactive effects the plant induced.
Out of curiosity, he had tasted the leaf and wondered why such an unpleasant-tasting green was that popular, that was, until the effects kicked in.
“Suddenly, I understood,” he says. “But I knew there had to be a better way to experience that feeling.”
After discovering that local brewers created a drink from the leaf that was sold informally, Brian decided to create his own version by diluting the extract with water and adding sugar, fruit juice, and hibiscus for flavor.
Today, under his company, Handas Jaba Juice, Brian has concocted a stimulant drink that has become popular among well-heeled foreigners and middle-class Kenyans.
The drink is yet to find footing with average Kenyans, given its steep price of 450 shillings ($3.48) for a half-liter bottle of standard juice, a price comparable to Kenya’s daily minimum wage.
The Bloomberg report also revealed that a well-known restaurant in the country’s capital, Nairobi, offers a daily production of its own juice, which has emerged as a stylish substitute for international energy drinks like Red Bull.
Bartenders combine it with mezcal to make the increasingly famous “Smoke & Miraa” drink, and Bamba offers up to 100 shots of jaba laced with ginger and lemon for 300 shillings each on busy evenings.
We wanted to localize ingredients and support the local economy,” says co-owner Rubi Taha. “Jaba is a part of that.”
Other market players are keying into the idea, making their own jaba recipe, as the law remains uncertain on what stance it should take with the plant.
