Producers of miraa want to be allowed to export the stimulant to China after it was banned in Britain.
The Nyambene Miraa Traders Association said the matter should be on Kenya’s agenda during the visit by Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang. The traders said the government had not fulfilled its promise of ensuring the produce was allowed in to China.
The traders’ spokesperson, Mr Kimathi Munjuri, said they had met and agreed that the matter should be discussed during Mr Li’s visit, which began on Friday.
“China is the hub of herbal medicine and miraa has many medicinal values,” said Mr Munjuri.
Having lost the battle to stop the ban in Britain, they turned to China with hopes that its huge population would become the next market for the Kenyan produce, he said.
However, attempts to have the Kenyan embassy in Beijing and the Chinese embassy in Nairobi to help open the market for the stimulant had not borne fruits five years since a request was made, he said.
The two embassies also failed to help clear a contradiction on the stimulant as only khat from Ethiopia was allowed in China while that from Kenya was considered a hard drug, he claimed.
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