Several Somali traders have stopped importing khat from Kenya following a diplomatic row between the two countries, in a show of solidarity with their government.

They say they will instead focus on trading with Ethiopia.

Over the weekend, Kenya recalled its ambassador to Mogadishu and ordered Somalia’s envoy in Nairobi to leave, after Somalia allegedly auctioned off oil and gas reserves in disputed maritime territories.

A group of Kenyan khat exporters said in a statement on Monday that their trade was an easy target “whenever [Somalia] wants to seek attention from Kenya”.

“We should be bracing for the worst,” the Nyambene Miraa Traders Association added.

Khat farmers face losing 90% of the market if the diplomatic spat between Kenya and Somalia remains unsolved, the BBC’s Qalib Barud reports.

Somali traders import about 50 tonnes of the mild narcotic every day.

Nyambene Miraa Traders Association (Nyamita) spokesman Kimathi Munjuri said only four flights ferried khat to Somalia on Monday morning, compared with about 20 that operate on normal days. Other than the effects of the diplomatic row, he said, Mogadishu was also gravitating towards Ethiopian khat, whose taxation was lower than Kenya’s.