Obstacles Hindering Somaliland from
Reaching Greatness
Somaliland’s BIGGEST problems are
probably, by far, Chat and income sources. The majority of Somaliland men
consume chat and a huge percentage of the whole country’s economy comes from
livestock. A country should have numerous income sources just in case if
something happens to one, they wouldn’t suffer from starvation and economic crisis
especially when its main income source is livestock. What’s more, families
spend huge amounts of their annual income on this drug. An estimated 30%-50% of
the total income of families is spent on chat.[1] This
is obviously the biggest obstacle that is holding this country to be recognized
and to flourish.
Chat is not only
harmful for the economy, it also causes many diseases. Consuming a significant
amount of chat can cause periodontal disease, stomatitis, esophagitis and
gastritis. Reports of cirrhosis of the liver may be due to high ascorbic acid
content which is said to have a hepatotoxic effect.[2] Just
like any drug, it makes the subject feel happy and it gives him or her unlimited
energy to do whatever. In a lot of countries, this would be considered to be
illegal but since people have been consuming it for about centuries, it sort of
made its way to become part of the Somali culture. About 80% of men consume
chat on a regular basis and the amount of money the suppliers get is enormous[3].
Now, if I were the
leader of this country, I would have solved these issues with the one move (I know
I sound too confident, but follow my logic carefully) by not making chat
illegal. People have been chewing chat for centuries who and it would be difficult
to change that (NO we can’t, Obama). The thing I would do is make the drug very
expensive so that only the rich will afford it. I would tax the suppliers
extremely heavily and from that, I would make tons of money from the taxes and
if something happens to the livestock, I would go to plan B which is the tariffs
from chat. By doing that, I would be able to hit two birds with the same stone
or in other words, make the limited income source and the chat problem
partially solved. I might not be able to absolutely solve these problems but my
plan is a huge step towards recognition and a brighter future for Somaliland.
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