The Shoa Gate market at the western entrance to Jugol is Harar's most accessible daily market and the best place to observe the extraordinary diversity of people who pass through this crossroads city. Oromo farmers, Somali traders, Harari merchants, and Ethiopian highlanders all do business here, and the variety of goods reflects that mix: spices, khat, grains, livestock, and imported goods from Djibouti and beyond.
Khat — the mildly stimulant leaf chewed throughout this part of East Africa — occupies a large and conspicuous section of the market. Harar is a major khat-producing region, and the bundles of fresh leaves are loaded onto trucks heading for Addis Ababa, Djibouti, and Somaliland every morning. The market is busiest in the morning and winds down by early afternoon.