Stakeholders nervy as cannabis industry hits rough patch

Ashton Mutyavaviri

ONCE touted as a potential catalyst to the country’s economic growth, the budding cannabis industry seems to have waded into a sea of challenges ranging from policy to operational, which stakeholders have blamed on poor communication and the absence of clear-cut production policies.

A combination of regulatory issues, international competition and economic challenges has since deflated the excitement the adoption of the crop had generated given the fact that the country has the requisite climatic and human resources for its successful production.

In 2028, Government took a historic step by legalising the production of industrial hemp and medicinal cannabis for medical and scientific purposes.

Speaking at the Cannabis Policy Workshop and Indaba, hosted in Harare by Kutsaga in partnership with the University of Bristol’s Cannabis Africana: Drugs and Development in Africa project recently, Midlands State University Tugwi Mukosi Multidisciplinary Research Institute (TMMRI) Executive Director Professor Jephias Matunhu said the industry was facing the challenge of miscommunication on industrial hemp, medicinal purposes and the recreational purposes.

Farmers should be educated and well informed on the difference between production of industrial and medicinal hemp, said Prof Matunhu.

Added Prof Matunhu: “The challenge we are facing is that of the exclusion of small-scale growers in the industry. We are in a period where we are fostering the issue of inclusivity and building an upper-middle economy and self- sustainability in the country. We need an introverted approach where it is the majority who are producing in a controlled manner to feed into local production value chain systems where jobs are created for local farmers.”

Prof Matunhu added that it was critical to have information sharing platforms before the renewal of production licences to ensure farmers know exactly what is expected of them.

Medicines Control Authority of Zimbabwe (MCAZ) confirmed that they issued 59 licenses to cannabis growers but only 10 were producing the crop, which posed a significant challenge to efforts of growing the industry.

“In 2019 we issued 35 licenses and they were the first to be issued. Out of the 35, only seven will be renewed because they are the only who are producing,” MCAZ explained.

African Medical Cannabis Biotech agronomist and farmer Mr Munyaradzi Chedondo said concurred that farmers were facing the challenge of misinformation on the differences between the industrial hemp production and medicinal purposes.

The cannabis industry in Zimbabwe faces problems relating to inadequate infrastructure and lack of expertise. It requires specialised facilities for cultivation, processing, and research, which are scarce. Additionally, the shortage of skilled professionals with knowledge of cannabis cultivation, extraction, and product development has posed challenges in establishing a robust industry, he explained.

It is important for skilled professionals to educate farmers on the differences between industrial hemp and medicinal production, added Mr Chedondo.

Meanwhile, the Agriculture and Marketing Authority (AMA) has since pledged to disseminate more information on the subject with its Marketing and Economic Researcher Mr Gerald Mashiri saying even licenced growers were struggling to find lucrative markets.