Empowering traditional ganja farmers in a regulated industry
SINCE THE decriminalisation of ganja locally in 2015, traditional farmers of the weed have expressed concerns that they will not get a share of the ‘green rush’ in Jamaica’s budding ganja economy.
Each opportunity they get, whether it’s a ganja festival or conference, one of the most topical issues for the traditional players in the sector is always, “How are the small farmers going to benefit from the industry?”
They fear cash-rich foreign investors will sideline them without even a consideration given to the persecution and threat to their personal freedom that they have endured over the years.
The farmers say their concern is justified by the fact that the system that previously criminalised the plant, and them, is now responsible for its regulation.
In this relationship, trust is a rare virtue. The farmers, particularly the Rastafarians, have always believed in the efficacy of marijuana as medicine and their sovereign right to grow and consume the plant for personal use.
Now that legislation has caught up with tradition, these small farmers are looking for opportunities to monetise the regulated industry.
The Cannabis Licensing Authority (CLA) has said the amendment to the Dangerous Drugs Act in 2015 was written to make access to the industry easy for small farmers.
According to the CLA, they simply have to be proactive in seeking out the information and the opportunities.
Triston Thompson of Tacaya, a cannabis consulting firm, agrees with the CLA.
“Farmers don’t know how to access the benefits within the regulation,” said Thompson.
“And that’s unfortunate because there is no other regulation developed that is so accommodating to Jamaican citizens at the smallest level,” added Thompson.
The CLA admits that it has had its difficulties rolling out some of its initiatives due to a lack of funding, which has affected public awareness of its role and services.
However, it said a sensitisation programme for farmers will be launched soon as additional funding was recently approved by the Ministry of Industry, Commerce, Agriculture and Fisheries, which has oversight of the CLA.
The ministry has also introduced an Alternative Development Programme aimed specifically at including small farmers in the regulated space. But since getting Cabinet’s approval in January 2017, the programme is yet to be implemented.
EMPOWERMENT
Those administrative challenges have created capacity-building opportunities for entrepreneurs like Thompson.
Before launching Tacaya, Thompson was a co-founder of the Westmoreland Hemp and Ganja Farmers Association and was an advocate for the farmers during the law reform process three years ago.
The inclusion and success of traditional farmers in the regulated industry is dear to him. Through Tacaya, Thompson provides a platform to empower traditional farmers who have a desire to be a part of the industry but lack resources.
PartnaCan by Tacaya is a programme aimed at educating small farmers on proper cultivation techniques, financial literacy and business knowledge.
“We work with farmers who are forward thinking,” declared Thompson. “We also help them with licensing and we provide market access to them, as what we’re aiming for is wealth creation for everyone.”
Programmes like Tacaya play a pivotal role in the transition from an illegal to a legal industry, as traditional farmers face several challenges. Some did not complete schooling and are partially illiterate. A task such as completing a text-heavy application form is frustrating, if not nearly impossible.
Some of the farmers also lack certain business etiquette, so arriving at a cultivation workshop an hour late is not outside the norm.
With the formalisation of the ganja industry, it requires traditional farmers to evolve their mindset about the business of ganja and some are incapable of making the transition, especially if they lack the start-up funding for the licences.
Yet many believe the onus is still on the Government to accommodate the traditional farmers as their knowledge and expertise with cultivating some of the world’s best outdoor-grown marijuana must be a feature of Jamaica’s cannabis brand.
“We’re going to have the marginalisation of our farmers if the process is not done properly,” warned Dr Andre Gordon, former chairman of the CLA.
“We have to find ways to translate what can be a relatively involved process into a simple and sustainable system that small farmers can use,” added Gordon.
According to Gordon, while he chaired the CLA, he championed plans for the agency to play a developmental role for the farmers that included ongoing support, skill building and translation of technical knowledge into common knowledge.
“Some of the farmers may be illiterate but they’re intelligent. They just don’t know how to access the existing system, and the CLA has to engage the farmers around the industry,” he added.
The Government has been creative in its search for solutions to support traditional farmers by suggesting a portion of unclaimed monies in the banking sector be redirected to the cannabis industry. It has also been exploring arrangements where international cannabis companies can purchase ganja oil from local farmers.
Both scenarios are closer to ideation than implementation, and the hard-told truth is that to achieve any economic gain in the medical ganja industry, the responsibility rests on the sun-burnt shoulders of the farmers.
“Some of the farmers may be illiterate but they’re intelligent. They just don’t know how to access the existing system and the CLA has to engage the farmers around the industry”