The sky’s the limit for industrial
Hemp can play an important role in dealing with climate change and pollution
Sheldon Cramer uses three words to champion the environmental benefits of industrial hemp farming in South Africa: zero carbon footprint. “Hemp sucks up carbon dioxide,” said the chairperson of the Kwazulu Hemp Association and the chief executive of Kwazulu Hemp Processors.
“At some of our controlled grow operations for the medicinal stuff, we actually put carbon dioxide into the grow environment to help the plant grow better. So, if you want to solve carbon emission problems, grow hemp like we grow sugarcane. It’s really that simple.”
Cramer, better known as Bobby Greenhash, told how, at his “massive grow” operation in Kwazulu-natal, hemp seed was put into the ground, where it grew, well, just like a weed.
“There was no water given; there were no fertilisers, pesticides, composting; nothing,” Cramer said of his flagship research project in Eshowe.
“It was put in the fallow sugarcane field to set benchmarks to see how the specific strains that we are rolling out and introducing in the Kwazulunatal region would grow … And we didn’t even water or anything and within 90 days, it got over 8m tall, which is fantastic for fibre.”
There are many uses and benefits with industrial hemp and “you’re looking at anything from cosmetics, medicinal, biomass, textiles, fibre, plastics and biofuels”, he says. “And, when you’re harvesting, the foliage that falls off naturally as it dries out in the field re-nitrates the soil. You don’t have to put nitrates back into the soil, it already does that.”
Cramer cited a local project he is running involving macadamia farmers who are growing hemp between
their rows of trees as windbreakers. Traditionally, they used cinnamon grass.
“With the hemp, they’re getting a cash harvest every 90 days,” he says. “And it’s nitrating the soil and
they don’t have to water it because it catches the runoff from the irrigation of the mac trees.
“As a supplementary or complementary crop, it’s insane.”
During his 2023 State of the Nation address, President Cyril Ramaphosa restated the government’s commitment in 2022 to unlocking investment in the hemp and cannabis sector, noting how it has the potential to create 130 000 jobs. In 2022, the president indicated that the sector could be worth R406 billion by 2026.
“We are moving to create the conditions for the sector to grow,” he said last year. “Urgent work is being finalised by the government to create an enabling environment for a whole plant, all legitimate purposes approach for complementary medicines, food, cosmetics and industrial products aligned to international conventions and best practices.”
Industrial hemp is a cousin of the psychotropic dagga (marijuana) and is cultivated in very different ways, according to Hemporium, which was established in 1996 as Africa’s first official cannabis/hemp company.
Sectors identified as focal points for industrial hemp are agri-fibres for car parts such as dashboards and door panels; eco-friendly paper; natural cement, bricks and insula