Dagga could be R1-trillion Africa hit

AFRICA is poised to be the world’s next dagga powerhouse‚ according to a magazine which covers the development of the legal cannabis industry globally.

Dope‚ based in the US‚ says Lesotho’s decision to grant a medical dagga licence to Verve Dynamics – a Somerset West company that produces botanical extracts – “is the first time in Africa that cannabis has been viewed as a source of revenue instead of a criminal activity”.

In an article on its website yesterday‚ Dope said Africa produced a quarter of all dagga and an estimated 38.2 million African adults [7.7% of the adult population] used dagga each year – far above the global average of 3.8%.

Yet progress towards decriminalisation and legalisation had been slow.

“Most African countries have been hesitant to embrace the expanding market for legal cannabis,” it said. “With colonisation came criminalisation.”

Dope said despite Verve Dynamics’ new licence‚ no effort had been made to legalise or regulate dagga in Lesotho and it was the same in South Africa.

But the tide was turning in countries like Morocco‚ Malawi and Swaziland‚ and the economic argument in favour of legal cultivation was likely to win out.

“While the impact would be different for each country on the continent‚ there is no doubt that for some of the poorest residents‚ the benefits would be substantial‚” it said.

“For example‚ in Swaziland deep poverty can still be found in many rural areas‚ and cannabis is helping some families survive.”

Khathazile‚ a grandmother of 11 orphaned grandchildren‚ had said: “If you grow corn or cabbages‚ the baboons steal them.

“Without weed‚ we would be starving.”

Dope said if dagga was grown and exported legally across the African continent‚ the gains could be huge – as much as $79.8-billion (R983-billion) a year.

“Some of the biggest benefits could go to Africa’s smallholder farmers‚ who would be able to command the market price‚ if it were legal.”

Dope said demand for hemp – grown on a trial basis in Malawi – had increased exponentially in the last few years, and could be a valuable export. – TimesLIVE