Zimbabwe's government issued a legal notice for cannabis production, including industrial hemp, through a licensing process administered by the Ministry of Health and Child Care.
The five-year licenses covered three categories: cultivation under strict government supervision, research and cultivation, and trade. A total of 37 licenses had already been approved. Only government-approved varieties could initially be grown, although research and development license holders could obtain special permission.
The Zimbabwe Industrial Hemp Trust (ZIHT) had planted five European hemp varieties on a ten-hectare trial plot the previous year. Only two performed well: poor rainfall and high temperatures caused the plants to grow and flower more rapidly than expected.
A possible alternative to tobacco
Tobacco farming accounted for 11% of Zimbabwe's GDP in 2017, when the country's population was 16 million, and employed three million workers. Zimbabwe legalized cannabis production for medical and scientific purposes in 2018. The new legislation and policies were expected to encourage investors to enter cannabis cultivation.
