Four of the eighty-nine companies who have been issued licenses to grow medicinal and industrial hemp in the country have delivered produce, and the Cannabis Regulatory Authority (CRA) has said it expects the number to heighten as the rainy season begins.
CRA director general, Ketulo Salipira, said the numbers were low because a majority of those that have been licensed are hoping to depend on rain while others are still setting up their irrigation facilities.
According to CRA, the four companies currently growing the crop are Mchinji Cannabis Cooperatives, Invegrow Limited, CPG Investments and Women of Vision. “The licenses have one year lifespan subject to renewal and we expect that within the period, the licensees will have produced the crop as planned."
“The industry is a complicated one and new in this country, we are just setting it up. However, companies like Invegrow will start exporting between January and February next year, then the economy will start benefiting from the industry,” Salipira said. CRA licensed 48 firms for medicinal cannabis and 35 firms for industrial hemp production while six were licensed for research purposes on the crop varieties.
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