Zambia: Government is working on allowing the harvesting and collection of cannabis and hemp from farmers

Competition merger agreements have provided for more fuel to be refined locally and more food to be bought from local farmers. Last year we committed to unlocking investment in the hemp and cannabis sector. We are moving to create the enabling conditions for the sector to grow. The Department of Agriculture Land Reform and Rural Development and the Department of Health will address existing conditions for the cultivation of hemp and cannabis to allow outdoor cultivation and collection of harvests from traditional farmers. This will unlock enormous economic energy in the rural areas of the country, especially in the Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, and Mpumalanga. Urgent work is being finalised by the government to create an enabling regulatory framework for a whole plant, all legitimate purposes approach for complementary medicines, food, cosmetics, and industrial products, aligned to international conventions and best practices. This includes the reprioritisation of departmental budgets for sector development and support for traditional, black farmers, and the alignment of South African Police Services enforcement with regulatory reforms.