Cannabis investors woo Malawi on Industrial hemp
A group of investors on industrial hemp are in the country to lobby the government make regulations which would allow the investors get licence to buy cannabis from the country considered to have economic, medical and nutritional value.
A South Africa based Canadian cannabis investor Graham Macntosh from Green Quest Pharmaceuticals said Malawi is losing out in cannabis trade.
He said Green Quest Pharmaceuticals is looking for 50 000 hectare of land to grow the industrial hemp used in the manufacturing of certain goods including clothes as well as medicine.
“Everyone should be allowed to grow cannabis without any legal impingements from a small one hectare to 101 hectare of land,” he said.
The cannabis investor said industrial hemp can take over tobacco as the largest forex earner, saying tobacco is now facing smoky future whilst cannabis faces bright future in investments.
Macntosh said currently, cannabis is a US$7 billion investment worldwide, saying within a year, it is expected to grow to US$10 billion.
Ntchisi north MP Boniface Kadzamira said although parliament legalized the testing of industrial hemp, which have since been done at Chitedze Research Station in Lilongwe and Chitala in Salima, cannabis remains illegal in Malawi.
He said to push the legalization on fast track, the government can put in regulations to allow people grow industrial hemp and investors get licence to buy the cannabis from Malawian farmers.
While cultivation or selling of cannabis sativa is prohibited by law, government says the industrial hemp will help boost the economy.
Industrial hemp and marijuana are from the same family of crops but industrial hemp does not contain the psychoactive chemical agents found in marijuana.
Meanwhile, Invegrow Limited, a company that was established in 2013 designed to grow and process Industrial Hemp in the country, plans to start commercial growing of the crop this year.
The firm, which has been working with government to research the viability of hemp as a commercial crop, has started mobilising resources for its factory in Lilongwe.
“Industrial hemp has more economic opportunities as we will be extracting the oil for fibre from the seed and produce oil products and it is also edible,” said Director at Invegrow Limited, Nebert Nyirenda, who adds that last year, the company imported body wash, shampoo and face wash with hemp seed oil just to give Malawians a feel of the products from Industrial Hemp.
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We are blindfolded and still live in Old MCP Era where, chilichonse ungachite, chinali kulakwila Kamuzu ndi boma lake.
We need to change our focus and think positive for our economy.
We need to differentiate betwee Industrial Canabis and Marijuana just like Chambo ndi Makumba are not the same species.
We fear the unknown, things we are not conversant about.
SKC cannot be stupit to promote Industrial Hemp. He knows wgat he is talking about. Wake-up guys
Waiting for azungu to think for us. School zathu sizichotsa umbulidi
Same countries making us not legalize hemp due to the treaties and aid conditions that we blindly signed are now the first one to legalize the same hemp we can’t sell or use. Malawi! Africa!African Union wake up. This is a new day, let’s think for the majority illiterate and start making money for our people.
Sleeping malawi, stupid,foolish pipo. You confiscate about 15 million tonnes of hemp and burn it. Instead of selling it to make billions that you can find something to steal, but no lets burn billions of dollars when the poor pipo has no where to go, go to bed with an empty stomach. Wake up!
IZI NDIYE ZA CHAMBA IZI !!!!
too little too late
Always sleeping while the whole world is awake
Nkhani koma imeneyi industrial hemp ndi deal
Our MPs from both sides there is need to speed up the legislative process, if we delay we might be overtaken by other countries with less beuracratic
ways of doing business. If an opportunity present itself it is best to proceed with speed by sending let’s a delegation to where they are already processing
the industrial hemp to learn a few tips on how best our farmers can benefit from this lucrative business.
We have the fertile soils and the weather to allow us do both winter and normal farming and that is a plus for us.
Legalise it