Hemp stands tall among readily available candidate applications to sustainably resolve Africa’s myriad problems.
From shelter, cosmetics, textiles to food, there’s seemingly an infinite continuum along which hemp can tick the box and satisfactorily perform the job.
It’s not surprising that even in countries such as Kenya, Namibia and Uganda (where permission is strictly for exports) that have shied away from endorsing or legislating for all forms of cannabis use that hemp-infused cosmetics, creams and oils circulate freely or on the underground.
Also, as a leading environmentally sustainable material, hemp offers immense possibilities for solving pollution, strengthening agricultural systems and preserving food source traditions.
In Ghana, for instance, plastic waste has become a major social and health nuisance.
From polluting the environment, blocking drainage systems and enabling stagnant water-related diseases like malaria and dysentery to decimating agricultural systems, plastic is now a virtual existential menace. Plastic waste has also decimated soil and food crop ecosystems and activists now pin their hopes on hemp. This is thanks to the plant’s deep-root tapping system that improves soil structure and soil nutrients retention.
Hemp also sits at the juncture of South Africa’s related plastic-centred waste-dumping problem. Although Compulsory Specification VC 8087 holds plastic bag manufacturers to a minimum 100% post-consumer recyclate by 2027, that at best appears a stop-gap measure to resolve an ages-old crisis.
Some local hemp stakeholders have noticing and are coming to the rescue. Green Route Hemp Industries earlier this year released a hemp tote bag version they expect to make a stir on the carriers bag market. The future of grocery shopping goods handling and all-purpose carrying bags looks decidedly non-plastic and increasingly hemp.
Still on the environment, hempcrete-based habitats are being touted part of the solution toAfrica’s climatic conditions. They are cheaper to construct, are sustainably and locally-sourced and a right fit in their surroundings, just as bamboo houses are natural for Indonesia.
Hemp’s wider possibilities are also set for realisation in post-decriminalisation and legalisation jurisdictions such as Malawi. A fast mover in inducting a medicinal export-based cannabis industry, Malawi is well-positioned to lead the pace on hemp as well.
This is in no small part thanks to hemp lobbyist Industrial Crops Association (ICA), formed in 2015 when Malawi issued its first low-THC industrial hemp trials licence.
“Over 40 countries worldwide cultivate industrial hemp but Africa lags behind,” states the ICA. It cites seed oil and cake (for nutrition and cosmetics), fibre (textiles, clothing, rope) and building material (hempcrete) as special hemp focus areas for Malawi.
Prototypes and hemp-based technologies are taking off with speed in Malawi with hemp and cannabis company Invegrow recently unveiling yet another hempcrete-based administrative office block at its Nangula Estate farm, just outside Lilongwe. Call it a case of putting one’s cash where one’s mouth is. “Malawi stands to benefit from industrial hemp since it is an agricultural country with much expertise in this area, land and resources and is centrally located for exports,” declares the ICA.
Malawi already had five years’ experience in industrial hemp testing before finalising its 2020 binding regulations framework, which now once again places it in the front-row on this cannabis variety’s cultivation and processing. The ICA notes that “other countries are fast-catching up”. One need not look no further than neighbouring Zimbabwe on that. Earlier this month, Zimbabwe unveiled an ambitious 1000-hectare hemp trials farm project in Mvurwi, about 100km north of Harare, in a public-private partnership.
Over in Botswana, the first post-legalisation government-issued cannabis licence was granted to a local subsidiary of Swedish hemp conglomerate, Hemp Innovations Europe (HIE). Zimbabwe and Botswana authorities cite hemp’s 5 000-plus downstream and upstream derivatives potential and eye construction, textiles and the food value chain, among others.
For Botswana, reducing its construction and bio-feed import bills is a priority while Zimbabwe’s projected $5-billion industry might be a big cog in its economy revival wheel plans.
In Namibia, cannabis activists are calling for a leveling of the playing field, using hemp food as a tool to argue their positions. Mainly South African-based corporations are allowed to sell hemp-based food products while marginalised indigenous communities with hundreds of a hemp food tradition are barred. All forms of cannabis use are currently prohibited in Namibia.
Anchored by Africa’s leading industrial power, South Africa, where much is expected of hemp-based industries in the ongoing revolution, with the right mindsets and good timing, Africa is where hemp’s next chapter stands to be written. The continent is poised for a socio-economic, environmental, health and even political turnaround.
However, the outcome depends on how well it handles hemp.
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