President Duma Boko pressed the green light on Botswana’s first steps towards building a hemp economy during his State of the Nation (SONA) address in Parliament in Gaborone on 10 November 2025.
“Pilot cultivation will commence in December 2025, under strict oversight by the relevant authorities in line with applicable laws and regulations,” Boko stated. He added: “While the entire legal framework and associated regulations are still being finalised, The Cannabis Act and the Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, have been passed into law to facilitate investment in the hemp industry.”
Botswana now joins Lesotho, Malawi, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe in southern Africa in legislating for cannabis and hemp production for medicinal and industrial applications.
“To diversify the economy through agriculture, government is leading a policy shift which will enable licit cultivation and use of industrial hemp and medicinal cannabis,” Boko said. He explained that Hemp Innovations Europe (HIE) would mentor the country’s foray into hemp production following the signing in September of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that would see HIE working alongside the Botswana University of Agriculture and Natural Sciences (BUAN) and the National Agricultural Research and Development Institute (NARDI). The Office of the President is also party to the MoU, which seeks to promote collaboration in areas including education, research, value chains development, policy advocacy, sustainable agriculture and innovation.
“These partnerships will enable research and development for cultivation and processing of industrial hemp and medicinal cannabis. The project will be implemented in phases starting with trials at BUAN and will build up to Batswana farmers with interest in industrial hemp and medicinal cannabis,” Boko announced.
He also highlighted that Botswana was shifting towards climate-resilient farming to offset the effects of drought, pest infestation, floods and bushfires, which had accounted for annual production losses of up to 5 000 tonnes. Hemp, with its low rainfall requirements and deep root system as well as pest resilient qualities fits into these diversification imperatives perfectly.
As well as hemp, the government has identified cattle production and set an ambitious target of raising the national herd from 1.7 million cattle to five million by 2030.
The prioritisation of cattle and cannabis farming to transform agriculture and increase the sector’s share of GDP was first announced by Lands and Agriculture Assistant Minister Dr Edwin Dikoloti as part of the Twelfth National Development Plan (NDP 12) earlier this month.
Boko in his SONA address reiterated some of the finer points of that plan and emphasised the country aimed to raise agricultural contribution to GDP from the current 2% to at least 6% in the medium term. “The sector is already undergoing a bold transformation aimed at boosting productivity, creating jobs and strengthening food security,” he said. Overall, cultivation acreage had increased by 34.2% in 2024/25 compared to the 2023/24 season, yielding a total of 144 000 tons in production, said Boko.
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