Botswana seeks to use Gaberone’s ‘twin city’ partnership status with Toronto to harness Canadian cannabis expertise and to provide a potential springboard for products into North American markets.

This emerged at the Medicinal Cannabis and Industrial Hemp Conference held at the University of Botswana on 31 January 2025 where requirements for rolling out a formal cannabis sector were explored and there was discussion on how this should be effectively managed going forward.

READ: Colarado-based Nutiva  gets in quick, sponsors Botswana’s upcoming April hemp conference.

Delegates from South Africa, Ghana and Canada shared their knowledge in setting up legislative and regulatory frameworks at the event, held under the theme, “Enhancing local entrepreneurship and innovation ecosystems: unlocking the potential of medical cannabis and industrial hemp”. It was supported by the Canada-Botswana City Partnerships Conference.

Attendees generally agreed that priorities coming out of the meeting were to sort out legislation, identify landrace strains and seek out potential markets.

South Africa was identified as the major potential target market for cannabis products, and representatives from that country were well in attendance, particularly academics. North-West University’s Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences sent three staff members, including House and Hemp founder Dr Thandeka Ruth Kunene. The Agricultural Research Council and University of Johannesburg were other South African stakeholders at the conference.

Keynote speaker, Professor Ketlhatlogile Mosepele, said that Botswana was undergoing “a paradigm shift in our economic growth models”. Mosepele, who is also Vice Chancellor of the University of Agriculture and Natural Sciences, said medicinal cannabis and industrial hemp would allow Botswana to “stimulate local entrepreneurship” while “leveraging the benefits of agricultural natural resources for socio-economic growth”.

He outlined the inherent economic, environmental and social benefits of actualising a green economy in the country, including revitalising “sluggish growth”, food security, irrigation technology, water recycling and organic pesticide control.

He said the development of an export-orientated cannabis industry would fit in with Botswana’s long-running plans to diversify its diamond-dependent economy and to usher in inclusive employment by generating more jobs in rural areas.

Botswana’s change of heart about cannabis was introduced by its new leader, President Duma Boko (pictured above). He came to power as an unknown outsider, promising to breathe new life into the faltering economy where unemployment stands at 27,4%.

Amid the high expectations, there have been questions as to whether a green economy can take root in Botswana, known for its arid climate. Others have worried about the possibility of cannabis being favoured at the expense of food production and still others, whether markets can be secured.

Dr Odireleng Molosiwa from the National Agricultural Research and Development Institute (NARDI) explained that Botswana received 300-400mm of rain annually, which was enough for the cultivation of hemp, which he recommended for crop rotation due to its seasonality, as it could be grown from December to April, the rain season in southern Africa.

Hemp cultivation would also allow the localisation of biomass and livestock feed production and wean Botswana off importing soy bean as was currently the case, Dr Molosiwa stated, speaking on the local television show “Botswana Tonight”.

Gaborone is twinned with Toronto and the two cities have an agreement to cooperate on five main areas: cultural tourism, manufacturing, education, exports and mining. The partnership is envisaged to provide Botswana with a springboard to launch into North American cannabis markets.

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