The first hemp seeds have been distributed to a select group of Eastern Cape farmers as part of Medigrow’s ambitious Coega-based industrial cannabis partnership with the provincial government.
The R100 million Medigrow project to turn the Coega Special Economic Zone into an industrial cannabis hub has begun with 26 farmers receiving hemp seeds to grow biomass for extraction.
This report is from SABC News from 30 January 2025.
Nonceba Kontsiwe, Eastern Cape MEC for Agriculture, said the handing over of the seeds on 28 January 2025, marked the launch of the province’s campaign to become the hub of the country’s cannabis industry.
This comes after R30 million of imported extraction equipment (pictured above) has been installed at Medigrow’s Coega Facility in preparation for its role to process cannabis grown by small-scale farmers.
The project, on a 10,000-hectare piece of land, will see the processing of cannabis for various medicinal products and oils, and is expected to create about 30,000 job opportunities when fully operational.
The facility will be used for cannabidiol extraction, packaging and the manufacturing of CBD pre-rolls, as well as for indoor cultivation. The finished products have been earmarked for export markets such as the United States of America, Europe and Australia. In the long term, Medigrow also wants to use the facility for the production of cannabis for medicinal use.
Kontiswe said: “These machines are going to really assist our farmers to diversify the production of cannabis, to make sure they can be real owners of their produce and also ensure they are part of the value chain. We want farmers to show the rest of the country how economic spin-offs and benefits of trading cannabis.”
Simpiwe Somdyala, CEO: Eastern Cape Rural Development Agency, said:. “What’s really key for us is the commercialisation of the produce done by farmers. We will continue to give support to farmers because we know how big this industry can grow with the right support. Agriculture in Eastern Cape has been sighted as a huge player in the economy for the province and cannabis and hemp can contribute greatly to that.”
Thami Madliwa, Eastern Cape Hemp Producers Association said: “This is not a sword turning and we are now putting the first brick. We have done really well with the land given to us and next year, we would like some more land because there are so many farmers who want to tap into cannabis manufacturing. We would really like government to give more funding to farmers because without money, we can’t do much.”
The Eastern Cape government has injected R4 million into the project, while Medigrow is believed to have invested over R200 million of its R1 billion pledge, with the balance paid in tranches over the next five years.
Medigrow’s role has been to assist with fund-raising, compliance and value-added processing to 'mainstream' small-scale rural farmers who are currently growing cannabis illegally.