Zimbabwe’s industrial hemp sector appears to have finally found its footing, with mainstream agriculture embracing the crop – and putting concrete steps in place to facilitate financing, creating markets and providing support.
This was reinforced by Agricultural Marketing Authority CEO Alice Mapfiza during a recent visit to the Mvurwi commercial hemp showcase project (image from the Mvurwi Hemp Day above courtesy ZBC News), launched on 11 April 2026 at Disi Farm by the Zimbabwe Industrial Hemp Trust (ZIHT).
She said Zimbabwe was moving beyond regulation to building markets for the hemp sector.
Moving From Promises to Positioning
“We must move from describing industrial hemp as a promising industry to confidently positioning it as a successful one; a benchmark for other agricultural value chains on how coordination, strategic partnerships, and teamwork can drive growth and transformation,” she said.
“This field day is not just about showcasing a crop. It is about showcasing a future industry. Hemp is not just a crop; it is an ecosystem of opportunities. From fibre and CBD [cannabidiol] to construction materials, textiles, food products, and carbon markets, hemp offers Zimbabwe a pathway to diversify agriculture, industrialise production, and unlock new value chains.”
Kumbirai Mateva, head of the Sustainable Agricultural Practices division at Kutsaga Research, told attendees that Zimbabwe is experiencing a shift in mindset when it comes to hemp: it is increasingly seen not as a controversial crop but rather as a strategic one that can support industries beyond the farm, producing fibre, oil, and medicinal compounds, while also fitting into climate-smart agriculture.
He said varieties collected from around the world and tested at Kutsaga underperform in Zimbabwe because they aren’t suited to local climatic conditions. However, of the 20 varietals tested at Kutsaga, the Yuma cultivar from China, showed the most promise, and 10 ha have been planted at Disi Farm by the ZIHT.
“We are not operating in the theoretical realm; we are now in a phase where science, policy, and the industry are beginning to align, so we have learnt very quickly that we cannot rely on imported genetics,” he explained.
Mateva said the country is now collecting local landraces to establish its own seed systems, and the programme is at the testing phase.
Although the hectarage under hemp is still miniscule in comparison to its potential, plantings will more than double this year. Speaking to Farmer’s Weekly, Leslie Ngoshi, head of Agronomy and Extension Services at the ZIHT, said farmers countrywide have collectively grown 40ha of the crop, which is expected to reach 100ha by August 2026.
The AMA says cultivation is only one part of the value chain, and seeks to it encourage investment not just in production but also in processing, logistics, and market development.
CEO Mapfiza said that the organization’s key focus going forward was to develop a structured market where farmers, processors, and buyers are efficiently connected.
“The greatest opportunity in hemp lies not in exporting raw materials but in value addition. True value will be realised when Zimbabwe processes hemp locally into finished or semi-finished products such as textiles, oils, construction materials, and industrial inputs” she said.
Finance Remains a Major Challenge
Finance remains a major challenge, Mapfiza warned stakeholders at the ZIHT’s Field Day. She sad the AMA was engaging financial institutions to support the expansion of the hemp value chain.
“We are promoting structured financing mechanisms, including agro-bills, which are based on projected receipts from the industry. These instruments enable farmers to access inputs and working capital while linking production to reliable markets.
“Through continuous engagement with financiers, we are working to ensure that hemp becomes a bankable crop.”
She noted that coordinated models such as contract farming and co-operative systems can make hemp a powerful driver of rural development and employment, provided smallholder farmers, youth, and rural communities are integrated into the hemp value chain.
Mapfiza said the foundation for growing Zimbabwe’s industrial hemp industry has already been laid: “The policy framework is in place, the regulatory system is operational, and the private sector is showing growing interest. The next phase is scaling, coordination, and commercialisation.”
Finding the right hemp for Zimbabwe
At the field day, agronomist Brian Neurashe, head of the Department of Research and Specialist Services in the Ministry of Agriculture, Mechanisation and Water Resources Development, said over 20 hemp varietals had been tested in collaboration with Kutsaga.
Neurashe, who has been responsible in identifying suitable varietals for Zimbabwe, has played an instrumental role in getting the commercial pilot project going.
“We have identified only three or four [germplasms] that do well, including Yuma, which is from China. We have been looking at various agronomy parameters, including planting dates, and have concluded that the most ideal planting date for the crop is October to November,” Neurashe said.
“We have also been looking at seeding rates. We have not done exhaustive research on it, but we are using a rate of 80 seeds per square metre.”
Zimbabwe has struggled to get its hemp industry off the ground since industrial hemp regulations were gazetted in 2020, legalizing the controlled production of the crop in Zimbabwe. The ZIHT has played a major role in garnering government support for hemp by building the right foundational blocks.
The country has now firmly set its sights on participating in the global hemp industry which is on a strong growth trajectory, with the market projected to expand from approximately US$6,2 billion (around R103 billion) to more than US$20 billion (R330 billion) by 2033.
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