Industrial hemp can be a real game changer

01 Dec, 2019 - 00:12 0 Views

The Sunday Mail

Trade Focus
Allan Majuru

More people are increasingly paying attention to industrial hemp, which could soon become the ‘green gold’ for most African countries.

Developments in the cannabis industry, especially for Zimbabwe, have brought a lot of excitement.

However, most people used to confuse industrial hemp with its cousin, marijuana, a psychoactive drug.

Whilst marijuana, commonly referred to as mbanje, is often used as a recreational drug or for medicinal purposes, industrial hemp also offers opportunities to stimulate economic growth and create employment across the country.

Marijuana contains about 30 percent of Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) — a psychoactive constituent of cannabis — which is considered to be very high, compared to industrial hemp, which has 0,3 percent THC content.

Hemp is not intoxicating.

There has been a paradigm shift in most emerging economies following the realisation of medicinal and economic benefits inherent in growing hemp.

Zimbabwe is also part of this revolution.

This year, Government promulgated regulations for the production of both industrial hemp and medicinal cannabis.

These activities are regulated by the Ministry of Health and Child Care.

Industrial hemp is grown specifically for its industrial uses such as the production of textiles, clothing, shoes, food, paper, bioplastics, insulation and biofuel.

Although shipment of raw industrial hemp can earn foreign currency for exporters, value addition allows them to earn more.

Arguably, the country has been experiencing foreign currency shortages partly because we are importing products that we used to produce and still have capacity to produce.

Production of commodities such as bioplastics and insulation, which normally require imported raw materials, stand to benefit if production of hemp and value addition is increased to meet industry demand.

This also applies to the clothing industry, which of late has been affected by low cotton production.

Thus, given potential for industrial hemp to be processed into fabric, the clothing industry could reduce intake of imported raw materials and use the funds towards retooling.

There are more hemp-based products that the manufacturing industry can earmark for the export market.

These include foods, hemp seed, hemp oil and hemp protein in the form of flour or powders.

There is growing demand for hemp foods such as salad dressings, nutrition bars, bread, cookies, granola, nut butter, corn chips, pasta and ice cream in Europe, America and Asia.

Local companies could target value addition, focusing on processes that do not require heavy investment and export to countries that already appreciate the nutritional benefits of hemp foods.

The cosmetics industry can also take advantage of industrial hemp to produce a wide range of products for regional and global markets.

Based on hemp oil, local manufactures can produce natural cosmetics and body care items that can perform well on the export market, given the global drive towards natural cosmetic products.

Cosmetic products that can be produced for the export market include shampoos, conditioners, hand and body lotions, bath and massage oil, and moisturising cream.

Further, industrial hemp can provide a solution for Zimbabwean farmers who are looking to diversify their export products.

With the growing African population and domestic consumer markets, demand for “green” solutions such as industrial hemp products will grow.

In addition, the demand for industrial hemp will also rise quickly as perceptions of the product continue to change.

Therefore, this is the right period for local businesses and farmers to position themselves in line with the growing demand for industrial hemp.

Going forward, it should be easy to grow industrial hemp at a commercial scale as it is a comparatively easy crop to grow, though productivity is very low in poor soils.

It has a few pests or diseases that can retard production, though browsing mammals and birds are a major seed pest.

Currently, industrial hemp is grown in more than 30 countries including Malawi, Burkina Faso, Benin, China, South Africa and France.

The global market for industrial hemp has been increasing in the last three years owing to multiple uses of the crop.

According to Trade Map, which provides online trading data, the global market for hemp is worth more than US$800 million, and the market has been increasing at an average of 2 percent in the last three years.

In 2016, the top hemp-exporting country was China, followed by Netherlands, Canada, Austria and Burkina Faso.

These nations exported 12,8 percent, 6,7 percent, 6,4 percent, 6,2 percent and 5,2 percent, respectively, to the world market.

The biggest importers of the crop include United States of America, Germany, Afghanistan, Netherlands and Austria.

Collectively, these countries import about 45 percent of the product.

According to New Frontier Data report, Africa’s overall market accounts for 11 percent of the total global cannabis market.

Since production of the crop is still illegal in most Africa nations, although the same countries import the commodity, local exporters can scale exports, starting by targeting regional markets.

This is an opportune market and dovetails with the Africa Continental Free Trade Agreement that Zimbabwe is a signatory to.

 

Allan Majuru is ZimTrade’s chief executive officer.

 

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