South Africa’s Western Cape province unveils strategic development plan for cannabis industry

SOUTH AFRICA – The government of the Western Cape province, South Africa, has unveiled a mainstream roadmap for informal producers and agri-processors that will promote hemp as a rotational crop as part of improved environmental and regenerative practices.

The roadmap will also help evaluate measures to protect and promote unique Western Cape hemp and cannabis characteristics.

Hemp is used to make a variety of commercial and industrial products, including rope, textiles, clothing, shoes, food, paper, bioplastics, insulation, and biofuel.

Minister Ivan Meyer said the Western Cape Department of Agriculture Cannabis Implementation Plan (CanPlan), aligns with the objectives of the National Cannabis Master Plan (CMP) launched by the Executive in 2021 and should contribute to economic development, job creation, rural development, and poverty alleviation.

“The industry has the potential to absorb all skill levels, including low, semi, and skilled labor. Tapping into this will contribute to growing our rural economy and creating jobs, which is this government’s key priority,” Meyer noted.

The CanPlan highlights that the potential size of the Cannabis industry in South Africa is estimated at R28 billion, possibly creating about 10 000 to 25 000 jobs across the value chain.

According to Mogale Sebopetsa, director of the province’s agriculture department, the roadmap will focus on three main areas.

The first provides for the integration of traditional and informal producers and agro-processors into the legal industry.

The second will focus on promoting cannabis as a rotational crop within regenerative environmental practices, while the last will be dedicated to evaluating measures to protect and promote the unique characteristics of cannabis produced in Cape Town. Western.

He added that the plan identified several agriculture-led initiatives, such as industry stakeholder coordination and information sharing, and encouraged collaborative research and trials on suitable varieties and extension and production services.

Interventions will focus in particular on the establishment of coordination of actors in the sector and the sharing of information, the strengthening of support for research and testing programs to determine the appropriate varieties of cannabis for cultivation, and the improvement of extension and production support services,” explained Sebopetsa.

Per the plan, the Western Cape held 23% of the cannabis production licenses issued in South Africa, and 11 of the 300 hemp permits issued nationally.

However, the growing conditions of the Western Cape would negatively impact the province’s competitiveness in the primary production of medicinal cannabis or hemp compared with other growing regions in South Africa, such as Pondoland in KwaZulu-Natal, which was more suitable for cannabis and hemp production.

The situation could change if new varieties were developed that were better suited to the Western Cape’s growing conditions, the plan suggests.

For all the latest food industry news from Africa and the World, subscribe to our NEWSLETTER, follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn, like us on Facebook and subscribe to our YouTube channel.