Civic education needed for proper industrial hemp regulation

 

By Alice Chunga, MANA

Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Ben Phiri has said civic education is essential to change the people’s perception regarding industrial hemp regulation.

He said this on Thursday during the 48th Session of Parliament where the Cannabis Regulation Bill was passed.

The Bill, which seeks to distinguish the criminalised Indian hemp (chamba) from medicinal cannabis through cultivation, production, possession and marketing, was first tabled five years ago by former legislator Boniface Kadzamira.

“Perception and mindset change are important because they will enable the nation to grow in the aspects of economy and health.

“Growing Cannabis is good for the country and that is why different parties have supported the Bill,” he said.

He then urged church leaders to civic educate people that Cannabis is different from ‘Chamba’ and as such people have to be made aware of the distinction.

Speaking after passing of the Bill, Minister of Agriculture, Irrigation and Water Development, Kondwani Nankhumwa said the media would play an important role in informing the public about Cannabis regulation.

“We have a hard task ahead; we need to go out to the masses to explain that this is not legalising the sale of ‘Chamba’ which people know but rather cannabis for medicinal purposes.

“We intend to do massive civic education through the Department of Agricultural Extension Services under Ministry of Agriculture, which is a fully-fledged media outlet which produces radio and television programs and brochures,” he said.

However, he added that its resources would not be enough; therefore, different media houses have to come in and partner with the ministry to disseminate information to the masses.

The different media houses will also be key in publicising information, advertisements and procedures of attaining license on the same.

Malawi follows in the footsteps of Zimbabwe, Zambia and Lesotho as well as South Africa, where medicinal and recreational use was decriminalised in 2018. 

“Today is a very glorious day for me personally and, I think, for the entire nation,” former MP Kadzamira is quoted as saying by UK’s The Guardian.

“It is my strong view that cannabis will in the long run replace tobacco to become our major cash crop — that will contribute hugely to the GDP,” The Guardian quotes Kadzamira.

Kadzammira told The Guardian that the industry will create employment opportunities in the farming and industrial sectors.

The Guardian says agriculture offers employment to nearly 80% of Malawi’s population and that tobacco, which is the country’s major export, but the global decline in its use has impacted the economy. 

Malawi’s tobacco industry is also marred by exploitation, as international companies such as British American Tobacco have sought cheap labour – including child labor and low tariffs on raw tobacco for export.

“We don’t want to replicate what has happened in the tobacco industry,” Kadzamira is further quoted. “Malawians should participate, not as tenants, but as equal partners in this new sector.”

Kadzamira wants cannabis products to be processed in-country.

Cannabis, which can thrive in dry conditions, is a good fit for Malawi’s climate.

Invegrow became the first company in Malawi to get government authorisation to conduct research trials on low-THC industrial hemp in 2015. 

Run by Tanya Clarke, a British entrepreneur, Invegrow completed trials in 2018 and was one of the groups that advised on the draft bill.

According to The Guardian, Invegrow has processed hemp products such as paper, bricks and cosmetics in Malawi. 

Clarke The Guardian that the next step for the company is to involve work with the government to investigate local varieties, as imported seeds were used in the trials.

“There will be lots of people interested and looking at Malawi at the moment, but the next step is to make its investment climate favourable and positive,” said Clarke.

She added that she hopes the medicinal cannabis industry, which is less accessible to local entrepreneurs, will “bring foreign currency and exchange to the country, and that [it] should be done responsibly”.

Clarke said government consultations during the drafting of the bill were inclusive, paving the way for the industry to “open a lot of doors for lots of different kinds of people here”, and stressed the importance of traditional farmers and growers being involved.

Malawi’s Rastafarian community has been among those advocating decriminalisation and contributing to discussions on the draft bill. 

The Guardian quotes Rasta Lazarus Kadiwa, 36, in Lilongwe as saying: “As we Rasta, we make food with ganja, we can make soap with ganja, we can make clothes with ganja, we can make medicines.

“We’ve been looking for this all these years. It’s our chance to do business with the government, because we need to have our own licences to plant our own ganja.

“People are going to celebrate. Rastas are going to sing and chant and shout, because we know at last we’re going to make something through this healing of a nation, ganja.”

Chatinkha Chidzanja Nkhoma, technical director of Malawi Hemp Association and a prospective cannabis farmer, is also was also talked to by The Guardian, saying traditionally Malawians have used cannabis to treat illnesses “from fever and smallpox to mental health problems”.

“As a young mother, I was taught to give my baby cannabis when he developed chicken pox,” Nkhoma is outed as saying. 

“Hemp will be the new economic frontier, which will greatly benefit Malawians.”