MALAWI
Malawi is following in the footsteps of other African countries such as Lesotho, South Africa, and Zimbabwe to look at legalizing cannabis. The country’s farmers are now looking to grow cannabis as Malawi’s tobacco industry, the country’s biggest foreign exchange earner, has dwindled due to anti-tobacco campaigns.
Tobacco has accounted for 13% of Malawi’s gross domestic product and 60% of its foreign exchange earnings.
Farmers say that just a small portion of a cannabis crop fetches more money than one can get from any crops a farmer can grow.
This March, legislators will consider a bill on legalizing medical marijuana and hemp products.
Boniface Kadzamira is a Malawi parliament member who has long pushed for the legalization of cannabis. “We were the first in this part of Africa to start discussing this thing. Those countries that came after us have gone ahead of us and have already started issuing licenses,” Kadzamira said.