A
Malawian company ‘Invegrow’ says the country is potential land for Industrial
Hemp farming in Africa continent and can offer enormous economic opportunity
once it is adopted as cash crop.
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| Tanya Clarke |
Invegrow
Founder and Director, Tanya Clarke disclosed this in Lilongwe when her company
and another South African company, Hemporium were making presentations of
importance of Industrial Hemp and how it must be disassociated with Indian Hemp
or Marijuana locally known as Chamba.
Clarke
said Industrial Hemp not used for smoking can support diversify Malawi economy
and offer opportunity for foreign exchange earnings.
She
said; “Government is pushing for the agro-processing and farming, The
Industrial Hemp is a crop with extremely economic potential and supports
National Export Strategy of oil seed cluster in Malawi.”
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| Products from Industrial Hemp |
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| Concrete for construction can be obtained fro the crop |
From
natural fibres of the crop, Clarke said can be used make range of products such
as: food products for the health food market; construction materials and
automotive industries; pharmaceutical products; cosmetics; and textiles.
Currently
she said the crop is being grown in over 36 countries across the globe and the
plant grows organically easily; grown without herbicides or a lot of pesticides.
“Climate
is good here and almost everyone is an expert farmer, so we really see Malawi
becoming a World Leader in Industrial Hemp” she added
Since,
some people have got a very conservative view towards the plant and are very
scared of hemp mostly due to regulations, Clarke, clarified that Industrial
Hemp is not Marijuana but are of the same family. She said industrial hemp
therefore does not contain psychoactive chemical elements that affect people
when smoked.
The
Invegrow founder has asked support from all Malawians to request Government have
the Legislative changes of definitions of cannabis so that the hemp is adopted
as a new cash crop in Malawi and Malawians benefiting from its products on both
a health and economic level. However, she said this requires market access,
creating production lines and showing a proof of concept model.
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| Tony Budden |
To
cement Invegrow’s remarks, Marketing Manager for Hemporium, Tony Budden, emphasized
that the Industrial Hemp fibre is three times stronger than cotton. “Its fabrics
are durable and long lasting and that its seeds are incredibly healthy source
of protein and nutritious oils packed with all 8 of the Omega or essential
fatty acids needed for immune system.” He said
“This
crop fits so well into small scale farming and commercial farming. So the
opportunities are definitely there.” He added
Budden
also distanced the herb from Chamba saying the herb is not used for smoking it
and is not a drug crop. But he said though, it is from the same family, it is
used for different purposes.
“In
nature we have to look at how we use things, the plant is not bad; some people
use for bad purposes, while some people use for good purpose. So we are
promoting the Industrial uses of the herb plant” he added
Budden
also expressed hope of opportunity for change in Malawi looking at the way
government has recently responded to calls for the approval of the plant and how
people look at the plant now.
He
said it is very important that government has allowed Chitedze Research Station
to carryout study of the crop with funding from Invegrow (Government as a joint
venture to do the research.)
The
Hemporioum Marketing Director has emphasized that said it will be up to the
government to make new regulations to allow Industrial Hemp grown and also Malawians
to demand speedy enactment of the legislation so that they can begin to grow it
and start to realize the benefits.
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| Hon Boniface Kadzamira: President Mutharika wants it |
Meanwhile
the Nchisi North Parliamentarian, Hon Boniface Kadzamira who first brought the
issue in the National Assembly that the Industrial Hemp should be grown in
Malawi, has hinted that President Peter Mutharika expressed his full support to idea that the herb be grown in the
country during recent
meeting with him.
“Government
has seen the need to diversify and try Industrial Hemp” said the
parliamentarian who could not hide his excitement following government go ahead to Chitedze Research Station for trials of growing the plant.
“Since
I mention this issue in Parliament, I see change in people’s opinion toward the
plant because at first they thought I was talking about Marijuana. But now people
from my constituency and others from across the country are calling to ask for
the seeds” said Kadzamira
However,
the parliamentarian has since urged media to create awareness on the economic
benefits of the hemp and how it is different from Marijuana because at the
moment he said Malawians knows little on this matter.
