Time for hemp value chain in Zimbabwe?

22 Dec, 2017 - 00:12 0 Views

eBusiness Weekly

Nixon Shingi Chekenya
Industrial hemp is one of the most important fibre crops in the world. It has been cultivated much longer than any other fibre crop.

There seems to be a never-ending list of benefits of the crop with products ranging from clothing and textile, to fibre and food stuffs. In specific terms, there are at least 50 000 uses of industrial hemp. It is confusing that industrial hemp is perceived as Marijuana. Even the Dangerous Drugs Act in Zimbabwe equates industrial hemp to marijuana/dagga.

No doubt, these two are related. Both industrial hemp and Marijuana come from the plant family Cannabis Sativa L, but from different varieties. Marijuana contains high levels of Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), about 30 percent while THC content of industrial hemp is 0,3 percent.

Researchers have argued that you will not get “high” when you take hemp unlike marijuana because of the low (very low) THC content in industrial hemp.

As you might know, hemp is illegal to produce in Zimbabwe. However, outside Zimbabwe, hemp is grown in more than 30 countries including Malawi, China, South Africa, and France.

ln 2016, the top hemp-producing country was China, followed by Chile and the European Union (EU). Interestingly, it is legal to import hemp products into Zimbabwe. According to the United Nations Commodity Trade Statistics Database, industrial hemp processed imports (including fibre, flour, textiles and clothing) in Zimbabwe were valued at $17 million in 2011,and have been on the rise reaching up to an excess of $40 million in 2016.

An acre of industrial hemp produces 8 000 pounds of hemp seed which when cold-pressed yields 300 gallons of hemp seed oil and a by-product of 6 000 pounds of high protein hemp flour. Hemp seed oils are both food and bio-fuel. Currently, the productive seed oil crops in Zimbabwe are soyabeans, sunflower and rape seed or cranola.

Each of these three seed oil crops produces between 100 and 120 gallons of oil per acre. Hemp seed produces three times more oil per acre than the next most productive seed oil crops, over 300 gallons/acre, with a by-product of 3 tons of food per acre. Industrial hemp seed oil is also far more nutritious and beneficial to our health than any other seed oil crop and environmentally sustainable as there are hardly any herbicides and/or pesticides required to grow it.

Over and above the food and oil produced, there are several other by products and benefits to the growing of this crop.

Hemp bust fibre 6-10 tonnes/acre of hemp bust fibre. Hemp bust fibre makes canvas, lace, Iinen and ultra-thin specialty paper.

Hurd fibre 25 tonnes of hemp hurd fibre/acre Hemp hurd fibre makes all grades of paper, composite building materials, animal bedding and material for the absorption of moisture and oils. The residual flowers, after the seeds are extracted, are used for medicinal purposes.

Let’s do the math

What is an acre of industrial hemp worth?

1 acre of industrial hemp:

= 8 000 hemp seed = 300 gallons of oil at $150/gallon = $45 000

= 6 000 pounds of hemp flour at $2/pound=$12 000

= 31 tons of raw stalk inbales at $7 sitonne = $2 325

= 6 tons of bast fibre at $1 000/ton = $6 000

= 25 tons of hurd fibre at $300/ton = $7 500

This sums to a total of $60 825/acre at the very least.

Show me any crop that produces this amount. Our government should think in terms of supporting an industrial hemp value chain. Prohibiting the cultivation of this ancient plant, the most productive source of oil, fibre, biofuel, cloth, medicinal cures and protein, is robbing the nation billions of potential revenue.

At the least outcome, this crop is a billion dollar project because in its place we have industries that give the economy jobs, medicinal cures and billions of dollars of revenue.

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