Zimbabwe $1.25 Billion Plan Sees Cannabis as Biggest Cash Crop
- Earnings from first year seen almost trebling those of tobacco
- Government issued 44 licenses since legalizing cultivation
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Zimbabwe sees export earnings from cannabis outstripping those of tobacco by almost three times after last year legalizing the cultivation of the plant for medicinal use.
The government has issued 44 licenses since September when it announced rules for growing cannabis, and sales are forecast to reach $1.25 billion in 2021, Treasury spokesman Clive Mphambela said by phone Monday. Thirty producers “are ready and some were doing test production,” Mphambela said. He declined to comment on stocks of cannabis available for export.