Zimbabwean farmers hope for whiff of cannabis boom

Francis Muwani and his colleague Munyaradzi Nyanungo, chat inside a cannabis green house in Bromley, a village in Mashonaland East province in Zimbabwe, April 22, 2022.  [Reuters]

Zimbabwean farmers looking to cash in on a global boom in medicinal cannabis face a litany of costs and regulatory barriers, but growers like Munyaradzi Nyanungo are betting it will boost their fortunes after decades of economic decline.

The southern African country became one of the first in Africa to legalise the production of medicinal cannabis in 2018, hoping for a fresh income stream of badly needed export dollars, and has issued 57 licences.