Afristar Foundation · SA Cannabis Lobby
Cannabis: South Africa's reconstruction crop
Food, fuel, fibre, housing and medicine, from one plant.
A country that needs new rural industries
Persistent unemployment, a declining rural economy, climate pressure and poor diets all meet in the same communities. Few crops can answer all four at once.
Jobs
Rural unemployment and few formal opportunities outside a handful of towns.
Land & farming
Farmland and farmers waiting for a viable, high-value crop and a route to market.
Climate
Agriculture is both a source of emissions and a possible carbon sink.
Health & food
Poor diets and costly medicine. Hemp seed is protein- and omega-rich; medical access is limited.
One plant, five raw materials
Hemp and cannabis are the same species, Cannabis sativa L. The law separates them by THC level and by use.
- Medicine
- Adult use
- Cannabinoid extracts
- Food, protein and oil
- Biofuel
- Bioplastics
- Personal care
- Juicing
- Mulch and soil building
- Textiles and clothing
- Paper
- Rope and composites
- Building material, such as hempcrete
- Animal bedding
- Paper and mulch
Regulated cannabis is now mainstream policy
countries
Nearly 50 countries have legalised cannabis to some degree, and about fifty run formal medical programmes (2026 industry counts).
European adult-use or home-grow laws
Malta (2021), Luxembourg (2023), Germany (2024) and Czechia (2026) allow adult possession or home cultivation.
global hemp market by 2032
The DTIC's cited projection for the global hemp market, roughly triple today's size.
A sector government wants to grow 10% a year
The National Cannabis Master Plan now sits with the DTIC. Government's stated aim is for South Africa to lead in commercial hemp and cannabis production. Officials told Parliament in March 2026 they are targeting about 10% annual growth from an estimated R14bn baseline.
“We want South Africa to lead in the commercial production of hemp and cannabis.”President Cyril Ramaphosa, State of the Nation Address, February 2025
The Afristar hub model Modelled scenario
A co-operative hub model that puts emerging and existing smallholder farmers at the centre and keeps processing value in rural areas. Figures below are Afristar modelling, not forecasts.
Model assumes an average revenue of about R175,000 per hectare, which depends heavily on product mix and price. It should be tested against site-specific business cases.
absorbed per hectare of industrial hemp, according to Cambridge researcher Darshil Shah. Over 200,000 ha, that is roughly 1.6–3 million tonnes of CO₂ a year. Modelled
Where the law stands, October 2026
Medicinal cannabis legalised.
Constitutional Court decriminalises private use and cultivation by adults. Buying and selling stay unlawful.
Hemp declared an agricultural product under the Plant Improvement Act.
Cannabis for Private Purposes Act signed. It is not yet in operation.
Responsibility for the Cannabis Master Plan moves to the DTIC.
New Plant Improvement Act in force. The industrial hemp THC limit rises tenfold, from 0.2% to 2%.
Draft private-use regulations published: up to 750 g possession and five plants per adult. Quantities still need parliamentary approval before they take effect. They were still draft in September 2026.
Final regulations and commencement of the Act, the Hemp and Cannabis Commercialisation Policy, and an overarching Cannabis Bill (government targets Parliament by mid-2027), all still in development.
What Afristar proposes
Industrial hemp & cannabis
- Treat it as an agricultural commodity and cash crop.
- Use existing genetics, with small farmers as the cornerstone of production.
- Classify at the processing gate by end use, not by field THC. The 2% limit applies to hemp only.
Medical cannabis
- Differentiate by use.
- Pharmaceutical products by prescription, under Good Manufacturing Practice.
- Non-specific conditions through traditional and complementary health channels.
Responsible adult use
- Extend the 2018 ruling so adults have a lawful route to access, including designated growers, registered community clubs and sharing between adults.
- Regulate no more restrictively than alcohol and tobacco.
- Keep it inclusive of traditional and landrace growers.
Hurdles still to clear
Cannabis can be South Africa's primary recovery agent
Afristar Foundation works on policy, rural enterprise models and bioregional development, and its director has coordinated the SA Cannabis Parliamentary Lobby since 1996.
Sources
- Business Day, 8 Mar 2026: officials' R14bn market estimate and 10% growth target; Master Plan moved to the DTIC in September 2024; Commercialisation Policy and Cannabis Bill timelines.
- BusinessTech, 9 Mar 2026: R36bn estimated illicit market; DTIC report projecting a $36.7bn global hemp market by 2032.
- SAnews, 9 Sep 2025: 90,000+ jobs (a dtic claim); Ramaphosa 2025 SONA quote; hemp declared an agricultural product in October 2021; medicinal cannabis legalised in 2017.
- Business Report, 1 Dec 2025: Plant Improvement Act in force, hemp THC limit raised from 0.2% to 2%.
- GoLegal, 2026 and Business Day, 4 Feb 2026: draft regulations (750 g, five plants) and the 2024 Act's status.
- BusinessTech, 6 Sep 2026: regulations still proposed; the Act does not create a commercial industry.
- allAfrica / SA Government, Feb 2026: the Act and draft regulations are confined to implementing the private-use ruling.
- Cape Argus, 14 Apr 2026: applicants (including small-scale farmers) and the challenge to the Act and Hemp Regulations.
- Dezeen, 2021: Darshil Shah, University of Cambridge, on hemp's 8–15 t CO₂ per hectare.
- Cannigma, 2026 and Hanf Magazin, May 2026: global country counts; Malta, Luxembourg, Germany and Czechia.
- BusinessTech, 2025: the withdrawn foodstuffs ban.
- Grooten (2023), Wageningen University thesis, and the CCS Phase 1 report (November 2023): Mpondoland landrace household estimates, from the Umzimvubu Farmers Support Network, and the area extrapolated from them.
Facts and legal status checked in October 2026. Hub-model and per-hectare figures are Afristar modelling. The R14bn, 90,000 jobs and R36bn figures are government or press estimates, not independently audited. The Commercialisation Policy and final regulations were still pending when last checked. Afristar Foundation · Infographic first published 2020, fully revised 2026.