Medicinal cannabis group Botanical Holdings said its southern African subsidiary has been awarded a certification of registration as an industrial hemp cultivator in Zimbabwe.
Southern African Hemp Products (Pvt) Limited has been awarded the certification by the Agricultural Marketing Authority of Zimbabwe, enabling the business to begin logistical preparation for hemp cultivation in the country once it has gained investment approval from the local investment and development agency.
South African Hemp Products is currently planning to begin a trial grow of around 30 hectares later in 2021, principally to develop technical knowledge and refine expertise.
Once this trial is completed, South African Hemp Products will expand its cultivation footprint with the option of extending up to 400 hectares in due course, the group said, before establishing CBD extraction facilities on-site once hemp has been cultivated.
Further north, the group's Eurocan division recently began construction of its second medicinal cannabis cultivation and processing facility, in Portugal, following completing of its first cultivation site, in Lesotho, earlier in 2021.
Test growing cycles at the 2,800-square-metre greenhouse and adjoining 800 sq m processing facility are currently underway.
Botanical Holdings chief executive Carl Esprey said: “Following a considerable amount of research resulting in greater understanding of the potential health benefits of medical cannabis, we have seen an increasing global demand for sustainable hemp derived CBD products.
“Botanical Holdings’ business model is focused across the entire legal medicinal cannabis industry. Our knowledge of this industry, combined with our experience of undertaking large scale agricultural projects, ensures Botanical Holdings is well placed to expand into the CBD and hemp cultivation space. This expansion will better enable Botanical Holdings to meet the increasing demand for cannabisderived medicines and health products, as well as providing both short and long-term revenue access.’’