Op-Ed: Marijuana farming – a silver bullet for rural poverty?
In desperation, farmers, often widows, risk their lives growing marijuana to feed their families
The Daily Maverick (South Africa)
Tuesday, September 26, 2017
Tuesday, September 26, 2017
When marijuana farming is legalised in South Africa who will benefit? This is not just a hypothetical question. Right now, marijuana is being legally grown at scale by the House of Hemp in irrigated tunnels in the Dube Trade Port, north of Durban. This while the poorest of the poor face arrest and being sprayed with poisons for growing the same crop. If marijuana farming becomes a controlled but legal enterprise, then it is clear that South Africa’s mostly white, commercial farming sector will grab the opportunity to grow this high value crop and thus reinforce South Africa’s existing economic and spacial inequalities.
tags:
