Lesotho Wants To Export Cannabis To The Rest Of The World

Lesotho is one of the poorest countries on the African continent. The country is estimated to be home to roughly 2.2 million people and has a long history with the cannabis plant. Citizens of Lesotho have used cannabis for medical and spiritual purposes for many years.

With the legal cannabis industry spreading all over the globe, entrepreneurs and government officials in Lesotho want to be able to export the cannabis that they grow to legal markets in other countries. Per Time:

The Lesotho government is now trying to spur development of legal plantations supplying the burgeoning global medical cannabis industry to broaden its tax base—currently dominated by exports of diamonds, water and wool—and create jobs. About two-thirds of the country’s 2.2 million people live in rural villages, and many survive off subsistence farming. Cannabis is a critical piece of the government’s agricultural strategy, which it hopes will help fund basic infrastructure such as roads, electricity and water pipes.

If Lesotho is successful in its push to join the global cannabis industry via legal exports, it is vital that it is the residents of Lesotho that benefit from the policy and industry change, and not just wealthy individuals from other parts of the world.

Many countries in Africa have been exploited over several decades for their natural resources by individuals and entities with deep pockets, Lesotho included, and that cannot be allowed to occur with the cannabis plant.

It is likely that the demand for cannabis legally cultivated in Lesotho will yield lucrative financial results, and the revenue generated from legal exports needs to be used to help one of the poorest countries in Africa.

This is a prime opportunity for Lesotho to improve the conditions for its citizens via job creation, a boost to local economies, and to generate revenue via cannabis sales to consumers around the world. An opportunity like this one may not happen again for many years in Lesotho, if ever, so it’s extremely important that the push for exports is done in a responsible and equitable manner.