South Africa’s First Legal Cannabis Farm in Stellies

South Africa finally has a legal cannabis farm. Just the other day, Zimbabwe opened up their first legal cannabis farm on prison grounds. Now we have followed suit, and it’s safe to say that it’s a bit more of a scenic location. 

Scenic Location

Polkadraai Strawberry Farm, located in Stellenbosch, Western Cape, has been given the first commercial license to cultivate cannabis for medical purposes. It is the first in the country, but surely won’t be the last.

The South African Health Products Regulatory Authority, or SAHPRA, has made an allowance for them to cultivate 20 tonnes of dried marijuana in a massive square meter greenhouse.

The Company Responsible

Felbridge, the company responsible and owners of the plant, will produce cannabis for CBD manufacturing and other medical purposes. They are taking a phased approach, starting with a small crop to test the waters.

Once satisfied, they will scale as necessary and eventually fill their allocated space with massive weed plants. However, seeds are already on their way from Spain, showing they intend to get their process going as soon as possible.

Don’t get too excited though Canna Fam, the bud produced on these premises won’t be for commercial sale. It is kept strictly for exchange with licensed companies such as pharmaceutical companies.

The cannabis company are expecting four to five crops to be harvested per year! This is great news for them as the industry is believed to be worth 27 billion rands by 2023. However, a facility like this doesn’t come cheap. Cultivators will have to bring in 3-5 million rands to set it up with all the necessary applications.

A cannabis farm in South Africa? Not many thought they would see the day. Things are looking up in South Africa’s cannabis industry. It’s only a matter of time before we start seeing farms pop up in different provinces. Does this hint that our government has accepted cannabis fully and may intent to legalise it? Stay tuned and find out.