Research:2024-03-15/Journal article/business-as-usual-cannabis-legalisation-and-agrarian-change-in-zimbabwe

Research record15 March 2024Journal article

Business as usual? Cannabis legalisation and agrarian change in Zimbabwe

Clemence Rusenga, Gernot Klantschnig, Neil Carrier, Simon Howell

The Journal of Peasant Studies · 2024

Abstract

This article examines the emerging legal cannabis sector in Zimbabwe since 2018, which focuses on medicinal and industrial cannabis with unlicenced uses remaining criminalised, as well as its implications for agrarian change. It shows that the formal sector is set up in a way that prioritises those with substantial resources – marginalising small-scale farmers and illicit cultivators. While this presents the risk of corporate capture, various factors combine to undermine agribusiness' production. However, prohibition of recreational cannabis and the formal sector’s focus on export markets combine to preserve illicit cannabis markets and allow continuation of illicit livelihoods.

The paper's abstract, reproduced as published.

SourceDOI

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Record created 2 July 2026 · maintained by landrace.wiki editors · page history

Published15 Mar 2024

TypeJournal article

VenueThe Journal of Peasant Studies

Year2024

DOI10.1080/03066150.2024.2326568

CountryZimbabwe

SourceDOI

2024-03-15 2026-07-02 Business as usual? Cannabis legalisation and agrarian change in Zimbabwe Journal article Policy and law Clemence Rusenga, Gernot Klantschnig, Neil Carrier, Simon Howell The Journal of Peasant Studies 2024 10.1080/03066150.2024.2326568 https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/03066150.2024.2326568 Examines Zimbabwe's legal cannabis sector since its 2018 opening to medicinal and industrial production, with unlicensed uses remaining criminalised, and the implications for agrarian change. The authors argue the formal sector is structured to favour those with substantial resources, marginalising small-scale farmers and illicit cultivators and raising the risk of corporate capture, though several factors undermine agribusiness production. They find that the prohibition of recreational cannabis and the sector's export focus together preserve illicit markets and sustain illicit livelihoods. An agrarian political-economy reference for cannabis commercialisation in Zimbabwe and the broader Global South pattern of export-oriented legal sectors marginalising traditional cultivators. This article examines the emerging legal cannabis sector in Zimbabwe since 2018, which focuses on medicinal and industrial cannabis with unlicenced uses remaining criminalised, as well as its implications for agrarian change. It shows that the formal sector is set up in a way that prioritises those with substantial resources – marginalising small-scale farmers and illicit cultivators. While this presents the risk of corporate capture, various factors combine to undermine agribusiness' production. However, prohibition of recreational cannabis and the formal sector’s focus on export markets combine to preserve illicit cannabis markets and allow continuation of illicit livelihoods. Zimbabwe