This report from Sechat, Paraguay, published on 27 March 2025.

The Chamber of Industrial Cannabis of Paraguay (CCIP) has announced that it is collaborating with the government to implement an ambitious legal cannabis production plan that seeks to directly integrate 10,000 agricultural producers.

The project will begin as soon as Congress approves the legalization of cannabis, which is expected to happen in April of this year.

According to estimates by the CCIP, cannabis production represents an unprecedented economic opportunity for Paraguayan farmers. Each producer could earn up to USD 25,000 every four months per hectare cultivated, reaching USD 50,000 per year if they carry out two production cycles per year. This figure far exceeds the income obtained from other traditional crops in the country, such as soybeans and corn, which generate, on average, between USD 500 and USD 1,500 per hectare per year.

The economic and social impact of this measure could be significant. Paraguay has approximately 2.3 million people living in poverty, of which around 700,000 live in extreme poverty, according to the General Directorate of Statistics, Surveys and Censuses (DGEEC).

With this new production model, thousands of rural families could substantially improve their quality of life, moving from extreme poverty to moderate poverty in a matter of months.

The CCIP highlights that the legal cultivation of cannabis will not only bring direct economic benefits to farmers, but will also generate jobs in several areas of the production chain, such as the processing, distribution and export of cannabis and its derivatives.

On the international scene, the cannabis market is expanding rapidly and is expected to reach a global value of USD 57.4 billion by 2028, according to consultancy Grand View Research.

In Paraguay, the expectation is that the legalization of cannabis will be approved by April, after analysis by Congress and eventual sanction by President Santiago Peña. If this is done, the country could position itself as a key player in the production and export of cannabis in the region, taking advantage of its favorable climate and the experience of its producers in crops of high commercial value.

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