The Western Cape Agriculture Department has formalized its relationship with the Agricultural Research Council (ARC) to develop the Province’s hemp industry.

The WCAD is to support “capacity building and knowledge transfer” in terms of an agreement signed with ARC on 1 April 2025 but has not yet set aside any budget for development.

The Department says a Farmers Day was held in March 2025 at ARC’s Bien Donne research facility where current hemp permit holders and government officials were invited to view the cultivar trials planted in November 2024. The Department provided an update on changes in legislation with regards to hemp and cannabis cultivation.

In response to questions in the provincial legislature tabled on 4 April 2025, Agriculture MEC Ivan Meyer said the Department was “also collaborating in the Hemp National Variety Trials on a provincial level at Bien Donné ARC during 2024/25 season and is establishing a trial at the Outeniqua Research Farm in the current 2025 season. This trial will investigate optimal planting time, cultivar selection, and planting density under both irrigation and rain fed conditions.”

Meyer said the province had no regulatory oversight in the cannabis space and the Department had “limited capacity to support current and potential cannabis producers to the fullest” and that the national department was handling hemp licensing queries and SAHPRA was responsible for medical cannabis licensing.

He said “Recent national policy developments have shifted the Cannabis Master Plan to the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition, with the goal of creating a comprehensive framework for the cannabis and hemp industries. This centralization highlights the national government's role in regulating cannabis, while provincial governments such as the Western Cape play supportive roles by implementing strategic plans like the CanPlan”

The CanPlan is the Western Cape’s cannabis strategy developed by Wesgro in 2023 where it seeks to develop the western Cape as a pharmaceutical manufacturing hub and encourage investment in the hemp industry..

Meyer said “no specific budget had been allocated for hemp and cannabis production and processing”. 

However, he said the Directorate of Plant Science was“contributing the Alternative Crops researcher staff’s time in co-coordinating towards the national variety trials, farmer’s days and presentation of short courses.

“Furthermore, smallholder farmers would ordinarily be supported under the CASP, however this is yet to be included in the grant framework of DALRRD. Wesgro, through the Agribusiness Investment Desk has been facilitating and securing investment in the cannabis value chain.”

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