Tony Budden, managing director of Hemporium, a South African-based company that produces clothing, accessories and cosmetics from hemp, told Farmer’s Weekly that he could confirm that Verve Dynamics, and a number of other companies, had been granted licences for the legal production of cannabis.

“I believe this may put pressure on the South African government. We have been researching hemp production for 21 years and could have been a world leader in production, but we are only now looking at viable pilot projects,” he said.

Budden said he assumed that the crop would be exported to countries such as Canada, where the use of cannabis for medicinal purposes was legal.

According to its website, Verve Dynamics is a vegan-friendly manufacturer of highly-purified botanical extracts. The company could not be reached for comment by time of publication.