Welcome to the latest episode of the Africa Science Focus podcast distributed in partnership with African Arguments. Africa Science Focus is a weekly podcast series by SciDevNet and is a platform for reporters in Sub-Saharan Africa’s least developed countries to report on the science that’s having an impact on their communities.

In Sub-Saharan Africa, cannabis has been in use for generations but remains illegal in many countries. Now, the debate over medical marijuana and the development of regulated cannabis industries is heating up. While many who champion the growth of cannabis say the industry could drive Africa’s development, others have questions about whether farmers and communities will be the ones who benefit.

Michael Kaloki speaks to Gama Bandawe, head of biological sciences at the Malawi University of Science and Technology, who calls cannabis a super crop and says making it legal across Sub-Saharan Africa is the “right and logical thing to do”.

This programme was funded by the European Journalism Centre, through the European Development Journalism Grants programme, with support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.