Marakabei (Lesotho) (AFP)

On the heights of the city of Marakabei, Lesotho, stand huge greenhouses, out of sight. Medigrow has already built eighteen. Inside neither fruits nor vegetables, but hundreds of meters of cannabis plants.

"We have three rows, each containing 1,200 plants, and we have 3,600 on the entire infrastructure," Albert Theron, the production manager, proudly explains.

The cannabis that grows there is legal and properly regulated.

Two years ago, Lesotho, a small kingdom of 2.1 million people in the heart of South Africa, decided to bet on this new El Dorado by becoming the first African country to allow the cultivation of medicinal cannabis.

By law, its seeds are largely purified: medicinal cannabis can not contain more than 0.03% of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the psychoactive agent of cannabis; it contains almost exclusively cannabidiol (CBD), a non-psychoactive substance.

Based in Lesotho, Medigrow has invested € 17.4 million in its site around the capital Maseru and is currently building a heliport to transport its "green gold" faster and more securely, says its head of operations, Relebohile Liphoto.

A significant investment, in line with the development prospects of the market for cannabis for medical use, which are colossal. Today estimated at 150 billion dollars (135 billion euros), it could reach in 2028 the 272 billion dollars (248 billion euros), said the bank Barclays.

"At present, we have nearly 2,000 kilograms of biomass and we are going to produce more than 1,000 liters of CBD oil," says Liphoto of his operation in Lesotho. "Depending on the state of the market, you can sell a liter of cannabis oil between $ 6,000 and $ 21,000."

- Priority to foreigners -

"This is a huge opportunity for the country," said AFP Deputy Minister of Health Manthabiseng Phohleli.

Lesotho, hit by unemployment, an AIDS epidemic affecting 23% of its population and facing a glaring lack of public services, is among the poorest countries in the world, ranked 159th out of 189 in the development ranks human rights.

Authorizing the cultivation of medicinal cannabis "attracts investors" in Lesotho, rejoices Ms. Phohleli, who points out that "a dozen companies are already working in the territory."

Grow this green gold at a price: an annual license of 30,000 euros to pay to the State, renewable each year.

This sum, which is huge for the country's businesses in the face of Lesotho's fragile economy, has so far allowed foreign companies - notably Canadian and US - to dominate the market.

Mothiba Thamae, 38, has been growing apples, peaches and grapes on her 7.5 hectares for more than 20 years and would have liked to enjoy this manna too. "We thought we were going into cannabis when it was legalized, but licensing is way too expensive for us," he says.

A frustration. "It was hoped that the government would give an opportunity to small farmers Basotho (the local ethnic group) to cultivate it legally." Unfortunately, no.

The small country of southern Africa is nicknamed "the Kingdom of Heaven" because it is the only one in the world whose land is more than 1,400 meters above sea level.

- "Of the bonus" -

It enjoys sunshine distributed throughout the year and fertile land, ideal conditions for growing cannabis.

In the countryside, the inhabitants have not waited for legalization: they have been growing for centuries the "matekoane", cannabis in Sesotho language.

"The first historical record of the presence of + matekoane + dates back to the sixteenth century, according to researcher Laurent Laniel, of the European Monitoring Center for Drugs and Drug Addiction." The Koena would have settled in Lesotho around 1550 by buying land for marijuana. "

Even today, this crop provides a large share of the income of many small farmers.

Shasha owns a corn plantation in the center of the country. Between the ears, he has been cultivating cannabis illegally for about twenty years. "Vegetables feed my family, money from cannabis is a bonus, it allows me to survive, to pay school to my children," says the farmer, under the guise of anonymity.

He can count on many smugglers to sell his goods.

Jama is one of them. "Every month, I can spend up to 80 kilos on the other side of the border with South Africa, he prides himself," it brings me between 400 and 500 euros.

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) estimates that 70% of cannabis in South Africa comes from the mountains of the "Kingdom of Heaven" where, he adds, "marijuana is the third source of income. "

© 2019 AFP