Zimbabwean farmers looking to cash in on a global boom in medicinal cannabis face a litany of costs and regulatory barriers, but growers like Munyaradzi Nyanungo are betting it will boost their fortunes after decades of economic decline.The southern African country became one of the first in Africa to legalise the production of medicinal cannabis in 2018, hoping for a fresh income stream of badly needed export dollars, and has issued 57 licences.With finance coming in from foreign companies like U.S.-based King Kong Organics, black farmers like Nyanungo, 35 — who have struggled to prosper in a moribund economy — are looking to branch out from traditional crops like tobacco into cannabis.“We stand to sell cannabis at $25 per kilogramme, which is five, six times more than what a good tobacco crop can give you. We are actually sitting on a green gold mine,” Nyanungo said.The global cannabis industry could be worth $272 billion by 2028, according to Barclays analysts, and Zimbabwe’s Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube has said the country wants at least $1 billion of that — more than it currently makes from its top agricultural export tobacco.As Africa’s biggest tobacco producer, Zimbabwean officials also recognise the need to diversify away from the addictive narcotic that is proven to be ruinous to the health of smokers and those around them. Cannabis is seen as a less harmful alternative to cigarettes and its cannabidiol (CBD) widely accepted as a natural remedy.