THE AFRICAN DAGGA CULTURE

In my country, dagga is a Luo- Kenya’s 2^nd largest ethnic group- name for a fish that is a delicacy. In Southern African countries, dagga the name of the common plant cannabis. This plant in Sothern Africa dates back to 16^th century Bashilange tribe who lived in what the German explorer, Herman Von Wissman described as ‘daggers drawn’. He describes a heap- smoking worship/ culture of the dagga plant among the tribe known as the Ben- Riamba meaning sons of hemp. In Eastern Africa, the cannabis plant dates back to 14^th century Ethiopia where two ceramic smoking-pipe bowls containing traces of it were recently discovered during an archaeological excavation and in Sudan, where founding of the culture was attributed to a mysterious woman named Sirdar- little is known about this though. This culture has also been documented by other Africa explorers such as David Livingstone, Henri Junod, Jao des Santos- a Dominican priest and one of the first authors on books about the people of Africa- among others.

Photo courtesy of http://www.nguniseeds.com/

Cannabis growing and use wasn’t only practiced in Africa but also in Asia. When industrialization began to take root in Africa- such as that of sugar at the Cape of Good Hope- more labor was needed and the British sought it from its Indian colony who also had a hemp culture, a habit which they brought with them. By the time the whites arrived into and before dividing it into colonies, cannabis was part of African tribes as a way of escaping from humdrum characteristics found in nearly all societies whether primitive or highly industrious. Africa was a country of dagga cultures whereas Europe besot itself in alcohol. 

The global debate around marijuana legislation is pretty vibrant with some states and countries in the US and in Europe respectively, legalizing it either for medicinal or recreational purposes. The United States earns around 2.7 billion dollars from this industry while the EU makes about 10.7 billion dollars. This countries do not produce enough to meet its market demand but they still are able to satisfy it. Where do they get their deficit from? Most of he United States' deficit is from Southern American countries such as Paraguay and Colombia while Europe’s deficit comes from Africa.

Africa is the biggest producer of cannabis in the world with Nigeria, Tanzania, Malawi, South Africa, Lesotho, Swaziland and Congo being some of the countries rated as the highest producers. In Swaziland (majorly dependent on timber and mining which is exhausting the last of the countries’ natural resources) and Lesotho (which is highly dependent on South Africa) cannabis production and sell is illegal but represents a significant source of their hard earned cash.  The crop, predominantly cultivated by poor rural farmers who grow it purely for economic necessities, generates nearly half of all agricultural income, enabling them educate their children and fend for their families. In Tanzania, cultivation of the plant is openly known by the government with some members of its parliament advocating for its legalization citing it as a cash crop of economic gain for both government and the people. In Congo, its illegalization has enriched militia groups and caused feuds amongst them for the control of the trade making it harder for the government to combat them, Rural feuds and conflicts is also evident among the farmers who cultivate it.

Photo Courtesy of http://www.blaauwberg.net/

Just like in Swaziland, Lesotho and many other countries where cannabis cultivation is popularly practiced, its illegalization creates two sets of farmers, those commissioned by the west and the EU consumers market and then a farmer who sees the neighbor benefiting from it and decides to venture into it but doesn’t have the market- where will their harvest go to as most of them are predominantly old farmers who do not consume it? This results to selling it to middle men who rob the poor farmers. With proper policies and laws put in place, its legalization will not only be an economic gain but will also enable governments to control its consumption through taxation and any other reasonable legal measure available, killing illegal smuggling of hard drugs such as heroin and cocaine in the process. It will enable the government and society to teach the youth, who are the biggest consumers, on responsibility and better practices on the use of recreational drugs just like cigarettes and alcohol which cause greater harm.

Throughout history western and European nations have been benefiting despite Africa being the producers of the world’s raw materials. Just like in Kenya, where wildlife is being killed- a major revenue earner- for Ivory and other wildlife products, diamonds in Sierra Leon, coltan in the Congo, oil in Nigeria, where only a few benefit from it. Africa loses its resources due to ignorance, stigmatization and not appreciating its cultures and traditions that have been practiced from one generation to another due to ideologies embedded in it by colonial powers. I’m not saying that we should promote drug use but I advocate for the opposite, do not do drugs. Making it illegal has certainly not helped since the creation of this laws and cases of abuse are on a rise, let’s not leave in denial, its cultivation and consumption is a reality very much alive in Africa, we need to face it and if we do not, we lose both our people and resources.

MORNING

Naivasha, Kenya, the only way I can describe it is how Wangari Mathaai- feminist, environmentalist, pan Africanist and Nobel Lorient winner- does ‘Then- 1977- the land was still largely virgin, full of Acacia trees and giraffes and antelopes, and Zebras. Since that time, however a huge flood of settlers from the highlands has come into the area and begun cultivating crops. As a result, the wildlife has disappeared, trees have been cut, streams regularly dry up, and the whole area is quickly becoming a desert.’ Re- forestation has taken place through time though and this beauty is gradually coming back. I was visiting Naivasha for UHAI’s CFCS V- a conference for the African LGBTI community and friends held annually to discuss current issues in the community and ways to achieve equality and equity.

Naivasha, Kenya. Photo by http://www.planetware.com

During the cocktail party in the evening I met Morning, and we started having a conversation about the first day at the conference, what he liked what I didn’t like and so on and so forth. He also informed me that he was a man with Tran’s experience. I was curious to know which country he was from, I didn’t want to ask since we all had tags with our names and nationality written. He’s didn’t indicate one. Naturally, I inquired and ‘heaven’ he said. I assumed he said it due to his religious believes and I was curious to know he’s denomination. See, in my country freedom of religion is a constitutional fundamental right although at times it isn’t respected by state and non-state actors unlike In the African context- which we are- where it was valued and respected. We have diversity in religion in Kenya, some forbid there followers from giving handshakes, while others forbid followers from taking modern medication or any for that matter but to pray and wait for a miracle. I asked him whether he said this due to religious beliefs, he laughed and noticed that I was determined to find out where he was from. He told me he was stateless but was born and brought up in Burundi. I brood over his situation and I couldn’t comprehend the stigmatization and discrimination he probably faces as a stateless African man with Trans experience from a country experiencing civil unrest.

Statelessness, how can I describe it? A feeling of not belonging, a longing for home, a feeling that you're a stranger everywhere you go, like when you talk no one can understand you. I’m not stateless but if I was I’d probably be feeling this. The UNHCR estimates that about 10 million people are stateless globally with only 3.5 million actually accounted for credibly- so this isn’t definitive statistics. In sub- Saharan Africa the number of stateless persons currently totals to 721, 303 according to data collected from 4 countries out of the total 47 that also have widely varying estimates, statelessness is then bound to affect more than double the number of persons currently accounted for in sub- Saharan Africa and maybe more. A stateless individual is not entitled to particular rights more so rights that only citizens of a country can enjoy. 

In my country for instance, the stateless persons of the Nubian and Makonde communities cannot have identification documents like an ID or passport, thus automatically can neither vote or run for public office, cannot travel abroad, opening a bank account is impossible as well as finding employment even after graduating from college or university- where these institutions require provision of identification documents for one to join. As a result they have been subjected to poverty and the likely hood of facing double the discrimination a regular Kenyan may face from authorities or citizens alike (like the Nubian of Kibera- Africa’s largest slum.)

Others are bound to statelessness by the virtue of their ethnicity- like the Kenyan Arab and Somali communities, the world speaks little of them, states show little effort to address their plea and citizens hardly notice them or are just silent. Ten million stateless people globally which includes 1.5 million or more in sub- Saharan Africa face what the Nubian and the Makonde face every day or even more and others just by the fact of their ethnicity just like the Arab and Somali communities of Kenya.

So try to imagine someone who faces further discrimination on the basis of their sex, sexual orientation or gender identity like Morning. The silence is loud. Eden Schwartz, a 12 year old stateless boy wrote in his poem Invisible, Indifferent;

‘… I saw you, but you did not see me…

I would have died and you would not have seen me,

Because I was different from you,

You could not have seen me.’