What Makes Africa Particularly Suited for Cannabis Cultivation?

Most of Africa's climate is favorable to cannabis cultivation. The plant likes warm and sunny weather and does not do so well in the cold. Certain cannabis strains can also thrive in extreme heat. Some growing techniques such as dry farming allow farmers to grow the crop using mostly rainfall with minimal additional watering if the climate conditions are right. 

Drip irrigation is also a cheap and efficient way to water cannabis crops in Africa. The cannabis plant grows in stages. First come the initial germination and seedling. Then, the plant enters the vegetative phase and produces most of its leaves and branches. After several weeks, the plant can enter the flowering stage. If the plant is a male plant, it will grow pollen sacks. If it is a female plant, it will produce flowers ("buds") that can be smoked or processed into tinctures and oils. The plant switches from the vegetative phase when the days begin to shorten and the nights last at least 12 hours. Even though cannabis needs 12 hours of darkness to bloom, prolonged and continuous sunlight (up to 12 hours) will produce the best flowers. Thus, most of Africa is optimal for cannabis production since almost the entire continent lies within 35 degrees of the equator, where the days never get too short. While many areas of the United States are suitable for outdoor cannabis cultivation, most of Europe lies north of the 40th parallel and so does not receive enough sunlight during the winter. The plant cannot flower in the European summer either, since the long summer days keep the plant in the vegetative phase. Of course, European growers could grow their crops indoors using artificial lights, but this requires a tremendous amount of electricity, which is costly both in terms of money and environmental toll.