Introduction
On 30 June 2022 the Cannabis Africana project teamed with the Hidden Narratives project to do a poster presentation at the Bristol Poverty Institute. Our presentation focused on illicit livelihoods in Africa. Specifically, we explored how drug policies reproduces poverty in the African context. For more details on the content check our abstract below.
Abstract
Drug policies in Africa are rarely designed from a development lens. In their current form, drug policies tend to prevent small operators from making a livelihood, often targeting those who are involved in subsistence activities around cannabis farming and the sale of tramadol. As a result, state policies play a key role in the reproduction of poverty in Africa. This poster highlights the counterproductive impacts and tensions arising from the implementation of drug policies as well as the narrative of small-scale operators contesting these interventions. It illustrates the impact on local communities and highlights the quintessential development issues that are often neglected when implementing measures associated to the global war on drugs.