Malawi is set to become the latest African country to legalize marijuana farming in a bid to boost its economy.

Hundreds of rows of giant bamboo grow about an hour outside of Lilongwe, the capital of Malawi. It’s an unexpected sight—Malawi has lost nearly 10 percent of its forests since 2001, and bamboo isn’t even native to the country. But that’s exactly the reason Grant Blumrick knew he had to start the AfriBam giant bamboo farm.

Although donor funds have assisted with training farmers, providing inputs such as seeds and machinery, and building agriculture-related infrastructure, the sector has experienced limited growth. Ultimately, institutional reform lies at the heart of sustainable agriculture development in southern Africa.

In recent decades, donors have poured billions of dollars into boosting agricultural production in Southern Africa.

Chameleons occur almost exclusively on mainland Africa and the nearby island of Madagascar, and most species inhabit rainforests.

Maize is the preferred staple of most of southern Africa. In Malawi it supplies two-thirds of national calorie intake. Nine out of 10 farming households produce maize and devote over 70% of their land to growing it.

A long, long time ago (8 to 33 million years ago), large parts of eastern and southern Africa were covered with rainforest.