In Episode 13 of Gaia Gossip – On the Move: Climate Impact Storytelling, we travel just one country further west—to Pakistan. The team remains the same: Maren continues her journey with Pierre, co-founder of Hemp4World, researching the industrial uses of native cannabis plants in each country. Yet, the setting could not be more different. Shaped by culture and religion, cannabis in Pakistan is not only banned and prohibited, but also regarded as haram—impure or forbidden—carrying an even heavier stigma than in India.
Together, Maren and Pierre venture far west into Pakistan’s border regions with Afghanistan, where cannabis has one of its deepest roots, in the land historically known for hashish and charas. Their journey is an adventurous one, leading them to the remote Madaklasht Valley, among the poorest in Pakistan, yet remarkably original in how people still cultivate their land and sustain their way of life. Hidden beneath the protection of the massive Hindu Kush mountains, remnants of ancestral knowledge surrounding the plant and its healing properties continue to survive.
With the local women’s collective of Madaklasht, they host a workshop demonstrating how the whole plant can be used—for fibre, paper, and most intriguingly, as a building material.
Back in the capital, their expertise does not go unnoticed. The government, aware of their interest and knowledge, summons them to join Pakistan’s planning committee to advise the minister tasked with developing a supply chain for industrial cannabis. Many meetings follow, during which they emphasize that there is no need to import hemp from the Global North, as Pakistan’s native cannabis strains are already well adapted and thriving. Yet, this advocacy requires careful navigation: they must also explain that the ongoing civil unrest in the Afghan border regions is perpetuated by keeping cannabis illegal—fueling a black-market economy that continues to drive armed conflict, poverty, and inequality in precisely those areas.
Her Many Voices Gaia Gossip programs empower climate solutions and community connection to be amplified for the betterment of Mother Earth.
Host Maren Krings is a Climate Impact Storyteller who uses her skills and credentials in photography, filmmaking, content writing, and keynote speaking to communicate the potential of hemp for climate resilience and social justice.
She has a B.F.A. in Photography from the Savannah College of Art & Design, an online degree in Climate Change Studies and Environmental Science from the University of Exeter, and multiple certifications in related fields.
Produced in partnership with BiCurean.com
Watch: https://youtu.be/M1WsT9uSX7c