Cannabis academy: Growing the next generation of entrepreneurs

Trenton Birch is on a mission to educate South Africans on how to run a successful professional cannabis and hemp business.

Birch is the chief executive and co-founder of Cheeba Africa, a nongovernmental organisation that owns Cheeba Cannabis and Hemp Academy. This educational centre specialises in teaching aspiring cannabis and hemp entrepreneurs how to run successful businesses. The academy comprises two campuses—one in Rivonia, Johannesburg, and the other in Cape Town.

Birch and his team also offer lessons to government officials who are willing to understand the cannabis industry. He spoke about his mission of improving the cannabis sector into a force to be reckoned with.

From a garage to a thriving academy

“When starting the NGO, it was difficult because we did not have the resources as we used to work from my garage. Myself, Linda Saboto, and Bianca Kaiser, are my business partners,” he said.

“Nobody knew much about the cannabis business. We struggled to find people who could teach, but we finally managed to access them. After working in the music industry for 10 years, I decided to do something new. I realised that the cannabis industry was growing and grabbed the opportunity.”

“Before starting, I went to Los Angeles and Spain to investigate and learn how the industry was in those territories. When we started, we were not sure what we wanted to do and later realised that there was a real need for education in the cannabis space. That is where the idea of the academy came about.”

A holistic approach to cannabis education

The academy offers everything one needs to know in the sector, from growing cannabis to complying with the laws and the entire value chain. It also assists trainees with personal development lessons such as meditation and yoga. The school offers environmentally oriented subjects such as permaculture to prepare their students.

Birch and his team started operating in a garage with limited resources. Now their service of teaching about the cannabis and hemp business is in demand on the continent, especially in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, and Malawi.

“We are getting a lot of demand for what we offer across the continent. So, things are starting to expand,” he said.

Advocating for full legalisation

“We consider ourselves to be purpose-driven entrepreneurs. We work on things that we believe in, and we believe that cannabis, hemp, and education are three key components that can assist in shifting the cannabis narrative. There are vast employment opportunities and small business development through cannabis. The substance is immense, and we believe that education is the key to changing the narrative.”

The NGO also runs a cannabis club and other related projects and is one of the South African organisations advocating for the full legalisation of marijuana. Birch believes the government should fully legalise cannabis because of its health benefits.

“We will not give up on pushing the government to do the right thing because this will be one of the biggest industries in the world. We are confident this industry will do well.”

A background in the music industry

Before becoming a marijuana-originated entrepreneur, Birch, with numerous media, public relations, and marketing qualifications, worked in the music industry. Some years ago, the Johannesburg-born music fanatic based in Hout Bay, a seaside suburb of Cape Town, had been involved in several NGOs specialising in music and media projects, including one he owned, a creative media school with 450 students where they taught animation, film, and audio.

He was also a founding member of a team that built a music and entrepreneurial school in Langa township in Cape Town a few years ago. His love for education and cannabis played a vital role in motivating him to be part of South Africa’s fast-growing cannabis industry.

A life rooted in health and activism

Birch had an unusual childhood as his father was an engineer travelling around the world with him. He was born in Johannesburg and lived in Kenya, Nigeria, and the Middle East.

When he was about 15 and a pupil at Woodmead High School, he joined the ANC and became an activist. The married father of two, who has been a vegan for 30 years, cannot be separated from his favourite drink, kombucha, or sweetened black tea.

Birch loves Thai food. “I love anything healthy. I’m very into health food. When it comes to smoking cannabis, I have been engaging with it for a very long time,” he said. “It’s always been part of my life, but I am not a heavy cannabis user. I used it for relaxation and to deal with stress.”

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