While there are certain varieties of hoodia being grown in botanical gardens, you cannot grow it in your garden without a special license. The ones that are grown in these gardens are different varieties of hoodia and not the hoodia gordonii variety. With so much demand for the real thing, hoodia plants are much prized and they are protected in Africa where they grow. Add to that that they mature only when they are five years old and have flowered and you will see why there cannot be a large supply. Any hoodia gordonii plant that has to leave Africa needs a special license.
What the hoodia growing countries like South Africa, Namibia and Botswana wanted was for all the hoodia varieties to be declared as protected in order to ensure that the wrong hoodia plants did not make their way outside. They needed to protect their wealth-maker plant – the hoodia gordonii and did not want the other hoodia plants to be used to make fake hoodia and spoil their flourishing market. One however does not yet know if there is any appetite suppressant quality in the other hoodia plants. It is only with the hoodia gordonii variety that research was successful and the active ingredient P57 extracted.
In parts of South Africa, it is forbidden to collect hoodia plants unless there is a special license that has been obtained. So there is a special permit needed to grow the plant as well as to harvest it. These certificates are issued by the National Department of Agriculture, and there is also a CITES certificate that is necessary. The governments of Africa are concerned about the plant being over harvested and they have also entered into an agreement to share the profits with the San bushmen who are the ones who traditionally used this plant. It was thanks to them that they could identify the hoodia plants that were the real thing.
How does hoodia grow and spread? Since it grew in the wild, it spread very quickly as the seeds were dispersed by the wind and somehow this seems to work better than collecting the seeds and farming it. One must take care that commercialization of the crop does not see this plant fading into history. Yes, the potential for hoodia will be immense if it works the way it seems to in the initial hoodia trials. However, if it proves effective, it will mean a huge demand and rash harvesting will surely mean the beginning of the end for this plant. If it has to survive and be beneficial to us for many more years, there has to be a judicious use of what is available.