Strain Hunters is a documentary series made by Amsterdam’s Green House Seed Company in which founder Arjan Roskam and breeder Franco Loja traveled to remote cannabis-growing regions, starting in 2008, to find and preserve landrace strains. Expeditions took the team to Malawi, India, Morocco, Jamaica, Swaziland, Colombia, the Congo and more, and the films mix plant hunting with the culture and economics of the farmers who grow it.
We first wrote about Strain Hunters in 2011, after the India expedition came out, and called it one of the best cannabis documentaries we had seen. That still holds.
What Is Strain Hunters?
Strain Hunters is a long-running set of travel documentaries produced by Green House Seed Company, a seed bank and coffeeshop group that Arjan Roskam co-founded in Amsterdam in 1994. Roskam started the series in 2008 with a stated goal of finding rare or vulnerable landraces: cannabis populations that have adapted over generations to one place and have never been crossed with modern hybrids.
The appeal is simple. Most commercial strains descend from a small pool of genetics collected decades ago. Landraces carry traits breeders can use, such as resistance to local pests and mold, unusual terpene profiles or flowering times. When farmers in a region switch to imported hybrids, those old lines can disappear, and the films frame the expeditions as a race to collect seeds before that happens.
Who Were Arjan Roskam and Franco Loja?
Arjan Roskam is the Dutch businessman behind Green House, often introduced in the films as the face of the brand. His company’s strains have won many Cannabis Cups, including Arjan’s Haze #1 in 2006 and Super Lemon Haze in 2008 and 2009, according to the company’s history.
Franco Loja was the Italian breeder who did much of the on-the-ground plant work and narration. He worked alongside Roskam for close to 20 years and became the best-known figure in the series. Loja died on January 2, 2017, at age 42. Roskam said publicly that the cause was cerebral malaria contracted in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where Loja had been working with local growers. One Green House strain, Franco’s Lemon Cheese, carries his name.
Strain Hunters Expeditions
Episode listings for the series show these main destinations. Release years vary by source, so we list them in rough order rather than pin each to a date.
| Expedition | What the team looked for |
|---|---|
| Malawi | Malawi Gold, a long-flowering African sativa landrace |
| India | Himalayan plants and traditional hand-rubbed charas making |
| Morocco | Rif Mountains kif farming and sieved hash production |
| Jamaica | Old island sativa lines and Rastafari growing culture |
| Trinidad and St. Vincent | Caribbean landraces grown in remote hill plots |
| Swaziland (now Eswatini) | Swazi landrace sativas grown by smallholder farmers |
| Colombia | Colombian Gold and other classic South American lines |
| Congo | Central African landraces; Loja’s final expedition |
| South Africa and Thailand | Later episodes that continued the project after Loja’s death |
The India Expedition
The India film is the one our original 2011 post reviewed, and it remains a good entry point. The team’s mission was to learn how Himalayan farmers make charas, the hash rubbed by hand from living plants, and to collect seeds from wild and cultivated cannabis growing across the foothills. What made it stand out was not just the footage of plants. The film spent real time on the cultural, economic and legal side of cannabis in India: how families depend on the crop, how it fits into local religious practice and how prohibition shapes village life.
Why the Series Matters
- Genetic preservation. Seeds collected on the trips fed Green House’s breeding program, keeping some landrace material in circulation.
- Culture on camera. Few films at the time showed cannabis farmers in Africa, Asia and the Caribbean as people with skills and traditions rather than as criminals.
Viewers should keep one thing in mind: Strain Hunters is produced by a seed company, so it is partly marketing. The plants found on camera often turn up later in the Green House catalog.
Where to Watch Strain Hunters
The episodes were released free online, mainly through the official Strain Hunters YouTube channel, and some were also distributed by other outlets. Availability changes, so search the channel for the expedition you want. For more films in the same vein, see our list of the best marijuana documentaries, and for the Jamaican side of the story, our guide to ganja laws in Jamaica. You can browse modern descendants of classic landraces in our strain guides.
Strain Hunters FAQ
Who created Strain Hunters?
Arjan Roskam of Green House Seed Company in Amsterdam started the series in 2008, with breeder Franco Loja as his main on-screen partner.
How did Franco Loja die?
Loja died on January 2, 2017, at 42. Roskam attributed his death to cerebral malaria contracted during work in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Is Strain Hunters still being made?
Yes, episodes appeared after Loja’s death, including South Africa and Thailand trips listed for 2022 and 2024.
Where can I watch Strain Hunters?
Most episodes have been posted free on the official Strain Hunters YouTube channel. Check there first, since streaming availability changes.
For adults 21+ in legal states. General information, not medical advice.
