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TECHNOCRATS from 16 countries who are members of the African Regional Intellectual Property Private Organisation (Aripo) are gathered in Victoria Falls to discuss strategies of improving crop yields in the wake of climate change.
The 38th session of the meeting began yesterday with a call for the African continent to embrace innovation to counter climate change and drought through coming up with resistant crop varieties.
Aripo director general Fernando dos Santos said the Harare headquartered 19-member organisation had agreed to hold a diplomatic conference next year to establish a regional system for protection of crop varieties against bio-piracy.
“We’re here to discuss operations of the organisation and review activities of the year as well as approve the budget for next year,” said dos Santos on Tuesday.
“We’re taking important decisions in terms of the continent and next year we’ll hold a diplomatic conference on establishment of a regional system for protection of new varieties of plants to develop agriculture in Africa.”
Dos Santos said African agriculture was facing challenges mostly emanating from climate change hence the need to incentivise experts to come up with drought resistant crops for food sustainability.
“We need to develop agriculture in Africa and we’re working to come up with a mechanism to promote and give incentives to breeders so that they come up with drought and disease resistant breeds. Agriculture is the engine of development in Africa. We’ve to come up with alternatives for the effects of climate change and fight the problem of low yields and drought,” he said.
Earlier on Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Deputy Minister Fortune Chasi gave a key note address in which he underscored the role of innovation on the use of intellectual property.
“African countries need to invest more in medical research but there’s need for proper policy direction for member states. I’m pleased to note that Aripo has come up with a draft framework for the protection of new plant varieties.
“This is a welcome development as it will help to ensure that we promote and incentivise our plant breeders to be able to propagate new plant varieties that can withstand drought, disease resistant and also produce high yields to enhance food security in the continent,” he said.
Increased food production is at the heart of the country’s economic agenda, Zim-Asset, under the food and nutrition cluster.
Ebola hit members of the organization such as Liberia, Sierra Leone and Somalia are not attending the meeting which ends on Friday.
Aripo is an inter-governmental organisation that deals with administration of international property rights to Africa and has 19 countries as members.
It was created to pool together resources at continental level to develop an intellectual property system in Africa.
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