Articles

Under the Traditional Knowledge Bulletin publication programme, the UNU-IAS TKI is currently running a series of guest articles on topical issues in traditional knowledge. If you would like your research to be considered for inclusion in this series, please contact us with details. Please note that the views expressed in the articles are the author's own.

• Shifting Sands of ABS Best Practice: Hoodia from the Community Perspective
  Kabir Bavikatte, Harry Jonas and Johanna von Braun
  Published: 31 March 2009
  
  Article summary: Following the filing of international patents by the state-owned Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and subsequent claims of biopiracy regarding the San’s traditional knowledge (TK) about the natural appetite suppressant in Hoodia, a benefit-sharing agreement was reached between the CSIR and the San in 2003, to share with the San a portion of the royalties from potential drug sales.
  
  The San-Hoodia case is perhaps the most well known case of access and benefit-sharing (ABS) in the world. This article presents the conceptual and practical challenges the San faced granting access to their TK according to prior informed consent (PIC); the difficulties involved in negotiating the benefit-sharing agreement; the market uncertainties that have characterized the post-agreement period; and the governance upheaval the various San communities have faced. Having firsthand experience working with the San, the authors conclude that ABS is a double-edged sword for communities. On the one hand it provides an opportunity to generate livelihoods and be rewarded for biodiversity stewardship. On the other, it establishes a trade framework characterized by great disparities in bargaining power between parties, in which communities are by far the weakest players.
  
  In Shifting Sands of ABS Best Practice: Hoodia from the Community Perspective, the authors propose that by developing bio-cultural protocols communities are better placed to make informed decisions about whether or not to engage with ABS, and when they do, to ensure that their interests are best served. Bio-cultural protocols, the authors argue, provide communities an opportunity to articulate for themselves and for users their understanding of their bio-cultural heritage, as well as their views on ABS, and communicate them to outside interests. Read the full article...