AATF will document the status of Intellectual Property (IP)regimes in Africa with the objective of providing a central pool of knowledge on IP issues of relevance to the work of AATF.

The preliminary research for this has been conducted and a publication on current laws on plant variety protection (PVP), patents and copyrights will be produced. The publication will be updated periodically.

Background

AATF operates within three strategic thrusts as outlined in its strategy document:

• Negotiating access to proprietary technologies that enhance the productivity of agriculture in Africa;
• Managing partnerships for project formulation, product development and deployment to introduce innovative agricultural technologies to African farming systems; and
• Managing knowledge and information to support technology identification and development, and the policy environment.

In line with the third strategic thrust, AATF has embarked on monitoring emerging trends in intellectual property (IP) as part of one of the strategies – Periodic review of trends in key areas – in the AATF Ten Year Strategic Direction.