Ghana: In readiness with the African Regional Intellectual Property Organization in the Agric Sector to utilize the Plant Variety Protection (PVP) Strategy

By Abdul Rahman Bangura-

NEW AFRICA DAILY NEWS (NADN) Freetown, Sierra Leone– …an IP mechanism to reinforce innovation in the sector for growers and consumers in Ghana, Diana Asonoba Dapaah – Deputy Attorney-General and Minister for Justice fessed up.

She supposes that the nation will retain the prospect of unfurling roadways for financial development, mainly in the rural sector. She drove these observations at the beginning of a three-day regional workshop on Plant Variety Protection in Accra.

The International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV) delivers a framework for coordinating PVP laws internationally. Nations that are fellows of UPOV adhere to its guidelines, which establish minimum criteria for plant variety protection.

Across the board, plant variety protection plays an essential role in enabling innovation in agribusiness by assuring that breeders can profit from their endeavors in acquiring contemporary and improved plant varieties.

It hits an equilibrium between citing innovation and fostering comprehensive credentials to plant genetic aids for additional research and development.

There are 79 members of UPOV, encircling 98 States, with the acquisition of Amenia in March this year. The UPOV Convention acknowledges the intellectual property rights of breeders that

evolve unique varieties. There are more than 160,000 new varieties protected in UPOV members. According to the World Farmer’s Organization, more than 80% of growers contemplate new plant varieties crucial to acclimate to climate change. Farmers demand new varieties to respond to climate change while providing healthy and tasty food choices at affordable prices.70% percent of the food we eat is plant-based.

The stakeholder’s forum furnishes parties with the skills required to progress the plant variety protection system. It is under the theme: “Plant variety protection for sustainable agriculture development and food security in the context of climate change”.

According to the Deputy Attorney-General, Ghana by the enactment of the Plant Variety Protection Act, 2020 (Act 1050) established a legal framework to protect the rights of breeders of new varieties of plants and promote the breeding of new varieties by improving the quality, and quantity of products in agriculture, horticulture and forestry.

“The plant variety protection system allows farmers, growers, and breeders to have access to new varieties for planting. It also ensures that breeding institutions and individuals reap the rewards of their investment and breeding activities,” she let out.

The Registrar-General of Ghana, Grace Ama Issahaque on her part noted “The Ghana Industrial Property Office (GHIPO), correspondingly understood as the IP Office, is corresponding with the appropriate stakeholders in Ghana to carry out the legal framework for the protection of plant variety in the most applicable ways for the usefulness of society.

“I am really delighted to inform you that the office has received its first applications from two Ghanaian research institutions and the numbers are quite impressive. Therefore, this workshop is being organized in Ghana when the country has just began implementing its PVP system and we look forward to obtaining more knowledge and also share our experiences,” shepointed out.

An Agronomist and Chief Executive Officer of the Quarcoo Initiatives – Samuel Nii Quarcoo said, the administration can stem the food price strolls by the effective implementation of plant variety protection.

“Where to put the money is in this plant variety protection so that new variety can be produced and marketed, and the citizens will pay less for the same thing we are producing,” he said.

The circumstance was laboriously patronized by the Director-General of ARIPO, Bemanya Twebaze, The Vice – Secretary General of UPOV, Ms. Yolanda Huerta, President, Community Plant Variety Office, (CPVO) of the European Union, Francesco Mattina and the Representative of USPTO (Senior Patent Attorney, Office of Policy and International Affairs,) Christian Hannon.

Also in attendance was the Secretary General of, the International Seed Federation (ISF) Micheal Keller amongst others.

New Africa Daily News Abdul Rahman Bangura Reports, Africa Correspondent