Kenyan Community Benefits From Its Genetic Resources

KAMPALA, UGANDA – In Kenya, residents living around Lake Bogoria in Baringo County have received Kenya shillings 2.3 million, about USD 26,000, as royalties paid by a Danish bio-enzyme company.

[Corrected] Danish-based Novozymes makes enzymes for use in a range of different industries, including the detergent, paper, textile and food and beverage industries. One of their enzyme products was originally isolated from a bacteria found in the hot caustic geysers of Lake Bogoria, located in Kenya’s Great Rift Valley.

The royalty payment comes after successful negotiation between the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) and Novozymes.

In June 2007, Novozymes and the KWS entered into partnership on biodiversity research and development. The partnership includes a research and development programme and the rights for Novozymes to make commercial use of microbial diversity from Kenyan protected areas.

At the signing ceremony, Novozymes issued a press release, saying “the agreement was in line with the principles of the United Nations’ Convention on Biological Diversity.”

Under this agreement, if Novozymes commercialises products developed on the basis of microbial strains isolated as part of the collaborative project, the Kenya Wildlife Service will receive a milestone payment and a running royalty from sales.

The $26,000 first payment is paid to the local government administration, which is the county. The county’s council will budget for the money. Subsequent payments will also be paid to the council.

Novozymes was also granted rights, on similar terms, to commercially make use of specific strains isolated in Kenya which were already in Novozymes’ possession.

According to Johan Melchior, head of media relations at Novozymes, the 2007 agreement has expired and Novozymes is not active in Kenya any more. “We continue to have royalty obligations as long as we sell any products relevant to the agreement,” Melchior said. “The royalty is paid on an annual basis.”

The deal was reached a few months after Kenya ratified the Nagoya Protocol. The Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits Arising from their Utilization to the Convention on Biological Diversity outlines policies on access to genetic resources and fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from their utilisation.

The fair and equitable sharing of the benefits arising out of the use of genetic resources is one of the three objectives of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). The CBD recognises the sovereign right of states over their natural resources in areas within their jurisdiction. It was ratified by Kenya in May 2014.

Baringo County becomes the first county in Kenya to benefit from royalties accruing from its genetic resources exploitation.

Genetic resources in Kenya have been considered common property in Kenya and were subject to free use among the communities within which the genetic resources were found.Due to the increased use of genetic resources in biotechnology, pharmaceuticals products and other related industries, there has emerged a need for regulation especially in relation to the commercial exploitation, benefit-sharing and preservation of the same.

Earlier in 2009, the Kenyan government had adopted its first national policy framework: the National Policy on Traditional Knowledge, Genetic Resources and Traditional Cultural Expressions.

The Kenyan patent system recognises innovations based on genetic resources and provides the framework for investment in the development of the new products. With a comprehensive legislative and policy framework on genetic resources, the local communities are able to benefit from the exploitation of not only the genetic resources but their intellectual property as well.

The national constitution, especially Article 69, is also charged with genetic resources and intellectual properties. Article 69(1)(c) further states that the State shall “protect and enhance intellectual property in, and indigenous knowledge of, biodiversity and the genetic resources of the communities”.

Speaking during the handing over ceremony, Baringo County Governor Benjamin Cheboi was quoted by Baringo County News as saying, “communities have every right to benefit from their God-given resources.”

Kenya has diverse genetic resources which include an estimated 35,000 known species of animals, plants and other micro-organisms.

At the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), an intergovernmental committee has been formed on related issues, and negotiations are currently underway to address the intellectual property aspects of access to and benefit-sharing in genetic resources.

Image Credits: Valentina-Storti, Courtesy of Baringo County News