Geographical Indication (GI) options for Ethiopian Coffee and Ghanaian Cocoa

The Policy Context for a Commons-Based Approach to Traditional Knowledge
The interviews and focus group discussions exposed several challenges surrounding
the preservation of TK within ILCs in Kenya, which in turn could have
an impact on the creation of a TK commons. With the rapid modernisation within
the communities, the younger generation is shunning traditional cultural practices
and traditions. And because of low literacy levels, especially among those
who hold the TK, the communities are finding it difficult to record their knowledge
for future generations. For example, the dhome, a traditional Miji Kenda educational
evening where elders pass on knowledge, is no longer held. As a result,
there is a risk of the knowledge disappearing.
Interviewees and focus group participants from both the Miji Kenda and
Maasai communities expressed deep concerns about the lack of proper legal and
administrative structures to facilitate the preservation and perpetuation of their
traditions and cultures in the face of modern socio-economic pressures. Their
concerns present a potentially strong justification for the development of law and
policy that can effectively facilitate protection and preservation of TK and, at the
same time, sharing of the TK in a manner that can spur innovation, creativity and
(open) development.
Apart from their concerns about the lack of a legal framework, the Miji Kenda
perceive a tension between their own cultural conception of a TK commons and
that expressed in government policies. There is a perception among the Miji
Kenda that government policies are skewed in favour of other cultural communities,
and that the National Museums of Kenya seem to institutionalise practices of
favouritism. These tensions between the community and the government within
the coastal region have a negative impact on the feasibility of the creation of a TK
commons.
Other challenges to the creation of a TK commons cited by interviewees
include financial constraints, especially in the creation of databases for the preservation
of TK. The communities lack the facilities for documentation and rarely
receive government support for such initiatives. They have to rely on communitybased
initiatives, which are usually underfunded. This is well illustrated by the
experience of the Maasai community in the aforementioned process of digitising
their culture. After the initial support received under the auspices of WIPO,
they have not been able to secure any further funding, e.g. from the government
of Kenya. Alarmingly, some interviewees were confused about the nature of TK
and measures to protect it, due to the proliferation of research studies by different
organisations. Some reports are inaccurate, and some researchers failed to
disclose the purpose of their research to the communities in question. This undermines
trust, and threatens the potential to develop inclusive policy proposals.
There is at present only limited collaboration between ILCs and government
agencies such as KECOBO, National Museums of Kenya, KIPI and the Plant and
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