Ghana Industrial Property Office (GHiPO) has called for tighter intellectual property safeguards for local plant breeders, arguing that protection will encourage scientists to develop climate‑resilient crops and allow breeders to earn from their innovations, then reinvest in further research.
Ghanaian scientists are already producing new crop varieties that can adapt to changing climatic conditions and emerging pests and diseases, but the lack of adequate IP protection has limited the commercial potential of some of these innovations over the years.
In partnership with the CSIR‑Crops Research Institute (CRI), GHiPO is strengthening the capacity of local scientists to protect and commercialise their work. The two institutions are holding the third national training workshop on Distinctness, Uniformity and Stability (DUS) testing for young scientists, under the implementation of Ghana’s Plant Variety Protection Act, 2020 (Act 1050) and its Regulations (L.I. 2463 of 2022).
The CRI, the designated National DUS Testing Centre, has facilitated the workshops since 2024, equipping more than 50 participants with skills in characterising plant varieties. The latest session, organised with technical partnership from Naktuinbouw of the Netherlands, aims to produce competent DUS examiners, strengthening plant variety protection and encouraging plant breeding and innovation in Ghana.
Dr. Hillary Mireku Botey, DUS Coordinator and Senior Research Scientist at CSIR‑CRI, stressed the training’s importance: “This would ensure that we have new varieties that would adapt to climate change and pests and diseases. We would then be able to commercialise them. From commercialization, we’d be able to get revenue for research,” he said.
He added that without the Plant Variety Protection Act, plant breeders from the West might be reluctant to transfer their innovation for further development in Ghana’s tropical climate, but the Act allows a broad germplasm or planting materials from international partners to be brought into the country.
Samuel Anum, an Intellectual Property Office officer at the Registrar‑General’s Department, said protecting plant varieties could create a cycle of innovation and reinvestment. “When the breeder protects what they’ve developed, they have the exclusive rights in terms of exploitation. So, if another person wants to use it, they have to obtain a license from the original developer, and that in itself generates some revenue. The proceeds could then be used for reinvesting in other research works,” he noted.
The training will enable Ghana to examine its plant varieties to meet international standards and provide intellectual property protection for the plants and seeds its local scientists innovate.
