Uchenna Ugwu
| Organization | Open African Innovation Research |
|---|---|
| Organization role |
PhD Researcher
|
| Country | Canada |
| Area of Expertise |
International Intellectual Property Law
Regional Intellectual Property Treaties Patents, plant breeders' rights, copyrights, digital agriculture African development Food security |
This member participated in the following Forums
Forum E-consultation on ethical, legal and policy aspects of data sharing affecting farmers
Day 3: Long-term ethical, legal and policy changes needed to move from the current scenario to the desired scenarios
Current trade and intellectual property laws are unclear as to where the rights to digital technologies start for smallholder farmers, and where they stop. This problem is highlighted in relation to intellectual property law, under which certain data can be seen as exclusive property.
To solve this ethical challenge, legal rights that guarantee open processes and some form of proprietary ownership should be given to small holder farmers, so that they no longer view digital technology as something outside coming to rip them off, but as something that they own, have a stake in, participate and continuously gain from.
It is important to emphasize that as users of digital data, farmers have some form of Users’ rights, which are made up of personal property rights in the copy of a copyrighted work; contractual rights to access works through a service; and exceptions to copyright infringement. All three facets of this right should be protected either by the formulation of exceptions and limitations to current IP regulations and digital rights management laws, specifically designed to meet the requirements of smallholder farmers, or the creation of new forms of IP protection. Flexibilities exist under current international IP treaties which may allow for such.
In order to guarantee wider utilization of digital technology, governments should adopt policies that obligate companies to ensure that smallholder farmers actively participate in the negotiation, development and design of digital agricultural products and processes. Such participation will also help digital agriculture meets the local content requirements adopted in some developed countries.
Clear legal rules regarding the interaction of digital rights with other rights, especially human rights, and obligations under relevant multilateral, regional, and bilateral agreements, need to be drawn up.
Day 2: Desired scenarios for a future where data-driven agriculture is successfully adopted by smallholder farmers
Thanks Robert. I totally agree with your point on the need to balance collaboration and competition to create a sustainable system. However, I have doubts if transperancy can play a dominant role in international collaborations funded largely by developed country governments and multilateral corportions. Do you have any suggestions as to mechanisms that can be put in place to ensure such a balance in a multilateral regime? Or can you give an example of an existing regime that models the balanced approach?
Thanks for painting an interesting scenario Jacques. The image you painted would help farmers to see agricultural technology as something they participate in, not some external influence to which they need to be defensive.
However, considering the current flow towards less centralization, as pictured by events such as Brexit, some of the parties being elected in European countries, as well as some of the policies being adopted by the Trump government in the USA, do you see this scenario as being practical? Wouldn't it be more feasible to seek a less centralized, bottom-top approach, with regulation being carried out at the domestic or regional level?
The following principles are necessary for successful adoption of digital agriculure by smallholder farmers in the future:
- Digital technology must be developed by an open impartial and equitable process in which smallholder farmers fully participate
- Data, products and processes for digital agriculture must be context specific, designed to suit the conditions of farmers in poorer countries and improving local crops
- Ownership and rights related to digital agriculture must be balanced to protect the interests of smallholder farmers and create incentives to use and further develop such technologies
- It is necessary to formulate clear legal rules regarding the interaction of digital rights with other rights, especially human rights, and obligations under relevant multilateral, regional, and bilateral agreements. Clear thresholds need to be established stating where the rights to digital technologies start for smallholder farmers, and where they stop.