{
  "id": 12626531,
  "title": "GHIPO makes case for local plant breeders to protect developed varieties for food sovereignty and reinvestment",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/07/ghipo-makes-case-for-local-plant-breeders-to-protect-developed",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-10-07T12:40:03.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "MyJoyOnline Ghana",
    "slug": "myjoyonline-ghana",
    "url": "https://www.myjoyonline.com/ghipo-makes-case-for-local-plant-breeders-to-protect-developed-varieties-for-food-sovereignty-and-reinvestment/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Ghana's Ghana Industrial Property Office (GHiPO) is advocating for stronger legal safeguards for local plant breeders to protect their innovations, with the aim of bolstering food security and generating funding for agricultural research. By granting local breeders proper intellectual property protection, scientists will be motivated to create climate-resilient crops and reap the financial benefits from their innovations, thus reinvesting in future research.\n\nCurrently, the absence of adequate intellectual property protection has hindered the commercial potential of many of these crop varieties, limiting their impact on Ghana's food security. To address this issue, GHiPO, in partnership with the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research-Crops Research Institute (CSIR-CRI), is conducting a three-day national training workshop on Distinctness, Uniformity and Stability (DUS) testing for young scientists. The workshop, under the implementation of Ghana's Plant Variety Protection Act, 2020, aims to equip participants with the skills necessary to assess plant varieties and ultimately strengthen plant variety protection.\n\nDr. Hillary Mireku Botey, DUS Coordinator and Senior Research Scientist at the CSIR-CRI, emphasized the importance of the training to ensure that young scientists can develop plant varieties capable of withstanding changing climatic conditions and emerging pests and diseases. He believes that the practical training will lead to commercialization of these new crop varieties, which will subsequently generate revenue for further research.\n\nSamuel Anum, a member of the Intellectual Property Office at the Registrar-General's Department, explained that protection of plant varieties would foster a cycle of innovation and reinvestment. Breeders who secure protection for their varieties can license their use to others, earning revenue in the process, which could then be used to fund more research. The training provided by GHiPO and CSIR-CRI will ultimately allow Ghana to independently examine its plant varieties to meet international standards and protect the intellectual property rights of local scientists' innovations.",
  "summary": "Ghana could unlock new funding for agricultural research while strengthening food security if local plant breeders are given stronger protection for their innovations.",
  "key_points": [
    "GHiPO advocates stronger legal safeguards for local plant breeders",
    "Protection aims to boost food security and generate funding for research",
    "Workshop trains DUS testing skills for resilient crop varieties"
  ],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}