Compliance with the Nagoya protocol in the Southern African Development Community

The Nagoya Protocol (2010) provides an international framework for access and benefits sharing of genetic resources. In the Southern African Development Community (SADC), the means to deliver compliance with the principles of the Nagoya Protocol is through national-scale legislative and management frameworks. However, there may be differences between the policies and practices of individual countries within the SADC region that may limit the effectiveness of how the principles of the Nagoya Protocol are enacted. This study describes the legislative and management frameworks for enacting the principles of the Nagoya Protocol that are found in each of the sixteen SADC countries. Particular emphasis is placed on strategies for genetic and associated biological resource diversity and management, the role of stakeholders, local communities and traditional (indigenous) knowledge systems in each country. Results show that the legislative and management frameworks for managing the Nagoya Protocol are highly variable across the SADC region. There are also variable levels of engagement with the Access and Benefit-Sharing Clearing House (which relates to the implementation of the principles of the Nagoya Protocol), and with reporting to the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture which is a requirement of compliance. This study makes recommendations for the sharing of best practices for access and benefit sharing, and for developing protocols for engagement with local communities and other stakeholders on genetic and biological resource exploitation across the SADC region.