Assessment of Possible Intellectual Property
Protection Options of Traditional Knowledge
System in Ethiopia: Special Reference in
Herbal Medicine for Livestock
African Technology Policy Studies Network

RESEARCH PAPER | No. 18
Tibebu Solomon

Assessment of Possible Intellectual Property
Protection Options of Traditional Knowledge
System in Ethiopia: Special Reference in Herbal
Medicine for LivestockTibebu Solomon
Ministry of Science & Technology
Ethiopia

The African Technology Policy Studies Network (ATPS) is a multidisciplinary network of researchers, private sector actors andpolicy makers promoting the generation, dissemination, use andmastery of science, technology and innovation (ST&I) for African
development, environmental sustainability and global inclusion.
ATPS intends to achieve its mandate through research, capacity
building and training, science communication/dissemination andsensitization, participatory multi-stakeholder dialogue,knowledge brokerage, and policy advocacy.
Published by the African Technology Policy Studies Network
P O Box 10081, 00100 GPO Nairobi Kenya
2012

Published by the African Technology Policy Studies Network

ISBN: 978-9966-030-38-2

Table of Contents
Acknowledgement

4

List of Acronyms

5

Abstract

6

1.

Introduction

7

2.

Background11

3.

Research Justification

16

4.

Objectives

18

5.

Literature Review

19

6.

Materials & Methods

24

7.

Results & Discussions

31

5.

Conclusions & Recommendations

50

Bibliography

53

Assessment of Possible Intellectual Property Protection Options of Traditional Knowledge System in Ethiopia: Special Reference in Herbal Medicine for Livestock | 3

Acknowledgement
This paper was produced as part of the implementation of the ATPS phase VI
Strategic Plan, 2008-2012 funded by ATPS Donors including the Ministerie van
Buitenlandse Zaken (DGIS) the Netherlands, Rockefeller Foundation, OpenSociety Foundation, UNESCO, European Union, African Union, amongst others.
The authors hereby thank the ATPS for the financial and technical support during
the implementation of the Intellectual Property Program. The authors particularly
thank the Executive Director of the ATPS Prof. Kevin Urama for his visionary
leadership and all members of his team at the ATPS. We are also grateful to theProgramme Coordinators including Mr. Joseph Wekundah of the Biotechnology
Trust Africa, Dr. Maurice Bolo (ATPS), Dr. Nicholas Ozor (ATPS), Prof. Moni
Wekesa (Mount Kenya University) for their technical supports to the Programme.

4 | Assessment of Possible Intellectual Property Protection Options of Traditional Knowledge System in Ethiopia: Special Reference in Herbal Medicine for LivestockList of Acronyms
ARIPO
ATPS
ATVET
BYDV
EIPO
FDG
IP
IPR
IBC
ARI
IKS
MoST
NHNRI
PS
PGRs
QSAE
TK
THRGE
WIPO
WGARC

African Regional Intellectual Property Organization
African Technology Policy Studies Network
Agricultural Technical and Vocational Education Training
Barley Yellow Dwarf Virus
Ethiopian Intellectual Propriety Office
Focus Group Discussion
Intellectual Property
Intellectual Property Rights
Institute of Biodiversity Conservation
Agricultural Research Institutes
Indigenous Knowledge System
Ministry of Science and Technology
National Health and Nutrition Research Institute
Pilot Survey
Plant Genetic Resources
Quality Standard Authority of Ethiopia
Traditional Knowledge
Traditional Healers Research Group of Ethiopia
World Intellectual Property Office
Wondo Genet Agricultural Research Center

Assessment of Possible Intellectual Property Protection Options of Traditional Knowledge System in Ethiopia: Special Reference in Herbal Medicine for Livestock | 5

Abstract
This report was prepared as per the Grant obtained from the African Technology
Policy Studies Network (ATPS CP 0209/04) whose primary objective is to support
the implementation of the ATPS/BTA Intellectual Property program on Traditional
Knowledge Systems & Increasing Access and Benefit Sharing of Intellectual
property in Africa.
The study was carried out in Afar, Keryu, Shinile (Issa somila), Borana (Moyale),
Dollo Ado, Bekoji, and Wollo. Primary data were collected from purposively
selected elders' pastoralists in Ethiopia, whose livelihoods depend
predominantly on livestock and their products. The data was collected usingsemi structured interviews, focus group discussions & field observation withtraditional healers, users, policy makers and foreign scholars.
Most of the treatments in the study areas are plant based. 78.2% of the healers
depend on plant extracts. 75.6% of the healers prepared two or more plants withwater for single treatment of an animal disease. The majority of the local healers
used to collect medicinal plants alone with great secrecy and no one was allowed
to see this activity except some family members. The study confirmed that 79.5%
acquired the knowledge from their father or uncle; and in line with this, 84.6 % of
the respondent didn't improve the acquired knowledge. The survey result
revealed that 92.3% of the respondent confirmed that their knowledge was wellknown to some individuals in their community.
This study concludes that the traditional healer's knowledge, protected throughappropriate sui generis intellectual property right protection scheme with highly
consideration of customary law and international agreements has to be in place.

6 | Assessment of Possible Intellectual Property Protection Options of Traditional Knowledge System in Ethiopia: Special Reference in Herbal Medicine for Livestock1. Introduction
In Knowledge based on the natural environment includes any knowledge existingin association with the biological environment (fauna, flora, micro and macroorganisms); the physical environment (existing in any form and within any space);and the natural laws associated with the biological and physical environment. Any
knowledge within communities existing in association with the humanenvironment pertains to identities of specific communities resulting from a long
history of co-existence of people and all levels of interactions; individual, family,clan, village, etc. All the interactions that include human to human and humans
with the natural environment, gradually developing and evolving to include a
certain social environment of the same identity which we refer to as 'community'
and those expressions and creativities whether for practical or artistic reasons as'knowledge'.
Traditional knowledge is a part of the cultural identities of indigenous and local
communities. Concepts of knowledge systems of communities could be said to
be existing in association with two pillars, the natural environment and humanenvironment - the root basis of any knowledge, hence community knowledge.
More specific categories of traditional knowledge could include agricultural,
ecological, medicinal, biodiversity-related knowledge, etc whose base is thenatural environment; artistic literary, administrative, legal knowledge's belonging
to the human environment, existing either independent of each other or in mostcases interdependently. These knowledge categories could be expressed as
creative, innovative, technical or technological, etc or the combination of these.
The role of Intellectual Property (IP) systems in relation to Traditional Knowledge
Assessment of Possible Intellectual Property Protection Options of Traditional Knowledge System in Ethiopia: Special Reference in Herbal Medicine for Livestock | 7

(TK), and how to preserve, protect and equitably make use of TK, has recently
received increasing attention in a range of international policy discussions. Thisaddresses matters as diverse as food and agriculture, the environment, notably
the conservation of biological diversity, health, including traditional medicines,
human rights and Indigenous issues and aspects of trade and economic
development.
When we look into international agreements and conventions, there is an existing
gap to be covered on traditional knowledge. Trade-Related Aspects ofIntellectual Property Rights (TRIPs) makes no reference to the protection of
traditional knowledge; does not acknowledge or distinguish between
indigenous, community-based knowledge and industrial. Recently, discussions
on traditional knowledge have come up mostly at the TRIPs Council. However,plant varieties have to be eligible for protection either through patent protection
or a system created specifically for the purpose (“sui generis”), or a combinationof the two. (WTO, 2002). The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) is the only
major international convention that assigns ownership of items on biodiversity toindigenous communities and asserts their right to protect this knowledge.
The protection of TK has also been raised in relation to the definition andimplementation of the concept of Farmers` Rights introduced during the revisionof the International Undertaking on Plant Genetic Resources for Food andAgriculture, which began in 1994. Article 9.2(a) of the final text, which was
adopted as a new treaty by the FAO conference in Rome in November 2001
requires measures for the protection of “Traditional Knowledge” but, in view ofthe scope and purpose of the Treaty, it only refers to “knowledge relevant to plant
genetic resources for food and agriculture”. Article 9.2 is, thus, narrower in scopethan Article 8(j) of the CBD, and would not apply, for instance, to knowledge
relating to medicinal or industrial uses of plant genetic resources. Under thisapproach, the issue of protection of TK may be circumscribed to knowledge
incorporated in farmers` varieties and certain associated knowledge.
The African Model Legislation (2001) provides several provisions that put dueemphasis on the role of customary law and practices in the protection of
traditional knowledge. The State recognizes and protects community rights 'as
they are enshrined and protected under the norms, practices and customarylaws found in, and recognized by, the concerned local and indigenous
8 | Assessment of Possible Intellectual Property Protection Options of Traditional Knowledge System in Ethiopia: Special Reference in Herbal Medicine for Livestockcommunities, whether such law is written or not' (Art.18). An item of TK shall beidentified, interpreted and ascertained by the local communities concerned
themselves under their customary practice and law, whether such law is written or
not (Art.24.2). Local communities shall exercise their inalienable right to access,use, exchange or share their biological resources as regulated by their customary
practices and laws (Art.22.1).
The African Regional Intellectual Property Organization (ARIPO) Diplomatic
Conference for the adoption of the Protocol on Traditional Knowledge andExpressions of Folklore held in Swakopmund noted that no international
normative framework has been concluded for the protection of traditional
knowledge. ARIPO and its member states have played an active role in finding aharmonized approach to protect traditional knowledge and expressions offolklore at the international level. The instrument sufficiently articulates theparameters and the scope of the subject matters referred to, in that, a balance ofappropriation has been put and set in between the bonafide right holders andwould be users. This is an important and valuable element to observe before
taking any decision. Ethiopia is an observer in ARIPO. The Protocol willfurthermore provide a framework for national legislative developments on theprotection of the resources.
The reorganization of community knowledge basis, the protection andexploitation of all knowledge categories, and their expressions are issues ofnational and global importance. The protection and exploitation of community
knowledge in a country with rich biodiversity and cultural expressions such as
Ethiopia is not only of great importance to the knowledge owner-communities
and the country, but also a global concern where knowledge transfer for the good
human race has been a contemporary agenda.
Knowledge categories discussed above, which Ethiopia is believed to host, exist
in most instances interdependently. This fact may implicate a common scenario
and would exist to drafting a basic law for all traditional knowledge systems.
However, a holistic study on all knowledge systems is improbable. It may be
impossible to get the maximum results out of a survey on all knowledge
categories in one package. Even if there may be a possible option to study all theknowledge categories in one package, the study would be too broad to discover
specific realities.
Assessment of Possible Intellectual Property Protection Options of Traditional Knowledge System in Ethiopia: Special Reference in Herbal Medicine for Livestock | 9

Ethiopia has glorious tradition of a health care system based on plants, whichdates back to several millennia. In the early 16th century, a European traveler
called Francisco reported the use of herbs as purgatives in Ethiopia. Another
British traveler, James Bruce, who stayed in Ethiopia from 1769 to 1771, also
reported the wide use of a plant locally known as 'wagnos' that was later named
Brucea antidysenterica as a remedy against dysentery. Medical text books
written in Geez and even in Arabic in Ethiopia between mid of the 17th andbeginning of the 18th century prove that plants have been used as a source oftraditional medicine in Ethiopia from time immemorial to combat different
ailments and human sufferings.
The long history of the use of medicinal plants is reflected in various medicoreligious manuscripts produced on parchments and believed to have originatedcenturies ago. For example, the ancient and very antique manuscripts remnant of
Axumite kingdom (7th to 11th century), manuscripts collected from the ruins ofZagwe kingdom (11th - 13th century) and documents of Gonder kingdom,
collected from church covenants and individuals at the time of Minilik the 2nd
written in Geez, indicate that the use of traditional medicine in Ethiopia issignificant and deep-rooted [2]. The use of plants as a source of medicine is very
diverse in Ethiopia due to the extremely diverse socio-economic and cultural
diversity of the country, which in turn is due to the existence of more than 80 ethnic
groups with distinct languages and dialects. The majority of Ethiopian population(over 85 percent in rural areas and a very significant number in urban areas) and90 percent of livestock have been dependant on traditional medicine (WHO,1998). This study is on selected categories of knowledge and associatedknowledge systems with the reference to herbal medicine for livestock. A study
on selected type of knowledge, besides being manageable, would be useful in
identifying possible common issues in future studies of other knowledge
systems.
The report contained in this document is compiled to create possible intellectual
property protection options on traditional knowledge systems in Ethiopia withemphasis on traditional medicinal knowledge especially that related to herbal
medicines for livestock.
This study concludes that the traditional healer's knowledge protected throughappropriate sui generis intellectual property right protection scheme with highconsideration of customary law has to be in place.
10 | Assessment of Possible Intellectual Property Protection Options of Traditional Knowledge System in Ethiopia: Special Reference in Herbal Medicine for Livestock2. Background
Ethiopia has a large natural and cultural diversity with a big range of climaticconditions which results from its topography and latitudinal position. The great
plains of Ethiopia occur atop two massive highland plateaus, cloven into unequal
halves by the Great Rift Valley. From the sweltering arid and semi-arid lands of the
Ogaden in the Somali Region in the east, the lowlands bordering the Sudan in thewest and Dalol in the Afar Region in the north, where Africa crashes into Arabia,
the land sweeps up, rising through semi-arid lowlands and pockets of tropicaljungle, montane forests, and reaching afro-alpine pastures on the slopes of the
Simen, Bale, Ghugi and other mountain ranges. Many of these mountain ranges
reach over 4000masl, and are home to numerous endemic species of flora andfauna. There is a great variation in altitude ranging from 116 m below sea level in
Dalol to 4620 m above sea level in Semien. The differences in altitude and latitude
have resulted in a wide variation in climatic conditions; that is: rainfall, humidity,
temperature and exposure to wind.
Ethiopia's land area is 1.12 million square kilometers with a wide variety in
topography, geography, climate and culture. There are eight terrestrial
ecosystems within Ethiopia. These range from afroalpine and sub-afroalpine
grasslands, through to moist evergreen and montane forest to desert and semidesert scrubland ecosystems. In addition, there are wetlands and aquatic
ecosystems. Because of the diversity of ecosystems within the country and its
long history, Ethiopia is endowed with a wide diversity of fauna and flora. The
country is also a center of origin and diversity for a number of crop and animal
genetic resources, reflecting its long history of agriculture [2].
There are between 6500 and 7000 higher plant species of which about 12 perAssessment of Possible Intellectual Property Protection Options of Traditional Knowledge System in Ethiopia: Special Reference in Herbal Medicine for Livestock | 11cent are endemic [2]. With regard to animals, there are known to be 284 wild
mammal, 861 bird, 201 reptile, 63 amphibian, 188 fish and 1225 arthropod
species with about 10, 2, 5, 54, 0.6 and 21 per cent of endemism respectively.
There is an immense variation in the farmer's varieties of different crops andbreeds of livestock. More than 100 crop plant species are cultivated with asizeable proportion of them having their center of origin or diversity in Ethiopia.
There are also 30 cattle, 14 sheep, 14 goats, 4 camels, 4 donkeys, 2 horses, 2mules, 5 chicken and 5 honey bee breeds/ecotypes/populations recorded which
are indigenous to the country. This biodiversity is of crucial importance in thesocio-economic, cultural and life of the people.
Ethiopia is one of the major Vavilov centers of origin/diversity for many crops andtheir wild and weedy relatives. It is an important primary and secondary gene poolfor many field crop species that are useful sources of germplasm for economic
traits in general and sources of genes resistant to diseases and pests in particular.
Ethiopia is a primary gene center for eleven field crops including noug (Guizotia
abyssinica), teff (Eragrostis tef), the Ethiopian mustard (Brassica carinata) andenset (Ensete ventricosa). Field crops such as barley, sorghum, durum wheat,finger millet, faba bean, linseed, sesame, safflower, chickpea, lentil, cowpea,
fenugreek and grass pea have a large genetic diversity in Ethiopia.
There has been an immense contribution of Ethiopian's Plant Genetic Resources(PGRs) to the world; and useful genetic variations of global significance haveemanated from these genetic resources. Among numerous examples are theBarley Yellow Dwarf Virus (BYDV) resistance gene found in Ethiopia's barley, on
which California depends on its USD 160 million per annum worth of barley
production [2]. Sorghum is one of the most diverse crops distributed over a wide
range of agro-ecological regions in the country (400 to 3000masl) having
intermediates as well as wild and weedy forms. The high lysine gene has also an
Ethiopian origin traced to the local varieties called 'Wotet Begunche' (milk in themouth) worth $12 million annually in Canada. Teff collected from the Dessie areaand hence called 'Dessie Teff' has been given Plant Breeders' Rights protection by
the US Plant Variety Protection Act until 2016 in the USA.
At least 80 per cent of the Ethiopian people depend on traditional medicine for
their health care (Dawit and Ahadu, 1993), and more than 95 per cent oftraditional medicinal preparations in Ethiopia are made from plant origin (Dawit,
12 | Assessment of Possible Intellectual Property Protection Options of Traditional Knowledge System in Ethiopia: Special Reference in Herbal Medicine for Livestock1986). There are about 887 plant species recorded as having medicinal use forpeople. The majority of the medicinal plants are herbs, followed by shrubs andtrees (see Table 1). Twenty four (2.7 per cent) of the medicinal plant species areendemic to Ethiopia, and most are found in the wild (Table 2).
Table 1: Distribution of the medicinal plants by their growth forms
Growth habit

No. of species

Percent

Herbs

271

30.5

Shrubs

168

19.0

Trees

110

12.4

Climbers

74

8.3

Reed

2

0.2

Unidentified

262

29.6

Source: Ethiopia's 4th Country Report to the CBDTable 2: Distribution of medicinal plants by their state of existenceState of existence

No. of species

Percent

Wild

357

40.2

Cultivated

89

10

Weed

52

5.9

Undetermined

389

43.9

Source: Ethiopia's 4th Country Report to the CBD

The proclamation issued related intellectual property to Ethiopia:
This proclamation may be cited as Copyright and Neighboring Rights
Protection Proclamation No.410/2004. The provisions of this Proclamation
concerning the protection of works shall apply to:Works of authors who are nationals of, or have their principal residence in
Ethiopia;> Works first published in Ethiopia and, works first published abroad and also
published in Ethiopia within 30 days, irrespective of the nationality or
residence of their authors;
Assessment of Possible Intellectual Property Protection Options of Traditional Knowledge System in Ethiopia: Special Reference in Herbal Medicine for Livestock | 13

> Audiovisual works, the producer of which has his headquarters or principal
residence in Ethiopia; and> Works of architecture erected in Ethiopia and other artistic works incorporated
in a building or other structure located in Ethiopia.
This Proclamation may be cited as Trade Mark Registration and Protection
Proclamation No.501/2006.
> Subject to the principles of reciprocity or in accordance with any treaty that
Ethiopia is a party to, foreigners shall have the same rights and obligations as
Ethiopians under this Proclamation.
> It is necessary to protect the reputation and goodwill of business persons
engaged in manufacturing and distribution of goods as well as rendering
services by protecting trademarks to avoid confusion between similar goods
and services;
This Proclamation may be cited as the Inventions, Minor Inventions andIndustrial Designs, proclamation, No. 123/1995.
> It is necessary to create favorable conditions in order to encourage local
inventive and related activities thereby building up national technologicalcapability.
> It has been found essential to encourage the transfer and adoption of foreigntechnology by creating conducive environment to assist the national
development efforts of the country.
> The task of fulfilling the nation's multidimensional demand for a harmonious
scientific and technological progress, to be used for the public's benefit, shallbe most effectively served when there exists an appropriate legal framework.
The proclamation to provide for plant breeders right. This refers toproclamation no.481/2006. Till now the regulation is not issued. The
regulation is explained in detail on how to register and the steps of theprocess. This issue is directly under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural
Development
The proclamation of Access to genetic resources and community
knowledge, and community rights proclamation. This refers to proclamation
no.482/2006. Both the preceding proclamation and this one were issued on
the same date. This proclamation articulated the issue of Access to genetic
14 | Assessment of Possible Intellectual Property Protection Options of Traditional Knowledge System in Ethiopia: Special Reference in Herbal Medicine for Livestockresources but did not address the issue of protection of community
knowledge. This forms a big gap from the proclamation. This proclamation
was issued by the Institute of Biodiversity.
With the exception of the above two, all the rest are administered under the officeof Ethiopian Intellectual Property office.

Assessment of Possible Intellectual Property Protection Options of Traditional Knowledge System in Ethiopia: Special Reference in Herbal Medicine for Livestock | 15

3. Research Justification
Healing in Ethiopian traditional medicine is not only concerned with curing of
diseases but also with the protection and promotion of the human physical,
spiritual, social, mental and material wellbeing.
Medicinal plants; and knowledge of their use, provide a vital contribution tohuman and livestock health care needs throughout the country. The plants arereadily available in general, have minimal side-effects and are free and/or
affordable [1]. They are an important component of the agricultural andenvironmental sectors and have the potential to make major contributions to both
macro and economic growth and rural poverty reduction in the country. There are
a number of traditional medicinal practices that reflect the diversity of Ethiopian
cultures [1]. Their study indicated a declining trend in the number of traditional
resources of medicinal plants. They call for an urgent action to document andpreserve the traditional medical knowledge before it disappears from the country[1].
Moreover; according to Dr. Fekadu, Ethiopians have used traditional medicines
at least as early as the 17th century; however, very little is documented. The oraltransmission of knowledge from generation to generation gives rise to thepossibility of incompleteness, omission, misrepresentation or distortion of theoriginal medicinal plant cure as time goes by [7]. The other problem of attempting
to preserve traditional knowledge through the oral tradition is that, it leaves nowritten record for posterity. Thus, the oral tradition does not only risk
misinterpretation, it also risks losing crucial information.
The health and drug policies of the Ethiopian Ministry of Health recognized the
16 | Assessment of Possible Intellectual Property Protection Options of Traditional Knowledge System in Ethiopia: Special Reference in Herbal Medicine for Livestockimportant role traditional health systems play in health care. However, currently
there is no systematic way of keeping records of traditional practitioner with theFederal Ministry of Health though herbal medicines are sold on the streets withmedical claims [3]. In spite of the promulgation of the necessary policies, little has
been done in recent decades to enhance and develop the beneficial aspects oftraditional medicine including related research and its gradual integration intomodern medicine. There are many gaps between policy and actual practices.
There are clear deficits in the organized approach towards ensuring an optimal
contribution on traditional medicine to the national health system. For example,
there were no regulations to the safety and efficacy, licensing, as well as theregistration and guidelines for clinical trials involving traditional medicines.
The knowledge and uses of specific plants for medicinal purposes (often referred
to as traditional medicine) is an important component of TK. But Western IP regimes have focused on protecting and promoting the economic exploitation of
inventions with the rationale that doing so promotes innovation and research. For
any invention to be patentable it has to satisfy three criteria, i.e., novelty,
inventiveness and industrial applicability (utility). Traditional Medicine does notsatisfy any of these criteria thus making it unique and a special case of study
required.
Moreover, Habtewold [5] strongly argued in their paper; taking into account theimportance of traditional knowledge and the role of intellectual property in theworld trade, that there is an urgent need to design IP protection for traditional
knowledge system in Ethiopia both at national and international level. They statedclearly that the existing IPR system cannot accommodate all traditional
knowledge system. Even though many studies have been conducted, theirresearch output does not provide possible option for the protection of traditional
knowledge.
This study is therefore designed to fill that vacuum in the overall framework thatcan provide comprehensive protection to traditional medical knowledge
identified by the previous studies. Such types of systems shall extend to control
access to the genetic resources and the local knowledge related to theseresources. The primary objective of a system for the protection of traditional
medicine shall be: giving recognition to the rights of the knowledge holders whileat the same time recognizing the potential for exploiting these resources.
Assessment of Possible Intellectual Property Protection Options of Traditional Knowledge System in Ethiopia: Special Reference in Herbal Medicine for Livestock | 17

4. Objectives
The general objective of the study is to analyze the Possible Intellectual Property
Protection Options of the Ethiopian Traditional Knowledge in herbal medicine forlivestock.
Specific objectives> To locate and identify existing traditional knowledge that may be subject forprotection under IP rights regimes (identify traditional knowledge claim)> To identify who holds the knowledge and stakeholders with direct interest> To identify relevant intellectual property option for the knowledge claim

18 | Assessment of Possible Intellectual Property Protection Options of Traditional Knowledge System in Ethiopia: Special Reference in Herbal Medicine for Livestock5. Literature Review
The literature reviewed in this section has been widely cited in traditional
medicine resources, as well as by our key informants.
The Ethiopian government with the assistance of the World Bank implemented
the first conservation and sustainable medicine plants project in sub-Sahara
Africa. The overall objective of the project was to initiate support for conservation
management and sustainable use of medicinal plants for human and livestockcases. The following results were obtained through implementation of the project.
1. Research or preparation and cultivation methods of very few selectedindigenous medicinal plants for human and livestock.
2. Establishment of a database for medicinal plants.
3. Extraction standardization, safety, efficiency and dosage formulation of two
species.
4. Site conservation and sustainable use of medicinal plants, in Bale Mountains.
5. Establishment of medicinal plant field gene bank at Wondo Genet.
The other objective that was not achieved was to serve as a basis for thedevelopment of policy and guidelines for the protection of traditional medicinal
knowledge in Ethiopia. The report stated '…… that has been made at the national
level is to conduct a survey of selected traditional medicinal practitioners in twoareas of Ethiopia, namely in the capital Addis Ababa and Bale in the Oromia
Region. A questionnaire was prepared to this effect with the objective of eliciting
the views of the traditional medicinal practitioners on their expectations regarding
the protection of their knowledge. The outcome of the survey does not help muchin revealing the expectations and needs of the traditional medicinal practitioners
Assessment of Possible Intellectual Property Protection Options of Traditional Knowledge System in Ethiopia: Special Reference in Herbal Medicine for Livestock | 19

regarding the protection of their knowledge.' In this study covering seven areas inEthiopia comes out to protect traditional healers through appropriate sui generis
intellectual property right with consideration of customary law.
According to Dr. Fekadu, one reason for the lack of documentation might be thattraditional practitioners are reluctant to divulge their trade secrets. Most folkloric
Ethiopian medicinal plants and their method of preparation are often closely
guarded secrets, usually passed from the father to the eldest son, as the death of
the former approaches. This study also confirmed that, although Ethiopia has had
its own written language for more than 2,000 years, this hereditary profession isbased on knowledge of medicine acquired from centuries of experience passed
down privately from generation to generation through the oral tradition. The
problem with this kind of knowledge transmission is the contamination of
information. As a result of this tradition, the oral transmission of knowledge fromgeneration to generation gives rise to the possibility of incompleteness, omission,
misrepresentation or distortion of the original medicinal plant cure as time goesby [3]. This study got the same result in Shinile zone. The other problem withattempting to preserve traditional knowledge through the oral tradition is that itleaves no written record for posterity. Thus, the oral tradition does not only risk
misinterpretation, it also risks losing crucial information. Documenting Ethiopian
traditional medicine not only makes an invaluable contribution to the Ethiopian
heritage and our understanding of traditional Ethiopian medicine but also
facilitates the preservation of the knowledge and its transfer to the next
generation.
The research on Ethiopian medicinal plants has mostly been more of producing
inventories and checklists; and hence application of full-blown ethno-botanicalresearch methodology is just taking shape with more biasness to the qualitative
approach. While the studies so far show that the role of medicinal plants indifferent parts of Ethiopia is significant and that the traditional healthcare is deeprooted with oral and written pharmacopoeias, there has been a total lack ofquantified information on the amount of plant matter collected and marketed or
the income generated from it; both at the local and country levels. To date, thebulk of the plant matter used for medicinal purposes is collected from naturalvegetation stocks while the amount extracted from the natural vegetation as wellas the annual economic value derived has never been assessed. On the other
hand, the natural vegetation is shrinking, the environment is degrading and
20 | Assessment of Possible Intellectual Property Protection Options of Traditional Knowledge System in Ethiopia: Special Reference in Herbal Medicine for Livestockindividual medicinal plants are being selectively removed for various purposes tosuch an extent that the amount available has started dwindling.
The knowledge and uses of specific plants for medicinal purposes are importantcomponents of TK but Western IP regimes have focused on protecting andpromoting the economic exploitation of inventions with the rationale that doing so
promotes innovation and research. Currently, some 95% of patents in the world
are held in developed countries [11]. At present, international patent law andmost national conventional patent law protection requirements of novelty andinventive steps do not seem to be applicable to traditional knowledge andbiodiversity.
There is no act under patent law which could be used to protect the non-medical
traditional therapies, such as manual therapies and spiritual therapies Because oflack of a database and the same medicinal plants growing and being used invarious countries and continents, it is very difficult to identify the founder.
Pharmaceutical products can be protected by the existing conventional patent
law, however, herbal medicines and herbal products are quite different fromchemical drugs; they are very difficult to be protected by the existing patent law.
There are only three key protectable subject matters in order to get patent forpharmaceutical products in the conventional patent law; Patent for discovering
new chemical components; Patent for know-how in producing the products; &Patent for the trademark
In addition to patent law, knowledge on herbal medicines could also be protectedby keeping it secret. Firstly, the above–mentioned means are without little or nocompensation to the custodians of this traditional knowledge and are without
their prior informed consent. Secondly, herbal medicines have been defined byseveral WHO guidelines; they include crude plant materials, such as leaves,
flowers, fruits, seeds, stems, wood, bark, roots, rhizomes or other plant parts,
which may be whole, fragmented or powdered. The products, which chemicallydefined active substances have been added, including synthetic compounds
and/or isolated constituents from herbal materials, are not considered to beherbal medicines. Therefore, it is impossible to get existing patent law protection
for herbal medicines through the discovery of new chemical components.
Assessment of Possible Intellectual Property Protection Options of Traditional Knowledge System in Ethiopia: Special Reference in Herbal Medicine for Livestock | 21

Thirdly, the major dosage forms of traditional herbal medicines are directly
derived from their herbal preparations, which include powdered herbal
materials, or extracts, tinctures and fatty oils of herbal materials. They also
include preparations made by steeping or heating herbal materials in alcoholic
beverages and/or honey, or in other materials. The production process andmajor dosage forms of traditional herbal medicines is normally very simple.
There is almost no know how available to protect this by patenting.
Fourthly, except for pharmaceutical companies and industries, other holders of
traditional knowledge find it impossible to get protection for their product throughtrademark. Fifthly, it is impossible to keep knowledge a secret, because
registration of the herbal medicines has to be done if the products are to be soldin the market. Therefore, all of the components in the products have to giveaccount to their national drug authorities. Some countries, however, have beenaware of the important role of intellectual property rights for traditional medicine.
India, Kenya and Madagascar, for example, have updated their legal system andnational patent law in order to protect the knowledge of traditional medicine [11].
The intellectual property rights are important in protecting the benefits oftraditional knowledge; they need to be further developed and expanded. Patent
law, however, is not the only means in protecting the benefits of traditional
knowledge. Each government should develop its own means to protect thebenefits of the knowledge of traditional medicine.
Knowledge about traditional medicinal plants and their application in Ethiopia
resides in the non-professional public and the professional or healer domains. A
study focused at the former domain revealed that a lot of medicinal plants are wellknown by ordinary rural people since they used them for various health problems(Hareya Fassil, 2005). This study revealed that 92.3% of the respondentconfirmed that their knowledge was well known by individuals in their community
but not the whole community. Such common medicinal plant knowledge is at alower risk of erosion because many members of the community will have thisknowledge at a given time as long as the plants exist and their use continues.
Serious concerns are being raised in recent years because of the elderly healerspassing away without transferring their knowledge. The young generation tends
to ignore this knowledge as a result of influence by modern education, which
either despises the indigenous knowledge or never considers it as something
22 | Assessment of Possible Intellectual Property Protection Options of Traditional Knowledge System in Ethiopia: Special Reference in Herbal Medicine for Livestockwith a good future (Kebu Balemie et al., 2004; Debela Hunde et al., 2005). This
study also recommended that an urgent need to formulate an array of incentive
measures to ensure that members of the younger generation would desire tolearn, value, adapt and apply the traditional knowledge.
A sustainable supply of medicinal herbs can be achieved when a good balance
exists in benefit sharing and all actors become concerned about the plants.
Medicinal plants, having market demands, have to be produced in adequate
quantity to respond to the demands. This could be made possible by establishingsmall-scale special medicinal plant gardens, large-scale medicinal plant farms
and arboreta as well as enhancing and intensifying home gardens so thathouseholds can produce more medicinal plants and be able to generate income.
There has to be an appropriate property rights scheme to protect the plants andthe indigenous knowledge from piracy. Schemes that would enable sustainable
use of medicinal plants and the associated indigenous knowledge should be
developed. The country also has to exercise its sovereign right over its resources.
Use of this resource by external parties must help the country in capacity building.
The traditional medicine practitioners protect their trade by a system of trade
secrets that included magical practices, attached beliefs and various tricks
including mixing of safe non-medicinal herbs with the medicinal ones. This secret
never became accessible to others except to a member of the family. When wewant to import this to the modern system an appropriate sui-generis intellectual
property right protection scheme has to be in place. It also needs a national
legislation regulating medicinal plant collecting and marketing to provide a moreformal mechanism for controlling illegal harvests. Similarly, rules could be
developed at local levels to regulate the amount, the time and type of medicinal
plant harvest. We believe that more formal marketing systems will enhance
proper management of the plants for sustainable use including the general
biodiversity and the environment if appropriate tenure and property ownershipsystem is put in place. Different authorities including Berthaud (1997) strongly
support the idea of conservation with use, while others maintain that ownershiprights as well as fair and equitable sharing of benefits will give positive returns inconservation. However, the best practice in benefit sharing outside patenting
must be legislated and implemented.

Assessment of Possible Intellectual Property Protection Options of Traditional Knowledge System in Ethiopia: Special Reference in Herbal Medicine for Livestock | 23

6. Materials & Methods
Description of the Study Areas
The Afar people live primarily in Ethiopia and the areas of Eritrea, Djibouti, andSomalia in the Horn of Africa. The Afar region extends from central tonortheastern Ethiopia, following the East African Rift Valley. The study districts namely Amibara, Awash-Fentale and Dulecha are found in the southern part of
the Afar region. Amibara and Awash-Fentale are located in the middle Awash
valley, within the Rift Valley, whereas Dulecha is found across the lowlandhighland interface, towards the western border of the Rift Valley. All study areas
are characterized by a semi-arid climate, with average annual temperatures
ranging from 21 to 38°C, the lowest temperatures being between December andFebruary and the highest between April and June.

Figure 1: Study Area
24 | Assessment of Possible Intellectual Property Protection Options of Traditional Knowledge System in Ethiopia: Special Reference in Herbal Medicine for LivestockThe Kereyu in Fentale woreda is located at East Shewa zone, Oromiya Region.
The Kereyu, who have been the indigenous inhabitants of the Metehara Plain andMount Fentale area are Oromo-speaking transhuman pastoralists. Their main
faiths are Islam and other traditional beliefs. Their major economic activities are
animal husbandry likes cattle, goats, sheep and camels and agriculture to somelevel of extent. Their livelihood is more of the nomadic type. The climatic conditionof the region is arid mostly with hot temperature.
Borana pastoralists' depend predominantly on livestock and their products.
Borana breed, one of the multipurpose cattle breeds in Africa, was evolved, and is
still widely reared by Borana pastoralists of southern Ethiopia. Borana pastoral
area of Oromia Regional State located between 03037' 23.8" to 050 02' 52.4" Northand 370 56' 49.4" to 390 01' 101" East, in the Southern part of Ethiopia. The altitude
ranges from 970masl in the south bordering Kenya to 1693masl in the Northeast.
The Borana pastoral system represents a vast lowland area, covering about
95,000 km2 (Coppok, 1994). It borders the republic of Kenya to the south, Somali
Regional State to the east and, Southern Nation and Nationalities Regional Stateto the west and Gujji Zone to the North.
The Somali regional state of Ethiopia is located between 4-11°N and 40-48°E,
within the eastern and southeastern lowlands of Ethiopia. It borders the Republicof Djibouti in the north, the Somali republic in the east, the Oromiya region fromsouth to northwest, and the Afar region in the north and northeast of the country.
The total land area is about 327 000 km2, equivalent to 30% of the national landarea. The study area in Shinile zone of the Somali region of eastern Ethiopia is apastoral area, located in the northeast of the region, with a total area of about 85
000 km2. The sites are located at distances of 25 km from Dire Dawa town, which
is about 520 km east of Addis Ababa the capital city of Ethiopia.
Methods
The questionnaire was designed to obtain information on the knowledge
possessed by the healers, types of illnesses treated by the healers, sources of theknowledge, sources of the natural materials used for the preparation of the herbal
medicine, Access & benefit sharing issues, and relevant points for the protectionand exploitation of traditional medicine. The data collection was done in twophases:Assessment of Possible Intellectual Property Protection Options of Traditional Knowledge System in Ethiopia: Special Reference in Herbal Medicine for Livestock | 25

I. Conducted pilot studies
The Pilot study was designed to provide descriptive information. Hence, theresearchers were able to describe the traditional medicine knowledge situation in
the pilot study area of Ethiopia at Afar, Keriyu, Desse and Kombolicha asindicated in the study area and as observed and reported by the Healers, theusers and key informants. The study included men and women who were using
TK in their daily activities & with other members of the community. The areas wereselected and stratified by the Agro ecological zones of Ethiopia.
The data collection included three steps. During the first step, Secondary data
was gathered through; an informal interview with Traditional Medicine Head in
Biodiversity institute (Ato Belachew), and a correspondence with Dr. George
Owusu Essegbey, Director, Science and Technology Policy Research InstituteCouncil for Scientific and Industrial Research from Ghana through the help from
Professor Lynn K. Mytelka. The correspondence with Dr. George from the study
that he did on Ghana notably had:
> the decision to bring allopathic & traditional practitioners together into a
council and thus strengthen their interaction> encouraged the traditional practitioners to have their medicines tested andregistered, etc.
> moved towards the local production of traditional medicines with proper
dosages, etc.
Following the desk literature search, a survey instrument was designed. Thissurvey instrument was reviewed by ATPS researcher's coordination Group,
colleagues at the Ethiopian Intellectual Propriety Office and ILRI to establish its
validity.
The second step involved primary data which was collected using Participatory
Rural Appraisal techniques especially Focus Group Discussion (FGD) and Key
Informant Interview. Four FGD; one for each study city carried out by amultidisciplinary 'team' consisting of a healer, user, community elder, leader andprofessionals (Few core members, who act as 'facilitators' to assist local people
to elicit and record their own knowledge using techniques which involved aminimum interference).
Realize that, TK was not evenly or homogeneously distributed among the various
members of a local community. There were differentiations of knowledge among
26 | Assessment of Possible Intellectual Property Protection Options of Traditional Knowledge System in Ethiopia: Special Reference in Herbal Medicine for Livestockindividuals, based on a number of factors to be taken into consideration, whenpossible sources of relevant TK were being identified. Gender accounts for a largepart of the differences in knowledge among individuals. Out of 30 in the FGD 23
are male and 7 female. This pilot survey considered other factors such as age,education, occupation, environment, socio-economic status, experience,
religion; that may influence knowledge differentiation in a community.
In order to identify representative sites and TK holders, purposive samplingtechniques were used and the country classified the major TK type as Ethnoveterinary & traditional medicine. From each stratum, TK holders (individual,group and community) were identified using key informants. For Afar and Keryu(Ethno-veterinary), the FGD conducted was based on the community choice withthe combination of a Community Elder, a user, Healers and a government
administrator. But for Wollo (traditional human medicine), the FGD was
conducted with a user and pharmacists and also 27 individual structured
questions for the healers as checklists used to guide the FGD.

Figure 2: FGD at Afar and Keryu

During the third step, which was not planned, the researcher was informed that Dr.
Motlalepula Gilbert was in Addis Ababa with WIPO officials. Dr. Motlalepula is a
Director of health indigenous knowledge system of South Africa (pictured below).
The researcher arranged for an interview at Intercontinental Hotel in Addis Ababa
and he was willing to give his experience on Traditional Medicine intellectual
protection system in South Africa.

Assessment of Possible Intellectual Property Protection Options of Traditional Knowledge System in Ethiopia: Special Reference in Herbal Medicine for Livestock | 27

Figure 3: Dr. Motlalepula with researcher at Addis Ababa

II. Conducted Full Scale Survey
The full Scale study was designed to provide descriptive information. Hence, theresearchers were able to describe the traditional medicine knowledge situation in
the study area of Ethiopia as indicated in figure 1 and as observed and reportedby the Healers, the users and key informants. The study included men andwomen who were using it in their daily activities & members of the community.
Table 3: Number of Healers interview per site
Study Areas

Sex

Total

FemaleMale

Somali-Shinila

1

12

13

Keryu

0

16

16

Bekoji

1

3

4

Borna

2

14

16

Moyale

1

13

14

Afar

0

15

15

Total

5

73

78

28 | Assessment of Possible Intellectual Property Protection Options of Traditional Knowledge System in Ethiopia: Special Reference in Herbal Medicine for LivestockPrimary data were collected from purposively selected pastoralists' livelihoods
who depend predominantly on livestock and their products in Ethiopia. The six
sampling sites were distributed widely to cover different cultural settings andgeographical conditions to be able to capture the ethno-veterinary use patterns
by different ethnical groups (figure 1). The individual interview revealed that 78
healers both male and female traditional healers were interviewed individually as
shown in Table 3.

Figure 4: Individual healers' interview at Keryu and Bekoji

This research interviewed six government officials from Ethiopian Intellectual
property office, National Health and Nutrition Research Institute (NHNRI), Wondo
Genet Agricultural Research Center (WGARC) traditional medicine, Ministry of
Science and Technology and Environmental Protection Authority.
One key informant for the big city was herbalist Abebech Shiferaw who is ownerand manager of Deshet Traditional Herbal Medicine Treatment Centre. The
Centre conserves medicinal plants and gives treatments to patients using
traditional practices.
This research at full scale conducted a series of five focus group sessions for the
total participant who were 46 (7 Female and 39 male), two for Shinile and one
each in Keryu, Moyale and Dollo Ado. Each session was held in a professional
focus group facility. As well as 47 users who were interviewed individually. This
study used three enumerators and three research assistance in the field.

Assessment of Possible Intellectual Property Protection Options of Traditional Knowledge System in Ethiopia: Special Reference in Herbal Medicine for Livestock | 29

Table 4: Number of Participant in FGD per site
Study Areas

Sex

Total

FemaleMale

Somali-Shinila

2

18

20

Keryu

0

8

8

Borna

5

5

10

Dollo Ado

0

8

8

Total

7

39

46

The data generated was coded and entered into SPSS version 15.0 software forstatistical analysis. Descriptive statistics like mean, standard deviation, frequency
distribution, percentage, were used to examine and understand the situations of
the purposive sample respondents.

Figure 5: FGD at Moyale and Shinile respectively

30 | Assessment of Possible Intellectual Property Protection Options of Traditional Knowledge System in Ethiopia: Special Reference in Herbal Medicine for Livestock7. Results & Discussion
This part of the report presents the major findings of the study area indicated infigure 5. The first subsection presents the traditional healers' indigenous
knowledge and practices including the common human and animal diseases andtheir traditional treatment practices. The knowledge ownership and transfer
mechanism is analyzed in the second subsection. The third subsection discusses
the available options to help protect the intellectual property rights of the
traditional knowledge system.
7.1 Traditional knowledge and practices
The traditional healers' interview and the Focus Group Discussion (FGD) in the PS
revealed that traditional healers have the ethomedicinal and ethnoveterinary
knowledge to treat humans and animals diseases, respectively. The full scale
survey results showed that knowledge percentage for animals was 85.9% and14.1% for humans. The survey results also confirmed the purposive sampling of
the study to represent the pastoralist areas with a very high diversity of medicinal
plant species and indigenous knowledge. The individual interview showed thatboth male and female traditional healers are involved in the traditional knowledge
and practices where the females were represented with only 6.4% dominated by
the male practitioners (93.6%). A similar study in the central Ethiopia (Debre
Markos area) reported the gender imbalance in the traditional treatment andstated that the males appeared to be more knowledgeable than the females. This
is in contrary to the findings in Tanzania who reported that all the traditional
medicine practitioners in the surveyed villages were female [8].
7.2
Major diseases treated by traditional healers
The full scale study areas, known for its ethnoveterinary knowledge showed that
Assessment of Possible Intellectual Property Protection Options of Traditional Knowledge System in Ethiopia: Special Reference in Herbal Medicine for Livestock | 31

85.9% of the individual healers were involved in the treatment of animals, while
14.1% treat both animals as well as humans. Among the healers, 53.8% of the
respondents treat internal diseases, mainly internal bone fractures and externaldiseases were claimed to be at 11.5%.
The Afar and Kereyu areas are known as livestock dependent societies hence
they have demand for the involvement of tradition healers on the problem ofanimal diseases in this livestock sector. Accordingly, the healers have a vast
amount of ethnoveterinary knowledge. The analysis of the FGD in the PS
undertaken in the study areas showed that up to 23 livestock diseases weretreatable by herbal medicines. And also this study reported that there were 34
types of diseases which can be treated. In a similar study, livestock keepers of theTurkana and the Samburu communities in Kenya identified about 50 livestock
diseases and grouped them as treatable using local remedies. Treatablediseases included retained placenta, eye disease, bloat and skin conditions suchas wounds, streptothricisis, mange, lice, fleas and leeches. Anthrax and Black leg
were responsible for the death of most of the livestock in the study areas. A similar
study conducted in Afar by Oxfam international indicated that the livestock
productivity is constrained by wide spread diseases; bacterial, viral, protozoal
diseases; and internal and external parasites commonly exist in all species of
livestock; Anthrax and Black leg occur sporadically in cattle; LSD and
Pasteurellosis also appear following changes in climate. The National
Trypanosomosis Centre confirms the occurrence of camel trypanosomes caused
by T. evansi in the region [10]; and also Dvm. Zeriun Y/Hailu (lecturer in Afar
ATVET) converted the local names to scientific ones from the Afar FGD andverified the disease prevalence in the area. Livestock keepers in the study areas
use the public animal health services and NGOs working in the area during
disease outbreaks and vaccination campaigns especially when there is aseasonal change.
7.3
Major disease treatment methods and herbal preparation
Traditional healers in the PS study areas reported to use medicinal plants
materials, mineral, soil, blood, immunization by tissue from affected cases(common for animal disease and called auto vaccination) and animal products
for the treatment of human and animal diseases. Most of the treatments in the
study areas are plant based. Different parts of the medicinal plants such as the
32 | Assessment of Possible Intellectual Property Protection Options of Traditional Knowledge System in Ethiopia: Special Reference in Herbal Medicine for Livestockleaves, roots, seeds, small branches and internal bark are processed into fresh ordried forms. The same result was obtained in this study; 78.2% depend on plant
extracts. From the plant parts 33.3% use roots and 50% use root & herbs for
medicinal preparation. 75.6% of the healers prepared two or more plants withwater for a single treatment for an animal disease as shown in fig.6. Table 3
presents the major diseases treated by types of traditional treatment, preparation
and administration methods in Afar. A similar study in the southeastern of Ethiopia
reported that most of the medicinal plants parts such as leaves (39.2%) and roots(31.65%) were processed in fresh (46.58%), and fresh or dried forms (32.19%)
while some (21.23%) in solely dried forms [2]. Single or compound plants areused to prepare the remedial similar to the ethnopharmaceutical knowledge
worldwide. Most plant-based preparations involve crushing the principal
ingredients (pulverization) and they are mixed with substances like cold water,honey, coffee, butter, oil, salt, sugar, kerosene, ash and milk. The processed
remedies are mostly administered through the mouth (oral), nose (nasal), or on
the skin (dermal), auricular and optical depending on the type of disease and thetreatment.
90

Percent Way of Process Mediicin...

80
75.64%

70
60
50
40
30
20
10

6.41%

12.82%

1.28%

3.85%

0
Each Plant
Independently

Combining two
or more plants
with water

Combining thePlant withAnimal Extracts

Combination of
Plants andAllowing
Fermentation

Fire

Figure 6: Way of preparation

Assessment of Possible Intellectual Property Protection Options of Traditional Knowledge System in Ethiopia: Special Reference in Herbal Medicine for Livestock | 33

Table 5: Afar major disease traditional treatment, preparation andadministration methods
Disease Local
Name

Scientific Name*

Description

Treatment

Preparation

Method ofadministration

Gublo

CBPP

Transmitted by Air,kills the animal

Auto vaccine
methodTaking meat from one ofthe dead animals

Inserted on thenasal part of thelive animals

FerieraAnthrax

Sudden death; theanimal suddenly diesby just jumping andfalling on the ground,kills animals every day
and the pastoralists
become poor due tohigh devastation

Drenching

The leaves are groundand water is added

Through nasal andmouth

Endigulu

Render pest

Attacks only the calf
but not the cow.
Wound on eyes, fever,wound also on mouth.
Killed the affected calf
onlyAuto vaccine
methodTie the calf with a ropeand collect urine only ina cup. Leaves are
ground and the calf’s
urine is added

Nasal drop let

Abebi

Foot and mouth

Salivating highly,
wound on the animal’s
leg and the nail comeoff

Drenching

The leaves are groundand water is added

Through nasal and
mouth

Noka

Lameness

Just like Malaria
symptom

Expose tosunNothing given

They don’t give
water and grass tothe animal for twodays. The animal istied and exposed to
sunlight

Rori

Demodex

Wound from a Tickand also transmitted toa calf and also ahuman child throughdrinking of milk from
affected cow

Inserted inwound

Butter dressed withleavesInserted in wound

Snake Bite

Swelling on the bitten
part

Drenchingwith praying

Starts the day early inthe morning with fasting
he then takes leaves
mixed with water after
praying. At night hevomits blood andDiarrheas

Mouth

Cattle hit withanother’s horn

Bleeding

Ointment

Powdered leaves on thewound

On the wound

Bit by a hyena

Bleeding but no broken
bone

Ointment

Powdered leaves on thewound

On the wound

Poor mothering

The calf does not getenough milk from thecow

Insertion

Pick the leaves in thename of the cow

Inserted in the
cow’s uterus earlyin the morning

34 | Assessment of Possible Intellectual Property Protection Options of Traditional Knowledge System in Ethiopia: Special Reference in Herbal Medicine for Livestock

Disease Local
Name

Scientific Name*

Description

Andro

Anaplasmosis

Blood parasite

Kerbi

fascioliasis

Dahanibabesiosis

Sole

Baslerhi homblobe
uria

HarmodiBlack leg

Pida

Pastrolosti

Treatment

Preparation

Method ofadministration* This Name is verified by Veterinary Doctor in the area

7.4

Knowledge ownership, access & benefit and transfer
mechanism

Knowledge ownership
According to the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), traditional
knowledge holders are all persons who create, originate, develop and practicetraditional knowledge in a traditional setting and context. Indigenous
communities, peoples and nations are traditional knowledge holders, but not all
traditional knowledge holders are indigenous” [11]. The knowledge ownershipsystem in both study locations goes in line with this definition where the traditional
healer is the owner of the traditional knowledge.
The majority of the local healers used to collect medicinal plants alone with great
secrecy and no one was allowed to see this activity except some family members.
The study confirmed that 79.5% acquired the knowledge from their father or uncle
whereas 3.8% of the respondent confirmed that their knowledge was acquired
from well-known traditional healers from another town. 87.2% reported that theyacquired the whole knowledge from their mentors and in line with this, 84.6% of
the respondent didn't improve the acquired knowledge.
The survey results revealed that 92.3% of the respondent confirmed that theirknowledge was well-known to individuals in their community but not the wholecommunity (fig.7). This indicated that such traditional knowledge is held by alimited class or members within the community who pass such skills andknowledge mainly to their kin.

Assessment of Possible Intellectual Property Protection Options of Traditional Knowledge System in Ethiopia: Special Reference in Herbal Medicine for Livestock | 35

Individuals in the Community (92.31%)
Whole Community (2.56%)
Other Community (2.56%)
Missing Value (2.56%)

Figure 7: Those who hold traditional medicine knowledge

Knowledge transfer
As discussed in the knowledge ownership part, the majority of the traditional
healers have acquired their knowledge from their parents or relatives. The study
showed that the current knowledge transfer system followed the inheritancebased transfer system where most healers pass their knowledge to an elder/ theeldest son/daughter. The selection of the elect was based upon his/her good
conduct and ability to keep the secrecy with regards to the medicinal plant use
knowledge.
100% of the respondent agreed that the knowledge transfer system used was theoral mechanism transfer of this wisdom resulting in the fragmentation or loss ofthe ethnomedical/ethnoveterinary lore and medicinal plants. The oraltransmission of knowledge from generation to generation gives rise to thepossibility of incompleteness, omission, misrepresentation or distortion of theoriginal medicinal plant cure as time goes by [7]. Shinile (Isaa Somali) study area
revealed that the two brothers received the same training from their father but
have different skills in the society (see the fig below).
The other problem with attempting to preserve traditional knowledge through theoral tradition is that it leaves no written record for posterity. Thus, the oral tradition
does not only risk misinterpretation, it also risks losing crucial information.

36| Assessment of Possible Intellectual Property Protection Options of Traditional Knowledge System in Ethiopia: Special Reference in Herbal Medicine for LivestockFigure 8: The two brothers who are healers in Shinile

Another issue is the low educational level of the healers coupled with theunwillingness to transfer the wisdom during their relatively young ages; the study
revealed that 67.9% of the respondents are illiterate. The knowledge transfer
system is bound by traditional laws and can only happen through a cultural
ceremony. 89.7% of the healers confirmed that during the transfer of theknowledge, they are also bestowed with obligation.
In all areas, where there is a strong cultural relation, other people of thecommunity who might know the medicinal plants application are not allowed touse the medicine without the healer's permission since it is believed to bring badluck to all those concerned. Therefore, no one will practice the knowledge which
was not passed to him/her through the proper transfer mechanism in practice,from father to son. The graph below (fig 9) analyses the respondents' response to
the question - “Did you undertake any obligation?”

Assessment of Possible Intellectual Property Protection Options of Traditional Knowledge System in Ethiopia: Special Reference in Herbal Medicine for Livestock | 37

100
90

89.74%

80
70

Percent

60
50
40
30
20

10.26%
10
0
Yes

No

Figure 9: Obligation transfer

The time to transfer the knowledge to his/her elder son/daughter dependent on
the willingness of the healers where in some cases the healer may pass withouttransferring the knowledge especially during accidental death. The transfer timedepends on the perception that the healer has about his/her successor. The
successor will not practice the knowledge unless the healer allowed him to do so,though the successor knows how to prepare the treatment. In Afar, the successor
is told when the time is right to practice it otherwise he/she would wait for healer's
blessings to start the medication. However, there are cases where the knowledge
is transferred out of the norm: where the healer dies before passing theknowledge in the presence of the elders and the person who is exposed to it andknows its application; people start going to ask for the medicines in that houseand the knowledgeable persons start to practice traditional medicine. Though
this is not common, there are cases where the healers had the experience ofteaching family members or other community members; if someone else outside
the family members has the interest to learn the knowledge, interested persons
would contact traditional medicine knowledge holder and request to learn theknowledge. This may require two or three trials to convince the healer and in
addition, payment is made in cash or in kind (cattle). This type of transfer
depends mainly on the interest of the learner and willingness of the healer(traditional knowledge holder).

38 | Assessment of Possible Intellectual Property Protection Options of Traditional Knowledge System in Ethiopia: Special Reference in Herbal Medicine for Livestock

Access-benefit issues
Ethiopia has had a good experience on Access Benefit issues for the Teff genetic
resource case between Ethiopia and Netherland. Ethiopia is the center of origin
and diversity for teff [Eragrostis tef (Zucc.) Trotter] that is one of the most importantfood crops in the country. It accounts for about 22 per cent (more than 2 million ha)of the total cultivated acreage among the major cereals. It is grown as a cereal
crop only in Ethiopia where it is ground into flour, fermented and then made into
injera (a type of pancake and the staple food for many Ethiopians). It originated in
Ethiopia between 400 and 1000 BC. Genetic evidence points to E. pilosa as themost likely wild ancestor (Ingram and Doyle, 2003).
It has adapted to environments ranging from drought to waterlogged soil
conditions. Maximum teff production occurs at altitudes of 1800 to 2100masl,
growing season rainfall of 450 to 550mm, and a temperature range of 10 to 27°C.
Teff has an attractive nutrition profile; being high in dietary fiber, iron and calcium(National Research Council, 1996) as well as being high in protein (Seyfu, 1993). It
is gluten free, so it is appropriate for people with celiac disease (Chanyalew,2007).
Demand for teff is increasing in some European countries mainly due to the healthreasons associated with gluten allergy. In April 2005, a Dutch company called
Health and Performance Food International (HPFI) entered into an agreementwith the Institute of Biodiversity Conservation (IBC) and the Ethiopian Agricultural
Research Organization (EARO) to develop non-traditional teff-based food andbeverage products, which are listed in the agreement. This agreement is a benefitsharing arrangement but this study is focused on individual healers.
Long established medicinal knowledge practices & knowledge transfer norms
and non-commercial provision of service have brought amongst community
members trust and confidence on knowledge systems within their communities.
Service is given in their locality and also to anyone from outside the community.
The medication is given by the healer himself and according to what has been
cured, his payment will be made and also the same payment is received as his
mentor; if he cured cows, a cow will be his payment, if they were goats, a goat will
be his price. But prior to treatment, when he is requested to come and treat the
animals, he first needs a piece of clothing called “abujede” and two sheep (maleAssessment of Possible Intellectual Property Protection Options of Traditional Knowledge System in Ethiopia: Special Reference in Herbal Medicine for Livestock | 39

and female) to be delivered to his house; only then would he start to collect theplants needed and prepare the medicine and cure the animal.
According to Mugabe, one important feature of the Tigray form of institutionalorganization is that it facilitates easy sharing or exchange of seeds among thefarmers and even outside communities. One channel of seed exchange is thepractice of offering a portion of the best-selected seeds as gifts to the poor inconnection with the St. Mary's celebration in the Orthodox Church. Similarly, thisstudy revealed that in Afar and Somali, they have traditions for exchanging new
disease treatment methods through their clan leaders.
7.5
Key Informant Interview at Big City
The key informant at the city was the herbalist Abebech Shiferaw, owner andmanager of Deshet Traditional Herbal Medicine Treatment Centre. The Centre
conducts conservation of medicinal plants and gives treatments to patients using
traditional practices. The centre is conserving the medicinal plants in a field genebank (a 4 ha garden) and traditional seed store. In the field gene bank, some 600
species of herbs, shrubs, grasses and trees having medicinal value and a total of
1,400 samples collected from all over the country are conserved. In addition,
edible horticultural crops such as potato and cabbage are also planted to bemixed with the medicinal plants; they are served to patients demanding
nutritional supplements. About 50 seed samples of tree species, some of which
are highly threatened, and 112 samples of teff, sorghum, barley and wheat are
kept in the seed store.
The seeds are monitored for viability every 3 to 5 years. Thirteen seed samples,
which the centre calls 'vitamin Etse-tehadso', are also kept underground.
According to the Herbalist, restoration of medicinal plants has been undertaken
in some areas of the country where these genetic resources have been lost fromthe localities. In addition to the conservation activities, the Centre provides
traditional medicines and health care at the Centre and its branch in Addis
Ababa.

40 | Assessment of Possible Intellectual Property Protection Options of Traditional Knowledge System in Ethiopia: Special Reference in Herbal Medicine for LivestockFigure 10: Traditional seed store of Deshet Traditional Herbal Medicine
Centre (Photo: Adugna Abdi)

Figure 11: Partial view of the medicinal plants garden
Assessment of Possible Intellectual Property Protection Options of Traditional Knowledge System in Ethiopia: Special Reference in Herbal Medicine for Livestock | 41

The Herbalist stated that about 23 medicinal plant species have become extinct
from the country because of the absence of proper conservation and sustainableutilization. The Centre identified the following major problems and constraints ofmedicinal plants:> Severe erosion and extinction of indigenous knowledge;> Lack of capacity for the responsible government institutions to look after the
resources;> Lack of due consideration of the resources and traditional medicines;> Absence of an organization to integrate and coordinate the efforts oftraditional healers and their healing practices;> Absence of due respect for indigenous traditional healers (or herbalists);> Lack of inclusion of traditional medication in government institutional
structures.
Besides the conservation and traditional healing endeavours, the Centreorganizes workshops and trainings in relation to traditional medication not onlyfor Ethiopia but also for Africa. They gave training in Ghana and Kenya. The
centre recommends the following sites/regions as priority areas for theconservation of medicinal plants; with need for urgent action:> Abay river catchment> The Kesem-lowland-woodland areas including Afar and Somali regions;> South Omo – the Omo river catchment, and around Jinka> Gonder and Eastern Gojam (Zege) areas> Benishangul-Gumuz and Gambella areas
The Herbalist believes that restoration of the medicinal plants to their natural
habitat is important since the curing ability is more effective when they arecollected from their natural habitats rather than plants collected from areas where
they have been taken to. These results, also supported by findings, indicated that88.46% of the respondents prepared fresh herbs and gave them immediately.

42 | Assessment of Possible Intellectual Property Protection Options of Traditional Knowledge System in Ethiopia: Special Reference in Herbal Medicine for Livestock100

88.46%

90
80
70

Percent

60
50
40
30
20

8.97%

10

1.28%

1.28%

0
Prepared andStored in
Refrigerator

Prepared andStored in Room
Temperature

Prepareand Give

Plant Store in
Air Condition

Figure 12: Traditional medicine storage

The Herbalist stated that the training is mainly given for common disease
treatments. All healers have their own specialization, which are a big secret to thefamily. The herbalist confirmed that she is from the 52nd generation of theDeshet; this generation is specialized on gene and mental development; so thisknowledge is never ever disclosed to anybody, even when the generation is at
big risk. This also revealed that 64.10% of the respondents were not willing toshare their knowledge with the researcher.

Yes (35.90%)
No (64.10%)

Figure 13: Knowledge sharing with the researcher

Assessment of Possible Intellectual Property Protection Options of Traditional Knowledge System in Ethiopia: Special Reference in Herbal Medicine for Livestock | 43

She finally confirmed that this knowledge belongs to the community. But unlike toall healers, this family has written documents that are transferred from one
generation to another. These documents were asked by the Ethiopian science &Technology for records but she refused to provide even to the government.
7.6
Interview with the Government officials
This research interviewed six government officials from the Ethiopian Intellectual
property office, the National Health and Nutrition Research Institute (NHNRI), theWondo Genet Agricultural Research Center (WGARC) traditional medicine, andthe Ministry of Science and Technology and Environmental Protection Authority.
All the respondents agreed on the issue of the criteria to be applied to determine
whether certain knowledge should be characterized as traditional as follows:
associated mainly with the other traditional culture or beliefs of the society
concerned, mostly communicated orally; no systematic documentation, area
specific i.e.; not widely spread, Dose, type and source of herbal medicine isdependent on the practitioner.
The majority view on the recognition of the rights of traditional communities on
their traditional medicine knowledge is that it should be officially recognized for it
helps majority in the public, and most rural communities are benefiting fromtraditional medicine in many ways. So recognizing this means developing asystem by which all can benefit from; thereby, reducing the improper usage of theknowledge as well as conserving the environment.
All agreed on the issue of recognizing the community (customary) laws on
traditional medicine. And they proposed the way as follows: In the first place
there has to be a means to protect the knowledge of healers; and hence proper
registration system of such knowledge has to be in place; Devising a system toappreciate these communities with some royalty is important and to do so
discussions may be important and should involve all relevant stakeholders
including traditional healers, representative of the aged people, medical doctors,
pharmacists, pharmacologist, pharmacognocist, organic chemists, lawyers, etc.
There has to be in place an organic link between the traditional medicine andmodern technological laboratories with proper exchange of knowledge and withadequate secrecy. Categorizing valuable and senseless community laws has tobe done in discussions with the healers, users and professionals.
44 | Assessment of Possible Intellectual Property Protection Options of Traditional Knowledge System in Ethiopia: Special Reference in Herbal Medicine for LivestockProper working procedures shall then be devised to make use of the agreed
community laws. For this, recognition of various community leaders at eachidentified locality is to be made.
On the issue on knowledge of any Ethiopian law which addresses the protectionof traditional medicinal knowledge, the majority agreed that there is no clear
policy but that the law issued by biodiversity institute indirectly addresses theissue of Access & Benefit Sharing on protection of unfair exploitation by the third
party.
All respondents agreed on recognition and certification of traditional healers withproper care and follow up And they suggested the responsible organization
should depend on the type of traditional medicine being certified (the certifying
body may be one, two or three institutions/organizations): if for example theproduct to be certified is simply herb, certification should depend on the type andthe varieties that that specific herb belongs to. In this case, the Ministry ofAgriculture together with Agricultural Research Institutes (ARI) may be relevant.
In other cases where the traditional medicine is made from minerals, may be theQuality Standard Authority of Ethiopia (QSAE) would be relevant but in
consultation with National Health and Nutrition Research Institute (NHNRI).
But most traditional medicines are made from a combination of different
ingredients; multi-institutional certification systems may also be devised.
All agreed on the traditional medicinal practitioners disclosing their formulations
to a pertinent government body which the public will benefit more in getting
standardized service and the healers will also get the royalty for the knowledge
and the necessary technical support.
All suggested that on the area of government intervention to ensure the potentialof traditional medicinal knowledge is realized in the national health care system; itshould be done by:> Organizing different traditional healers located at various parts of the country,> Capacitating these healers with some very crucial health care systems
through series of trainings and experience sharing; in this case some NGOs
can be involved
Assessment of Possible Intellectual Property Protection Options of Traditional Knowledge System in Ethiopia: Special Reference in Herbal Medicine for Livestock | 45

> Devising a system by which these practitioners share their knowledge to therelevant institution(s)> Organizing Traditional Healers Research Group of Ethiopia (THRGE) at
different levels, may be under NHNRI where they can share their knowledge
and conduct preclinical and clinical researches together with the researchbody,> Establishing firm linkages between the Ministry of Science and Technology(MoST), the National Health and Nutrition Research Institute (NHNRI), theWondo Genet Agricultural Research Center (WGARC), the Institute of
Biodiversity Conservation (IBC), the Quality Standard Authority of Ethiopia(QSAE), Addis Ababa University School of Pharmacy, the Herbarium of Addis
Ababa University.
> Studying the value chain of traditional medicinal plants and thereby
supporting each step with proper research.
> Devising a system of certification ,> Creating awareness in the communities with respect to where, how and which
type of herbal medicine is relevant for their health care.
Finally all agreed that the conventional intellectual property system which
evolved over the past few centuries in the west has no relevance to the protectionof the knowledge on traditional medicine but with the exception of somemodification, according to our public culture and understanding, it may be used.
7.7

Options to protect the intellectual property rights of the
traditional medicinal knowledge system
I. Defensive protection is basically intended to prevent third parties fromacquiring or asserting IP rights over traditional knowledge including traditional
medicinal knowledge other than the customary custodians of the knowledge orresources. To prevent patent claims on traditional medicinal knowledge, it would
require making available the knowledge that is already in a certain group of thecommunity in some kind of documented form by publishing the data in order tobring it to the attention of patent examiners. The measure that may be consideredin this respect and that has been suggested by several authors would be; tocollect information on traditional medicinal knowledge and hold it in a databaseto make it available at the national and international level in order to prove priorart.

46 | Assessment of Possible Intellectual Property Protection Options of Traditional Knowledge System in Ethiopia: Special Reference in Herbal Medicine for LivestockThe major concern with respect to publishing and establishing databases on
traditional medicinal knowledge is that it may further pave way for increased
misappropriation of such knowledge because of its public availability. Thus,
giving unrestricted access to genetic resources and associated traditional
knowledge may lead to further bio-piracy. And also the study revealed that 100%of healers received their knowledge orally and 89.7% of healers received theirknowledge together with the obligation.
II. Positive protection of traditional knowledge including traditional medicinal
knowledge is intended for the holders of traditional medicinal knowledge toacquire IPR by themselves. The protection may be through existing IPR systems.
In this context, we shall initially examine briefly whether existing IPR systems may
be applicable to traditional medicinal knowledge.
Patent - in order for an invention to be patentable, it generally has to meet threecriteria, namely: novelty, non-obviousness and industrial applicability and one
procedural criterion; that of sufficient disclosure. These requirements underconventional IP law are cumulative and, if one of the substantive criteria is absent,
then the patent cannot be approved. The study revealed that 84.6% of the healersdidn`t improve the acquired knowledge. The results of the study indicated thatcertain groups of communities which hold such knowledge did not wish to
divulge their knowledge to the public and prefer to hold such knowledge
continuously within the community. The traditional medicinal knowledge isalready in the public domain as such, the conventional IP system will not beapplicable to such types of traditional medicinal knowledge.
There are mainly three requirements that need to be satisfied in order to protect
certain knowledge as trade secrets: the information must be kept as secret andtherefore must not be in the public domain; the information that is kept as a secretmust have a commercial value and the holder of the knowledge must makereasonable efforts to maintain secrecy of the knowledge. With respect to thisstudy of traditional medicinal knowledge, there are 92.3% of the healers who
confirmed that their knowledge was well known to individuals in their community
but not the whole community. In such situations, such traditional medicinal
knowledge cannot be protected under trade secrets.

Assessment of Possible Intellectual Property Protection Options of Traditional Knowledge System in Ethiopia: Special Reference in Herbal Medicine for Livestock | 47

III.
In view of the special and often varied characteristics of traditional
knowledge and the difficulties of applying conventional intellectual property
rights protection to such knowledge, there are several efforts made at theinternational, regional and national levels to develop a sui generis regime for theprotection of traditional knowledge including traditional medicinal knowledge. As
pointed out previously in the literature paper, the African Model Legislation seems
to incorporate the most comprehensive and novel set of objectives for protectionof traditional knowledge and the biological resources on which they are based. It
contains important elements as objectives. For instance, it refers to 'knowledge
and technologies of communities' as the objective of protection which is closer tothe provision of the CBD which recognizes the existence of local technologies
used by local communities in the creation and exercising of their knowledge
system. It also incorporates the notion that the rights of the local communities
over their knowledge and technologies are 'inalienable'. This is intended tosuggest that no one can appropriate the long-standing and inter-generationalrights of local communities over their knowledge and technologies andassociated biological resources and to exercise such right includes exchange ofsuch knowledge within such communities permanently. It also implies thataccess to biological resources and related knowledge and technologies may
only be availed to third parties only if they are given consent by the concerned
communities themselves. The African model legislation is also intended to ensure
the effective participation of the communities in access and benefit sharing.
The African Model legislation refers to the 'community rights' or 'community
intellectual rights'. It gives emphasis to the collective nature of the rights and theright of the communities to collectively benefit from their knowledge. In otherwords, it does not seem to provide any possibility that the knowledge within thecommunity can be privately held by individuals or a group of persons within thecommunity. This gives rise to the issue of whether or not it is always the case; thatthe community holds traditional knowledge collectively or whether or not it is thewish of the individuals who hold such traditional knowledge in the community oreven if held by the community as a whole, it is recognized that it is held and sharedcollectively. The use of the term ' community intellectual rights' has also beencoined to avoid the term 'property' since it is believed that conventional forms of
IPR are inappropriate to community traditional knowledge which are always
presumed to be freely shared within the community even if it has no commercial
value.
48 | Assessment of Possible Intellectual Property Protection Options of Traditional Knowledge System in Ethiopia: Special Reference in Herbal Medicine for LivestockThe African model legislation strongly emphasizes the role of customary law of
the concerned communities in determining their rights; in the identification of
their knowledge and also in its access, use of their biological resources andrelated knowledge. This is a very important provision in the sense that it gives thedecision-making power in all matters to the holders of the TK themselves. This
creates the necessary incentives for the communities to actively participate in theprotection of their knowledge.
The above discussions on the instruments intended to protect traditional
knowledge have relevant provisions that must be used for the development of asui generis regime for the protection of traditional knowledge in the Ethiopian
context. There are variations and similarities in some of the provisions containedin the laws. What one can see is that there are certain major policy differences in
the laws. For instance, in the African model legislation, there is no mention of'property' rights on the traditional knowledge that communities hold.
This is a major policy decision since the underlying presumption behind avoiding
the term 'property rights' is the firm belief that traditional knowledge should not beprotected by any form of IPR that entitle exclusive rights to the community or any
member of the community because it is believed that the communities freely
exchange their knowledge, innovations and practices associated with biologicalresources. Imposing western forms of IPR would, therefore, destabilize such
communities and create culturally inappropriate forms of protection of TK which
has been held collectively and passed freely from generation to generation. One
thing that the study revealed is that communities have their own customary
practices of protecting their knowledge and recognizing individual creativity
within their customary systems which may at times be similar or close to the IPR
form of protection. According to Dutfield, customary laws and practices containthe rules for the holders of traditional knowledge, and in the local context theyusually provide effective protection [20]. Kuruk also mentioned the mechanisms
may cease to be effective [21]. Similarly Timmernans stated that it is difficult touse existing laws and mechanisms for the protection of traditional medicine, it isnecessary to look beyond and devise new mechanisms.
The study concludes that the traditional healer's knowledge in livestock
protected through appropriate sui generis intellectual property right protection
scheme, with highly consideration of customary law, has to be in place.
Assessment of Possible Intellectual Property Protection Options of Traditional Knowledge System in Ethiopia: Special Reference in Herbal Medicine for Livestock | 49

8. Conclusions & Recommendations
Traditional healers of the study areas of Ethiopia were found to be rich in theirindigenous knowledge on the use of medicinal plants to manage various humanand animal diseases. Traditional knowledge has originated, developed and isbeing practiced by traditional knowledge holders. This knowledge is transferredwith their own mechanism which is restrictive and family based. The finding
revealed the following points:> Customary systems have their own rule-based systems governing access toand use of knowledge.
> Special traditional knowledge was held by a certain group within thecommunity.
> Traditional Medicinal knowledge has been passed from generation to
generation without improvement on the original knowledge. Moreover, somespecific knowledge is lost in-between generations.
> Documentation of medicinal uses of plants is becoming urgent.
> Traditional healers protect their knowledge by attached believes.
> Ethiopian Orthodox church has great resources in Traditional Medicine
pharmacopeias based on the photo copy of the old book written in 1896 that
we got.
> The study area results revealed that customary law is still beyond thegovernment legal law now.
> The spiritual aspect of traditional medicine cannot be separated from thephysiological uses of plants.
> The pilot survey revealed that the same plants were being used for the same
purpose across the same boarder of Afar and Keryu. Similarly the full scale
results revealed that the same names of diseases and treatment are used in
Afar and Isaa Somali.
50 | Assessment of Possible Intellectual Property Protection Options of Traditional Knowledge System in Ethiopia: Special Reference in Herbal Medicine for Livestock

> Traditional knowledge is held by specific community members and not by
the whole community> There is knowledge specialization between healers. Most healers are known
to be best at some specific areas of medication.
> Plants used in preparation of the medicines are not well known. This hindered
the protection of biodiversity in regard to these plants.
> One`s whole knowledge is disclosed to his/her family members but the rest of
the community would know the most common knowledge.
> No one, even within the owner's family, can practice the knowledge without
the owner`s permission.
> Knowledge is transferred orally. This led to knowledge being lost in theprocess from generation to generation.
> Traditional medicine was prepared by harvesting the roots.
> Restoration of the medicinal plants to their natural habitat is important incuring ability when collected from their natural habitats.
> Traditional healers' knowledge in livestock could be protected throughappropriate sui generis intellectual property rights with highly considerationof customary law.
Recommendation> Systematic cultivation of medicinal plants be introduced in order to conserve
biodiversity and protect threatened species.
> An urgent need to formulate an array of incentive measures to ensure thatmembers of the younger generations would desire to learn, value, adapt andapply the traditional knowledge.
> The government should create an environment where the traditional healers
can communicate with researchers and reveal secret medicinal cures andtheir beliefs of the treatment.
> Traditional medical policy, regulations and working guidelines must be
approved.
> The government must be resolving the differences and disagreements
between the traditional herbalists and modern medical practitioners.
> Transfer of knowledge should be appreciated by the knowledge owners andtheir advantage in doing so should be made clear.
> Knowledge owners must be motivated and given incentives to work incollaboration with modern medicine experts.
> IP protection should be familiarized with the knowledge to know its benefit
Assessment of Possible Intellectual Property Protection Options of Traditional Knowledge System in Ethiopia: Special Reference in Herbal Medicine for Livestock | 51

> Government policy must be directed to benefit the knowledge owners while
using the results at the national as well as international level.
No.

Name

Designation of Government Office

1

H.E Dr. Zerihuni Kebede

Former State Minister of Science and Technology

2

Mr. Wondosen Belete

Director of Environmental System Project of Ethiopian Environmental Authority

3

Mr. Wondosen

Director of Environmental System Project of Ethiopian Environmental Authority

4

Mr. Kissi Mudie

Traditional Medicine Researcher, Ethiopian Health and Nutritional Research Institute5

Mr. Solomon Abate

Director, Wondo Gent Agricult ural Research center6

Mr. Feleke Kibrate

Secretary for Ethiopian Health Research Ethics

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