Organized by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ) GmbH, the Dutch Directorate for International Cooperation (DGIS) and the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity.

Wednesday, 10 October 2007

Participants from six workshops held to date under the ABS for Africa Initiative reported on the different events they attended. The events, which addressed various aspects of ABS, have either taken form of multi-stakeholder workshops focusing on a specific region, or addressing specific topics such as the certificate of origin or bio-trade and ABS. Over 60 participants attended the side event which reviewed the history of the ABS Capacity Development Initiative for Africa (the Initiative).

Following opening remarks from Léontine Crisson (The Netherlands Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality) and Anne-Katrin Pfeiffer (German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development), Dr. Andreas Drews (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ) GmbH) outlined the objectives, instruments, milestones and results achieved so far under the Initiative.

Dr. Kassahun Embaye (Ethiopian Institute of Biodiversity Conservation) reported on the pilot workshop held for Southern and Eastern Africa in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, in October 2005. He explained that participants discussed bio-prospecting cases and national ABS legislation, and highlighted that recommendations on future work under the Initiative were elaborated on the basis of capacity-building needs identified by participants. Dr. Andreas Drews added that the Initiative was developed following this pilot workshop.

Outlining the kick-off workshop held in Cape Town, South Africa, in November 2006, Kabir Bavikatte (Natural Justice, South Africa) presented the vision for ABS in Africa in the year 2010, as developed by workshop participants. He highlighted that the vision reflects all stakeholders’ interests and is intended to guide the Initiative’s work. He said the field trip to !Kwa ttu, the San Culture and Education Center, where participants discussed the case of bio-prospecting Hoodia with stakeholders had been instrumental in elaborating this multi-faceted vision.

Professor Johnson Ekpere (Nigeria) subsequently outlined a workshop that focused on the certificate of origin. At this workshop, held in Addis Ababa in March 2007, participants reviewed the report put forward by the technical expert group that had met to discuss the same subject in Lima, Peru, in January 2007. Professor Ekpere stressed that participants developed a common African viewpoint on the subject matter.

Pierre du Plessis (CRIAA, Namibia) reported on a workshop entitled “ABS, Biotrade & Commercial Research,” convened in Windhoek, Namibia in June 2007. He noted that discussions highlighted the difficulty of distinguishing between bio-trade and ABS, and drew attention to the field trip, which illustrated the Namibian pipeline approach of bio-prospecting Marula.  

Bon N’Konzi (Republic of Central Africa) reported on the multi-stakeholder workshop held for central African countries in Douala, Cameroon, in September 2007. He said that the workshop, which was organised in partnership with the Commission des Forêts d’Afrique Centrale (COMIFAC) examined the status of relevant ABS legislation and implementation in the region, and prepared a common position for the fifth meeting of the Ad hoc Open Ended Working Group on ABS (WGABS-5). N’Konzi stressed that the field trip to village communities harvesting prunus africana, and discussions with these and other stakeholders of this bio-prospecting case had been of great value to the workshop deliberations.

Following this presentation, Suhel al-Janabi (GTZ) introduced the African delegations briefing and capacity-development meeting that had taken place immediately prior to WGABS-5. He underscored that this bilingual workshop for African delegates was organised in partnership with the African Union, the Government of Quebec and the Institut de l’Energie et de l’Environnement de la Francophonie (IEPF). The meeting had provided participants with a background on the ABS process and a technical briefing on all substantial agenda items of WGABS-5.

Finally, Dr. Andreas Drews announced further steps planned under the Initiative, including multi-stakeholder workshops for Western Africa and the Maghreb to be held in November 2007, and an Africa-wide workshop planned for December 2007. He drew attention to a delegations briefing scheduled to take place prior to the sixth meeting of the Ad-hoc Working Group on ABS in Geneva, Switzerland.