Making the value chain work - analysing the impact of Intellectual Asset and Property Management for seed sector development in West Africa

摘要

The role of Intellectual Property Management in facilitating the agricultural transformation process in developing countries is unknown and discussed in a very controversial way. This paper conceptualises a framework for assessing the impact of Intellectual Property Management on the seed sector in West Africa. At the core of such assessment are a number of system dynamics models that describe the dynamics of a seed value chain at different levels of aggregation. We use data from interviews with multinational seed companies, research institutions and private sector actors in Ghana for developing conceptual simulation models and for specifying the impact assessment framework. Simulation runs reveal the potential of Intellectual Property Management to boost research and thus the development of new, improved seed varieties. The timing of the introduction of intellectual property influences both the eventually achievable capacity of national and international research institutions but also the transition pattern towards this capacity.