Notes

The EAC is a regional intergovernmental organisation of the Republics of Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi, with its headquarters in Arusha,Tanzania. It is among a rising number of regional trade organisations in Africa, whose partner states conduct business activities at the bilateral and multilateral levels.

This paper discusses the broad concept of biodiversity as it supports human development. First the paper defines biodiversity in the widest sense as the basis for life on earth, the context not withstanding. Second, the paper expounds on the obvious and not so obvious relevance and importance of biodiversity to human existence development. Third, the paper discusses the status of Kenya’s biodiversity, presenting numbers of species, the ecosystems in which they are found, their status and condition and effects of human activities on them. Further,the paper discusses some current efforts and strategies being employed in biodiversity conservation. In the last section, the paper presents policies and practices that support biodiversity conservation in Kenya.

Traditional Knowledge of local communities is based on collective efforts of their language, social and cultural values, and natural resources within their environment. It is used as intangible property to sustain the community’s culture, as well as the Genetic Resources necessary for its survival. 

Protection of Genetic Resources and associated Traditional Knowledge in Kenya is a subject matter of the constitutional provisions on protection of right to property, culture and environment. The main challenge facing Kenya is the development of a knowledge based and innovation driven economy that beneficially participates in the

The Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) embarked on a two-year project titled “Intellectual Property Initiative Project for Entrepreneurial Development.” Realizing that Intellectual Property (IP) holders are not always aware of how they can benefit from their knowledge, the main goal of this project was to raise the level of awareness among stakeholders and the public on matters relating to the existing IP system in Kenya.