Sharing Traditional Knowledge: Who benefits? Cases from India, Nigeria, Mexico and South Africa - Benefit Sharing - page 68

In 1990, Dr Pushpangadan moved from the laboratory to become director of the
Tropical Botanic Garden and Research Institute (TBGRI) in Thiruvananthapuram,
Kerala. The research on Arogyappacha moved with him, and as it progressed, two
of the three original Kani guides were included in the team as paid consultants. 10
Eventually this project led to the development of a product called Jeevani, which
was ready to be marketed by 1994, just as India became one of the first countries
to sign and ratify the CBD.
Kani tribe members used the fruit of the plant, but for strategic reasons of year-
round availability and sustainability, Jeevani was developed from its leaves. Only
about 15% of the plant was used for the final product, which also contained other
ingredients based on existing Ayurvedic knowledge and wisdom. In November
1996 the TBGRI transferred the technology to the Arya Vaidya Pharmacy, based
in Coimbatore, one of the largest Ayurvedic manufacturing companies in India,
against a licence fee of Rs. 1 million (approximately US$28,000) and royalties of
2% at ex-factory sale.
At the time there was no precedent for sharing these profits with the tribal com-
munity. However, Dr Pushpangadan had been closely involved in the national and
global discussions on the protection of the indigenous knowledge system which
preceded the CBD, and he was actively involved at international forums for the
cause. By 1995 the provisions of Articles 15 and 8j of the CBD were directly
applicable, and this supported the case for benefit sharing for Jeevani, even though
India's national legislation in the form of the National Biodiversity Act was not
enacted until 2002. 11 Dr Pushpangadan was able to act as a link between these
developing processes and the TBGRI. His involvement facilitated an agreement in
September 1995 that the proceeds would be shared equally between the research
institute and the tribal community. This honoured the AICRPE's original verbal
agreement with the Kani (a formal benefit-sharing agreement took effect in 1996).
The executive committee of the TGBRI suggested transferring the money to the
Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Development Department in Kerala, but
the Kanis vehemently opposed the idea. The TBGRI was reluctant to transfer the
money directly into their hands, because of serious levels of alcohol misuse in the
community, and, in the absence of any formal domestic benefit-sharing regula-
tions, the expert consensus was that a trust for the tribal community should be
established to receive the funds. The Kerala Kani Samudaya Kshema Trust 12 was
10 During the intensive research stage from 1992 until 1998, the TBGRI kept the two guides
in the research loop as ethno-medical experts with a standard payment on a monthly basis for
their two visits a week to the TBGRI. The fee was Rs. 3000 (approximately US$80) per month
between 1993 and 1998 (personal communication from Dr S. Rajsekharan).
11 The National Biodiversity Act received presidential assent in 2003 and was followed by the
formulation of the Biological Diversity Rules in 2004 to provide the necessary statutory and
administrative mechanisms at national level to realize the Act's objectives. The relevant docu-
ments are available at the website of India's National Biodiversity Authority: http://www.nbaindi
a.org/publications.htm .
12 Samudaya means 'community' and kshema means 'welfare'.