WIPO Traditional Knowledge

“Our communities are unique. Our knowledge matters. And when it is recognized, it can create real opportunity.”

In Domboshava, Zimbabwe, Tsitsi Machingauta is working with women farmers, transforming Indigenous fruit and forest products into teas, juices and health supplements.

Drawing on knowledge passed down through generations, she founded the Women's Farming Syndicate, an organization that empowers women by turning Indigenous knowledge systems into market-ready products.

Through WIPO’s Women Entrepreneurship Program, Tsitsi learned how she can use branding, logos and intellectual property tools to grow her business, and gained access to expert mentorship and local legal support.

What’s next? Tsitsi is now working on the registration of a collective mark to help protect and promote the Syndicate’s products and shared knowledge.

Read her story here: https://ow.ly/M2bo50YqeZA

📸 Shaun Jusa / Xinhua; Tafadzwa Mupfawa

Indigenous perspectives at WIPO 🗣📢

Next week, representatives of Indigenous Peoples and local communities are participating in discussions at WIPO on the protection of traditional knowledge, traditional cultural expressions, and genetic resources.

The discussions taking place in the Intergovernmental Committee on Intellectual Property and Genetic Resources, Traditional Knowledge and Folklore will bring together governments, experts, and members of Indigenous Peoples and local communities.

After the formal opening of the Committee, Indigenous representatives will lead a panel discussion (“Together or Apart? The Relationship Between Traditional Knowledge and Traditional Cultural Expressions”) that explores how traditional knowledge connects with cultural expressions such as music, dance, and art.

👉Find out more about the upcoming Committee: https://t.ly/ID68O.
👉Watch live: https://webcast.wipo.int/home (March 4-13; plenary sessions only).
👉More about the Panel of Indigenous Peoples and local communities: https://t.ly/Ib-Ni.

Photo: WIPO/Berrod