Intellectual Property and Innovation in the Agricultural Sector in Least-developed Countries

This article examines the legal context in which agricultural innovation occurs in least-developed countries ( LDCs). It commences with a survey of the agricultural sector in LDCs, identifying the contemporary challenges for that sector. The relationship between intellectual property rights and agriculture is explored. It considers those intellectual property ( IP) laws which are most relevant to agricultural innovation: patenting plant variety rights protection, geographical indications and trade marks, and looks at the extent to which LDCs have the appropriate IP infrastructures to make use of these tools and the challenges to the effective use of IP tools in LDCs. This article concludes with a discussion of the use of emerging technologies to enable LDCs to cope with the increasing demand for food of their growing populations.