INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY AND BRANDING FOR BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT IN DEVELOPING AND LEAST DEVELOPED COUNTRIES (LDCs) A CASE-STORY FOR UGANDA TO BE PRESENTED BY Mr. RAYMOND AGABA COMMISSIONER, INTERNAL TRADE DEPARTMENT MINISTRY OF TRADE, INDUSTRY & COOPERATIVES KAMPALA, UGANDA

Branding in Uganda The Government of Uganda has a number of strategies that support branding of Ugandan products. These strategies are embedded within various sectoral policies and plans. Since 2009, the Private sector in Uganda has been running the ‘’Proudly Ugandan Campaign’’ program. This is intended to encourage Ugandans to take pride in their country by giving economic priority to Ugandan products , while sustaining a favourable competition in the local, regional and international markets. In so doing manufacturers , producers , and exporters are encouraged to develop brands that can tap into specific niche markets. Examples of brands, Good African Coffee, Kayonza Tea, Uganda Batteries, etc

IP for Branding The MTIC with support from WIPO developed a project that applies the use of intellectual property tools for economic empowerment of communities engaged in commercial agricultural products with unique qualities. The pilot project is focused on three products, i.e. vanilla, cotton, and sesame.

A case of Uganda’s vanilla Uganda ‘s vanilla contains a notably high vanillin (2% -3.2%), which is one of the highest in the world. They have a good aroma making them perfect for dessert and chocolate.(A study done by Ron Layton, Distinctive values in African exports). The Vanilla farmers in Uganda cultivate on small farms, the soils are rich and loamy that enable the vanilla to flourish. However, each plant requires hand pollination, and picking the beans when they are fully ripe is critical to obtaining optimal flavour as vanillin develops in the last few weeks of maturation. Farmers then sell their green vanilla beans to firms that cure and export them. The farmers gets around $8 per kilogram while the export price is $25 per kilogram. As the case for cotton and sesame, vanilla is continually sold as a commodity that does not attract premium prices.

Mukono Vanilla Growers

Uganda vanilla Beans

Cont- A case of Ugandan Vanilla The Uganda vanilla is a speciality product and therefore the use of IP strategy to raise the retail and export values of the product will empower all the players in the production chain. It is against this background that support was given to MUKONO Vanilla, Spices and Horticulture Cooperatives who were provided with a ‘’Certification Mark ‘’ to enable them capture higher revenue in the retail and export markets.

COTTON Ugandan Cotton is the country’s second most important export crop, because of its unique qualities in colour and texture, it is highly demanded on the international market. As the case for Vanilla and sesame, Ugandan cotton producers do not benefit from the full commercial value of this quality good, which continues to be sold as a commodity rather than a premium product.

Pure, bright cotton

SESAME Sesame is widely grown in Ugandan and is locally used to produce simsim, a delicacy in northern Uganda. It is also known that sesame has the highest oil content in the world and therefore has the potential to be branded as pure, cold pressed oil. A farmer will sell sesame at $ 1 or less per kilogram.

ACHIEVEMENTS/ ACTION AREAS Through support of WIPO the three products have managed to be branded, where certification marks where provided for cotton and vanilla, and a trade mark for sesame. The IP business strategies link the unique qualities of these products to their geographical locations with a view of attracting higher premiums.

CHALLENGES Lack of awareness on IP rights, branding strategies – public and private players. Marketing costs Standards especially for processed products

WAY-FORWARD Create awareness on IP branding strategies Capacity Building programmes Focus on export marketing strategies Licensing of IP tools Policy and regulatory framework Monitoring and evaluation of the project interventions