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Bushmen Cry Foul Over Hoodia Trade

South African tribesmen accuse Germany of illegally selling products from the desert plant




Published on 2006-04-24 13:18 (KST)

Southern Africa's earliest inhabitants -- the San Bushmen -- are urging the governments of Switzerland, Germany, and South Africa to act against the illegal sale of products from the desert plant Hoodia gordonii. While the Convention of Biological Diversity (CBD) stipulates that indigenous groups be given a share of the profits from the commercial use of local genetic resources and traditional knowledge, the San are yet to benefit from the many Hoodia products that are being sold in Germany and Switzerland.


The San people, romanticized as hunters-gatherers, are found in Namibia, South Africa, Angola, and Botswana. The San call the cactus !khoba and have been chewing on it for thousands of years to stave off hunger and thirst during long hunting trips in their parched Kalahari Desert home.


The plant was, however, patented in 1996 by South Africa's Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and licensed for further development to a British company, which in turn sold additional licenses to drug company Pfizer, and later to Unilever. The San and the CSIR made a deal to share royalties earned by commercial sales of the San's ancient knowledge of the plant. A drug named P57, which scientists have managed to separate from the desert plant, is known for its characteristics of fighting obesity.


The San of southern Africa, represented by the Working Group of Indigenous Minorities in Southern Africa (WIMSA) and other organizations -- namely Boiwatch, Berne Declaration and the Church Development Service -- have urged the governments of South Africa, Germany, and Switzerland to stem the trade in Hoodia, which they say is an illegally acquired resource. In a letter to ministers of the three countries, the organizations said the intended solution would not be to only suppress the illegal sale of Hoodia products, but also to establish a structure that prevents the biopiracy of many other generic resources as well.


In the letter, Wimsa's Roger Channels urged the countries to take "long overdue steps against the continued trade of Hoodia plants and products without the return of benefits to the San -- the holders of the traditional knowledge about the plant." He said a recent inquiry found that more than 10 Hoodia products are on sale in stores and pharmacies in Germany and Switzerland.


The products are marketed in Germany, Switzerland, France, and the UK as Hoodia, Hoodia Kapsel, Hoodia Plus and Hoodia L10. On the Internet, the product is marketed as a super pill that naturally suppresses one's appetite. "Almost all sellers/distributors market their product with reference to the traditional knowledge of the San. In other countries, notably the U.K. and U.S., there is brisk trade in Hoodia products," he said, adding that the San have yet to receive a single penny from the trade.


CSIR and the San Council three years ago signed a benefit sharing formula, while a second such agreement was signed between the San and the Hoodia Growers Party Ltd. in early February this year. Channels said through the CSIR agreement, only the license holders -- Phytopharm UK and Unilever -- have legitimate access to the knowledge and generic resource, but for the moment, they are not selling any Hoodia products.


While the Hoodia growers market the product with claims that the owners of the traditional knowledge benefit from the growing of Hoodia, WIMSA says this is not the case. "Therefore all Hoodia products currently on the market are not part of the above-mentioned two San benefit sharing agreements. The San have not negotiated a benefit sharing agreement with anyone except the CSIR and the South African Hoodia Growers. It seems safe to conclude that all commercially traded Hoodia products contain illegally acquired resources and traditional knowledge according to CBD," reads the letter in part.


So far, said the letter, no user country has made any move to stop the sale of these products. The letter also notes that the two countries that were involved in drafting the Bonn Guidelines were not implementing them, which state that contracting parties should take appropriate legal, administrative, or policy measures to enforce the accords. These should include preventing the use of genetic resources obtained without prior informed consent and also to address infringements of access and benefit sharing agreements.


The organization urged the countries to "take seriously their obligations as user countries to initiate appropriate legal, administrative, or policy measures to stop the sale of Hoodia products in their countries in violation on CBD rules."


The San are southern Africa's oldest human inhabitants, having lived in the sub-continent for at least the past 20,000 years, and possibly going back as long as 40,000 years. But from the many, possibly even millions, who once roamed the plains and mountains, only about 100,000 remain.


http://english.ohmynews.com/ArticleView/article_view.asp?menu=A11100&no=287379&rel_no=1&back_url=

[rapier]

Their knowledge of the plants and animals all around them is incredible. lived in harmony with the natural world for millenia without taking more than they needed. Fantastic people.