From protocol to practice: Community organizing for fair Access and Benefit-Sharing under the Nagoya Protocol

Abstract

Globally there have been relatively few observations of the exchanges of genetic resources under the Nagoya Protocol. The Nagoya Protocol requires communities to be organized, yet this is challenging. Studies on community organizing in just transitions are skewed towards particular sectors and do not go into roots of extractivism and dispossession. Due to a lack of knowledge on community organization enforced by regulations like the Nagoya Protocol, this research explores how communities organize for a just transition under the Nagoya Protocol. Moreover, it identifies opportunities and barriers experienced in community organizing. The study uses institutional entrepreneurship theory which offers four practical strategies to organize communities. Finally, the research reflects on contributions of community organizing to justice. Data collection involved desk research to determine in which countries community organizing is present and conducting twenty-one interviews with participants from six countries to identify different types of community organizing. The study identified six types of community organizing from twenty cases, which differ along four main factors: role, objective and methods of the organizer, and social context of the involved community. Organizing is often initiated by external actors which engage communities to obtain access to genetic resources or represent interests, among others. Alternatively, they involve self-organization through establishing governance structures, to prepare and participate in the exchange of genetic resources. Organizers use the four strategies of institutional entrepreneurship consistent yet different. They construct rationales for multiple uses such as motivation, forge inter-actor relationships generally through trust-building, mobilize resources such as capacity-building or authority and stabilize change by institutionalizing new practices. Organizers face challenges which range from lack of time or resources to difficulties in trust-building. However, opportunities arise such as improved manageability and increased recognition of community knowledge and skills. This study identified new opportunities and barriers which contribute to existing literature on Access and Benefit Sharing. Institutional entrepreneurship theory is strengthened with empirical findings on community emergence in institutional fields not studied before. The typology informs stakeholders active in exchange of genetic resources under the Nagoya Protocol how communities organize in six different ways. Organizers should be aware of the role, objective and method they can perform to contribute to the fair and equitable exchange of resources. Therefore, community organizers require ongoing reflection.