Eco-innovative farming solutions are vital to ensuring the global reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions related to agriculture. Biodôme du Maroc, a small, fast-growing Moroccan company, provides local farmers with a technology that gives them access to renewable energy for on-farm use. Founded in 2013 by Dr. Fatima Zahra Beraich, Biodôme du Maroc is the first Moroccan company to specialize in the recovery of organic waste through natural treatment and environmentally friendly processes. This is to enable farmers in rural areas to produce biogas and fertilizer.

For the environment, biogas helps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from abandoned organic waste and minimizes the risk of polluting waterways. This “clean” method of energy production also reduces reliance on wood as a fuel source. Biodôme du Maroc offers a range of small-scale agricultural anaerobic digesters. These digesters use a simple and innovative system to produce biogas and recover organic matter. Inside underground concrete enclosures, farmers can deposit different kinds of organic waste, such as household, plant and animal waste, which is fermented in a biological accelerator. In this process, gas is produced through methanization or anaerobic bio-digestion, where bacteria naturally break down organic matter within weeks.

By providing a technology that produces gas from organic waste, Biodôme du Maroc gives local farmers access to renewable energy for agricultural production.

Dr. Beraich currently holds six patents covering innovations that improve the efficiency and performance of Biodômeʼs bio-digesters. “The process of securing a patent means that our technology is evaluated by experts and allows us to understand just how different our inventions are from other competing technologies. This allows us to protect the inventive characteristics of our outputs,” explains Dr. Beraich. “With these patents in hand, we hope to be able to license our more recent patented innovations.” The support of the Moroccan Association for Research and Development (R&D Maroc) – part of the network of Technology and Innovation Support Centers (TISCs) in Morocco – has played a critical role in the success of Biodôme du Maroc. “I learned about the TISC network at an outreach event at the University organized by the Moroccan Industrial and Commercial Property Office,” Dr. Beraich explains. R&D Maroc helped Dr. Beraich secure seed funding and also ensured she had the help she needed to draft her patent applications, and license and access the technology she required to create and commercialize her bio-digesters. Biodôme is currently marketing its patent-protected bio-digesters in Morocco and across Africa.

The social enterprise Oaxacanita Chocolate embraces Mexicoʼs rich cocoa culture and is working with Indigenous communities to revive these traditions while spurring the social, economic and environmental development in the state of Oaxaca. Founder German Santillán is building a business that embraces the principles of fair trade and environmental sustainability in collaboration with local communities. “I teamed up with local Indigenous families in Oaxaca, and we began operations in an empty room in my grandmotherʼs house. We started cultivating 20 cacao trees and now we have 5,000 under cultivation in five towns across the region,” he says. Today, Oaxacanita Chocolate is the first proudly Indigenous chocolate company in Mexico to form international alliances with organizations such as the Inter-American Foundation and the US Government.

Intellectual property has played a significant role in brand development. “The first thing we did in Oaxacanita Chocolate – Oaxacanita means, ʻthe little girl of Oaxacaʼ in Zapotec-Spanish –  was to register the name of our brand. Then we opened our Facebook page where most of our marketing operations take place. Thatʼs where we make 80% of our total sales,” Santillán explains. Looking to the future, Oaxacanita Chocolate plans to promote its brand and increase its value in multiple markets beyond Mexico. By 2022, the company had sold over 2,000 kilos of chocolate and was expanding its online presence to Canada and the United States.

Reviving Indigenous Cocoa Traditions

In rural areas of Mexicoʼs Mixtec region, the educational program La Escuelita del Cacao teaches children from Indigenous communities the importance of adopting sustainable agricultural practices. (Photo: Courtesy of Oaxacanita Chocolate)

Happy World Intellectual Property Day from HHD Motors!

Every 26 April, we celebrate World Intellectual Property (IP) Day to learn about the role that IP rights play in encouraging innovation and creativity. This year, we celebrate changemakers around the world who are driving the innovation and creativity needed to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and build a better and more sustainable future for everyone. Follow us on social media for further updates about #WorldIPDay!

FICCI is commemorating World IP Day 2024 with a Run up event on WIPO’s theme for this year’s IP Day celebrations ‘IP and the SDGs: Building Our Common Future with Innovation and Creativity’ on 24th April 2024 (Wednesday) from 10.00 AM onwards in New Delhi.

The conference will provide the opportunity for a comprehensive discussion on India’s industrial landscape in the light of recent global IP-related developments, their significance to economic growth, and the expectations of Indian business & industry. The occasion will enable a closer look at how IP can contribute to the attainment of Sustainable Development Goals. The event will also focus on innovation and entrepreneurship, emphasizing their role in advancing sustainable development goals (SDGs), promoting the commercialization of IP, and driving positive changes in society. Moreover, the event will offer insights into the achievements of India’s creators and entrepreneurs, shedding light on their contributions to innovation and economic progress.

This year, the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO), has chosen “IP and the SDGs: Building our common future with innovation and creativity”, as the theme of the celebration of the World Intellectual Property (IP) Day. As we celebrate, we are reminded of the importance of intellectual property, copyright and creativity, and also of how intellectual property can materialize and contribute to make the world a better place.

While commemorating World IP Day, we acknowledge the urgent call to action in the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including the call to end poverty and inequality, and to protect the planet, for example. IFRRO and its members are proud to contribute to the achievement of the SDGs through their regular day to day work and the development of new business models to protect the economic viability of creation and dissemination of copyrighted works, to guarantee appropriate remuneration, and to foster local markets.

More concretely, IFRRO and its members’ efforts are focussed on SDGs 4 (Quality Education), 9 (Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure) and 10 (Reduced Inequalities). IFRRO is engaged in promoting related initiatives and collaborating closely with its partners in the UN family. Earlier this year, in line with its strategic plan for 2024-2026, our Board of Directors, agreed to sign the SDG Publisher Compact launched in 2020 in collaboration with IPA and joined its members in the global effort of accelerating the achievement of the UN SDGs by 2030.

As yet another way of celebrating, we encourage partners to become signatories of the SDG Publisher Compact, and join IFRRO members in their global effort of achieving these goals.

World IP Day 2024 - IP and the SDGs: Building our common future with innovation and creativity Thursday, 25th April 2024