Take effective legal, policy, administrative, and capacity-building measures at all levels, as appropriate, to ensure the fair and equitable sharing of benefits that arise from the utilization of genetic resources and from digital sequence information on genetic resources, as well as traditional knowledge associated with genetic resources, and facilitating appropriate access to genetic resources, and by 2030 facilitating a significant increase of the benefits shared, in accordance with applicable international access and benefit-sharing instruments.

1. Review legal, regulatory and administrative provisions on access and benefit sharing (ABS) from the utilization of genetic resources, including from digital sequence information (DSI) on genetic resources, to align them to the Nagoya Protocol, the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA) and the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Treaty on Disclosure of Origin of Genetic Resources and Traditional Knowledge.
2. Promote and undertake capacity building measures at all levels, including among IPLCs, on access and benefit sharing
3. Develop guidance tools and mechanisms on bioprospecting, biotrade and ABS
    

These considerations were taken into account through a participatory and consultative process. The process involved an inception workshop, a series of stakeholder consultations, technical working group meetings, and validation workshops. The process was coordinated by the Ministry of Environment, Climate and Wildlife (MECW), through the Department of Wildlife and Forestry Resources Management.

Contribution to KM-GBF Global Goals

1. Global Goal C – Fair and Equitable Benefit-Sharing (Primary Contribution)

• Serves as Zimbabwe’s principal mechanism for implementing the third objective of the Convention on Biological Diversity by ensuring the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from the utilisation of genetic resources, Digital Sequence Information (DSI), and associated traditional knowledge.
• Strengthens and harmonises national Access and Benefit-Sharing (ABS) legal, regulatory, and administrative frameworks with the Nagoya Protocol, the ITPGRFA, and the WIPO Treaty on Disclosure of Origin, ensuring legal certainty, transparency, and international compliance.
• Ensures full, effective, and informed participation of Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities (IPLCs) in ABS governance, decision-making, and benefit-sharing arrangements.
• Facilitates increased monetary and non-monetary benefits to IPLCs, including royalties, technology transfer, capacity development, joint intellectual property rights, and cultural recognition.
• Explicitly incorporates Digital Sequence Information (DSI) into ABS frameworks, ensuring that benefit-sharing keeps pace with advances in genomics, bioinformatics, and digital biodiversity research.

2. Global Goal B – Sustainable Use and Nature’s Contributions to People (Secondary Contribution)

• Enables sustainable and regulated utilisation of genetic resources for agriculture, food security, medicine, biotechnology, and research, ensuring that biodiversity contributes meaningfully to human well-being and national development.
• Translates biodiversity and traditional knowledge into tangible socio-economic benefits for communities, reinforcing nature’s contributions to livelihoods, health systems, and resilient food systems.
• Creates positive incentives for conservation by linking sustainable use with equitable benefit-sharing, thereby strengthening long-term stewardship of genetic resources.
• Recognises and safeguards traditional knowledge as a critical contribution to nature-based innovation, cultural identity, and sustainable development outcomes.

3. Global Goal D – Means of Implementation and Enabling Conditions

• Strengthens institutional, technical, and human capacity for ABS implementation through sustained training programmes targeting government agencies, research institutions, private sector actors, and IPLCs.
• Develops practical guidance tools and mechanisms for bioprospecting, biotrade, and ABS implementation, including manuals, policy briefs, and accessible digital platforms.
• Enhances national systems for tracking ABS agreements, benefit flows, and co-owned intellectual property rights, improving accountability, monitoring, and reporting.
• Supports international cooperation and compliance by aligning national ABS systems with global legal and scientific standards, thereby strengthening Zimbabwe’s position in global biodiversity governance.

1. Capacity building for kick starting DSI at national level.
2. Benefits and code sharing framework.
3. Knowledge management framework.