Dr Kamalesh Adhikari is Research Fellow with the ARC Industrial Transformation Training Centre for Uniquely Australian Foods and Member of the ARC Laureate Project ‘Harnessing the Potential of Intellectual Property to Build Food Security’ at the TC Beirne School of Law, The University of Queensland. His current research focusses on socio-legal issues and concerns associated with the collection, use and circulation of native and indigenous plants, including traditional knowledge. He is also a research partner in the Research Council of Norway and the Fridtjof Nansen Institute's Suitable Seeds Project which explores the role that intellectual property has played in shaping the history and practices of gene and seed banks. Dr Adhikari is also undertaking a critical account of the concept of farmers’ rights in intellectual property law. Dr Adhikari previously worked as an AIBE Research Fellow at the Australian Institute of Business and Economics (AIBE) and as Research Director at the South Asia Watch on Trade, Economics and Environment (SAWTEE). He has undertaken collaborative research with a number of institutions including Consumers International and the Southeast Asian Council for Food Security and Fair Trade (Malaysia), United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (Italy and Nepal), Fridtjof Nansen Institute and the Development Fund (Norway), International Development Research Centre and International Institute for Sustainable Development (Canada), Sustainable Development Policy Institute (Pakistan), Consumer Unity and Trust Society and Green Foundation (India), Oxfam Novib and Wageningen University (The Netherlands), United Nations Development Programme (Nepal and Sri Lanka), and Institute of Policy Studies and Law and Society Trust (Sri Lanka).
Journal Article: What should farmers’ rights look like? The possible substance of a right
Adhikari, Kamalesh, Bikundo, Edwin, Chacko, Xan, Chapman, Susannah, Humphries, Fran, Johnson, Hope, Keast, Evan, Lawson, Charles, Malbon, Justin, Robinson, Daniel, Rourke, Michelle, Sanderson, Jay and Tranter, Kieran (2021). What should farmers’ rights look like? The possible substance of a right. Agronomy, 11 (2) 367, 1-19. doi: 10.3390/agronomy11020367
Book Chapter: From neglect to protection: recognising the importance of farmers’ varieties in Sri Lanka
Perera, Asanka and Adhikari, Kamalesh (2020). From neglect to protection: recognising the importance of farmers’ varieties in Sri Lanka. Intellectual property law and plant protection: challenges and developments in Asia. (pp. 161-176) edited by Kamalesh Adhikari and David J. Jefferson. Abingdon, United Kingdom: Routledge. doi: 10.4324/9780429059520-9
Book: Intellectual property law and plant protection: challenges and developments in Asia
Kamalesh Adhikari and David J. Jefferson eds. (2020). Intellectual property law and plant protection: challenges and developments in Asia. Abingdon, United Kingdom: Routledge. doi: 10.4324/9780429059520
Improving the efficiency of Kakadu Plum value chains to grow a robust and sustainable industry
(2019–2022) CRC for Developing Northern Australia
Exploring the unused policy space in intellectual property law to protect plants
(2018) UQ Early Career Researcher
Market Insights for Australian Native foods
Doctor Philosophy
Exploring the nutritional quality and food functionality of Burdekin plum (Pleiogynium timorense)
Doctor Philosophy
Intellectual property law and plant protection: challenges and developments in Asia
Kamalesh Adhikari and David J. Jefferson eds. (2020). Intellectual property law and plant protection: challenges and developments in Asia. Abingdon, United Kingdom: Routledge. doi: 10.4324/9780429059520
Charles Lawson and Kamalesh Adhikari eds. (2018). Biodiversity, genetic resources and intellectual property: developments in access and benefit sharing. New York, NY, United States: Routledge. doi: 10.4324/9781315098517
Intellectual Property Rights in Agriculture: Legal Mechanisms to Protect Farmers' Rights in Nepal
Adhikari, Kamalesh (2008). Intellectual Property Rights in Agriculture: Legal Mechanisms to Protect Farmers' Rights in Nepal. Kathmandu, Nepal: PRO PUBLIC and SAWTEE.
From neglect to protection: recognising the importance of farmers’ varieties in Sri Lanka
Perera, Asanka and Adhikari, Kamalesh (2020). From neglect to protection: recognising the importance of farmers’ varieties in Sri Lanka. Intellectual property law and plant protection: challenges and developments in Asia. (pp. 161-176) edited by Kamalesh Adhikari and David J. Jefferson. Abingdon, United Kingdom: Routledge. doi: 10.4324/9780429059520-9
Intellectual property law for plant varieties: challenges and developments in Asia
Adhikari, Kamalesh and Jefferson, David J. (2020). Intellectual property law for plant varieties: challenges and developments in Asia. Intellectual property law and plant protection: challenges and developments in Asia. (pp. 1-11) edited by Kamalesh Adhikari and David J. Jefferson. Abingdon, United Kingdom: Routledge. doi: 10.4324/9780429059520-1
Policy, politics, and implications of Pakistan’s Plant Breeders’ Rights Act
Rana, Muhammad Ahsan and Adhikari, Kamalesh (2020). Policy, politics, and implications of Pakistan’s Plant Breeders’ Rights Act. Intellectual property law and plant protection: challenges and developments in Asia. (pp. 104-123) edited by Kamalesh Adhikari and David J. Jefferson. Abingdon, United Kingdom: Routledge. doi: 10.4324/9780429059520-6
What does it mean to protect farmers’ varieties as intellectual property?
Adhikari, Kamalesh (2020). What does it mean to protect farmers’ varieties as intellectual property?. Intellectual property law and plant protection: challenges and developments in Asia. (pp. 177-205) edited by Kamalesh Adhikari and David J. Jefferson. Abingdon, United Kingdom: Routledge. doi: 10.4324/9780429059520-10
Biodiversity, genetic resources and intellectual property
Lawson, Charles and Adhikari, Kamalesh (2018). Biodiversity, genetic resources and intellectual property. Biodiversity, genetic resources and intellectual property: developments in access and benefit sharing. (pp. 1-8) edited by Charles Lawson and Kamalesh Adhikari. New York, NY, United States: Routledge. doi: 10.4324/9781315098517-1
Reconceptualizing access: moving beyond the limits of international biodiversity laws
Adhikari, Kamalesh (2018). Reconceptualizing access: moving beyond the limits of international biodiversity laws. Biodiversity, genetic resources and intellectual property: developments in access and benefit sharing. (pp. 9-32) edited by Charles Lawson and Kamalesh Adhikari. New York, NY United States: Routledge. doi: 10.4324/9781315098517-2
Regional seed bank and material transfer arrangements in South Asia
Adhikari, Kamalesh (2015). Regional seed bank and material transfer arrangements in South Asia. Making growth inclusive, just and sustainable in South Asia. (pp. 147-153) edited by Abid Suleri and Vaqar Ahmed. Islamabad, Pakistan: Sustainable Development Policy Institute.
Advocacy for farmers’ rights in Nepal
Tone, Winge, Adhikari, Kamalesh and Andersen, Regine (2013). Advocacy for farmers’ rights in Nepal. Realising farmers’ rights to crop genetic resources: success stories and best practices. (pp. 181-194) edited by Regine Andersen and Tone Winge. Abingdon, United Kingdom: Routledge.
Nepal: innovative mechanisms for putting farmers’ rights into practice
Paudyal, Bikash, Adhikari, Kamalesh, Shrestha, Pitambar and Tamang, Bir (2012). Nepal: innovative mechanisms for putting farmers’ rights into practice. The custodians of biodiversity: sharing access and benefit sharing of genetic resources. (pp. 135-162) edited by Manuel Ruiz and Ronnie Vernooy. London, United Kingdom: Earthscan.
What should farmers’ rights look like? The possible substance of a right
Adhikari, Kamalesh, Bikundo, Edwin, Chacko, Xan, Chapman, Susannah, Humphries, Fran, Johnson, Hope, Keast, Evan, Lawson, Charles, Malbon, Justin, Robinson, Daniel, Rourke, Michelle, Sanderson, Jay and Tranter, Kieran (2021). What should farmers’ rights look like? The possible substance of a right. Agronomy, 11 (2) 367, 1-19. doi: 10.3390/agronomy11020367
Jefferson, David J. and Adhikari, Kamalesh (2019). Reimagining the relationship between food sovereignty and intellectual property for plants: lessons from Ecuador and Nepal. The Journal of World Intellectual Property, 2019 (5-6) jwip.12134, 1-23. doi: 10.1111/jwip.12134
Adhikari, Kamalesh (2009). Seeding disaster. Himal South Asian (3), 23-29.
History, Growth and Implications of Formal Seed System in Nepal
Adhikari, Kamalesh (2016). History, Growth and Implications of Formal Seed System in Nepal. South Asia Watch on Trade, Economics and Environment, Kathmandu, Nepal, 2016.
Intellectual property and related legal issues facing the Australian Native Food Industry
Adhikari, Kamalesh, Bosse, Jocelyn, Fish, Allison and Sherman, Brad (2018). Intellectual property and related legal issues facing the Australian Native Food Industry. AgriFutures Australia Publication Wagga Wagga NSW Australia: AgriFutures Australia.
Seed banking in South Asia for protection of farmers’ rights
Adhikari, Kamalesh (2012). Seed banking in South Asia for protection of farmers’ rights. Kathmandu, Nepal:
Farmers' rights: global contexts, negotiations and strategies
Adhikari, Kamalesh (2009). Farmers' rights: global contexts, negotiations and strategies. Kathmandu, Nepal: SAWTEE.
Improving the efficiency of Kakadu Plum value chains to grow a robust and sustainable industry
(2019–2022) CRC for Developing Northern Australia
Exploring the unused policy space in intellectual property law to protect plants
(2018) UQ Early Career Researcher
Market Insights for Australian Native foods
Doctor Philosophy — Associate Advisor
Other advisors:
Exploring the nutritional quality and food functionality of Burdekin plum (Pleiogynium timorense)
Doctor Philosophy — Associate Advisor
Other advisors: