
Overview
Background
Dr Kamalesh Adhikari is Senior Research Fellow with the ARC Industrial Transformation Training Centre for Uniquely Australian Foods and Associate Research Fellow with the ARC Centre of Excellence for Plant Success in Nature and Agriculture at the 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. At the ARC Centre, he leads research on native title law and coordinates the development of relationships and agreements between several partners, involving plant scientists, industry stakeholders, and Indigenous partners and communities. 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 South Asia Watch on Trade, Economics and Environment. 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).
Availability
- Dr Kamalesh Adhikari is:
- Available for supervision
Fields of research
Qualifications
- Doctor of Philosophy, Australian National University
Research interests
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Intellectual Property Law and Food Security
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Food security, biodiversity and farmers' rights
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Native Title and Biodiscovery Laws
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Indigenous Peoples
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Law and Science & Technology Studies
Works
Search Professor Kamalesh Adhikari’s works on UQ eSpace
2024
Journal Article
Indigenous peoples’ rights should be recognized and strengthened to boost food innovation research
Adhikari, Kamalesh, Sherman, Brad, Marrie, Henrietta, Sultanbawa, Yasmina and Chen, Gengning (2024). Indigenous peoples’ rights should be recognized and strengthened to boost food innovation research. Nature Food, 5 (10), 802-804. doi: 10.1038/s43016-024-01051-5
2024
Conference Publication
Consumer responses to Australian native food products: expectations, assumptions, and realities
Wijngaarden, Clare, Adhikari, Kamalesh and Smyth, Heather Eunice (2024). Consumer responses to Australian native food products: expectations, assumptions, and realities. 22nd World Congress of Food Science and Technology, Rimini, Italy, 8-12 September 2024.
2024
Conference Publication
Effects of product experience and information on consumer attitudes and purchase motivation for Australian wattleseed
Wijngaarden, Clare, Jacob, Sera Susan, Adhikari, Kamalesh and Smyth, Heather Eunice (2024). Effects of product experience and information on consumer attitudes and purchase motivation for Australian wattleseed. NZOZ Sensory and Consumer Science Symposium, Sydney, NSW Australia, 7-9 February 2024.
2023
Conference Publication
Ethical and legal considerations in research with Indigenous peoples and plants
Adhikari, Kamalesh (2023). Ethical and legal considerations in research with Indigenous peoples and plants. ARC Training Centre for Australian Wine Production Workshop, Adelaide, SA Australia, 20 November 2023. University of Adelaide.
2023
Conference Publication
Native Title law restrictions for Indigenous peoples and scientific research: when the cure kills!
Adhikari, Kamalesh (2023). Native Title law restrictions for Indigenous peoples and scientific research: when the cure kills!. The Annual Meeting of the ARC Training Centre for Uniquely Australian Foods, Brisbane, QLD Australia, 26 October 2023.
2023
Conference Publication
The Plant Treaty: rethinking the scope and role of the Multilateral System, Annex 1 and Standard Material Transfer Agreement
Adhikari, Kamalesh (2023). The Plant Treaty: rethinking the scope and role of the Multilateral System, Annex 1 and Standard Material Transfer Agreement. People, Plants, and the Law Conference, Brisbane, QLD Australia, 25 October 2023.
2023
Conference Publication
The challenges of accessing and researching indigenous plants: an empirical investigation within and beyond the remits of Australian Access and Benefit Sharing laws
Adhikari, Kamalesh (2023). The challenges of accessing and researching indigenous plants: an empirical investigation within and beyond the remits of Australian Access and Benefit Sharing laws. The Global Bioeconomy Alliance Conference, Brisbane, QLD Australia, 28 September 2023.
2022
Conference Publication
The control and freedom of seed banks
Adhikari, Kamalesh (2022). The control and freedom of seed banks. TROPAG International Agriculture Conference, Brisbane, QLD, Australia, 31 October - 2 November 2022.
2022
Conference Publication
Landraces and Indigenous Plants: The Question of Legal Categories and Protection
Adhikari, Kamalesh (2022). Landraces and Indigenous Plants: The Question of Legal Categories and Protection . Sixth Scientific Meeting on Exploring the World of Crop Landraces, Greece, 1 June 2022. The Aristotle University of Thessaloniki.
2022
Other Outputs
The Thessaloniki Declaration: We save landraces – we use landraces
Adhikari, Kamalesh, Azevedo, Vania, Bebeli, Penelope J., Chatzigeorgiou, Alexandra, Gálvez, Amanda, Guarino, Luigi, Kotey, Daniel Ashie, Paczka, Rafael Ortega, Ranieri, Roberto, Spyrou, Sofia, Thanopoulos, Ricos and Valamoti, Soultana Maria (2022). The Thessaloniki Declaration: We save landraces – we use landraces. Thessaloniki, Greece:
2021
Journal Article
Intellectual property, traditional knowledge, and native biodiversity: convention and progression in the Trans-Pacific Partnership
Jefferson, David James and Adhikari, Kamalesh (2021). Intellectual property, traditional knowledge, and native biodiversity: convention and progression in the Trans-Pacific Partnership. Pandora's Box, 27 (2021) 7, 98-113.
2021
Conference Publication
Nutritional quality and food functionality of Pleiogynium timoriense fruit
Chen, Gengning, Cozzolino, Daniel, Netzel, Michael E., Olarte Mantilla, Sandra, Adhikari, Kamalesh and Sultanbawa, Yasmina (2021). Nutritional quality and food functionality of Pleiogynium timoriense fruit. Joint virtual Workshop between The ARC Industrial Transformation Training Centre for Uniquely Australian Foods (ARC ITTC UAF), Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation (QAAFI), The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia and The SARChI Research Programme in Phytochemical Food Network to Improve the Nutritional Quality for Consumers, Tshwane University of Technology, Pretoria, South Africa, Virtual, 24-25 August 2021.
2021
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
2020
Conference Publication
Questions and concerns about the protection of farmers' varieties
Adhikari, Kamalesh (2020). Questions and concerns about the protection of farmers' varieties. Farmers Rights and the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (Webinar II), Online, 14 September 2020. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, The Plant Treaty Secretariat and the University of Aberdeen .
2020
Journal Article
Governance of intellectual property over plant varieties: Time has come for Asia to revisit its unique approach
Adhikari, Kamalesh (2020). Governance of intellectual property over plant varieties: Time has come for Asia to revisit its unique approach. Trade Insight, 16 (1-2), 46-49.
2020
Other Outputs
Collecting Australian native plant materials from the Wild: Guidelines on key legal issues
Adhikari, Kamalesh, Sherman, Brad and Jefferson, David James (2020). Collecting Australian native plant materials from the Wild: Guidelines on key legal issues. The ARC Industrial Transformation Training Centre for Uniquely Australian Foods.
2020
Other Outputs
Collecting Australian native plant materials from intermediaries: Guidelines on key legal issues
Sherman, Brad, Adhikari,Kamalesh and Jefferson, David (2020). Collecting Australian native plant materials from intermediaries: Guidelines on key legal issues. The ARC Industrial Transformation Training Centre for Uniquely Australian Foods, The University of Queensland.
2020
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
2020
Book Chapter
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
2020
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
Supervision
Availability
- Dr Kamalesh Adhikari is:
- Available for supervision
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Supervision history
Current supervision
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Doctor Philosophy
Consumer Value for Australian Native Foods
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Heather Smyth
Completed supervision
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2025
Doctor Philosophy
Exploring the nutritional quality and food functionality of Burdekin plum (Pleiogynium timoriense)
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Michael Netzel, Associate Professor Daniel Cozzolino, Professor Yasmina Sultanbawa
Media
Enquiries
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