4.2. Particular economic importance of intellectual property
Nowadays, a country’s economic development relies on knowledge and innovation. The
countries that have grown rapidly in recent years are the ones that have invested most in
education. Economic development, therefore, is possible only by investing in research and
development and promoting human capital.
In an economy structured in this way, intangible goods are more valuable than tangible ones.
This is where intellectual property rights fit in: as intangible goods par excellence, they are
increasingly becoming a mechanism for accumulating and assessing wealth, and an essential tool
for trade.
In addition to this, intellectual property rights help add value to products. To take geographical
indications and appellations of origin as an example: lately, this intellectual property right has
been used to add value to special products with specific characteristics, whose special nature
derives from the fact that they are rare, that they come from a particular area and are the product
of a combination of human factors (local traditional know-how), climatic conditions, etc. To
acquire these products, consumers are prepared to pay a great deal more.
Appellations of origin and geographical indications can be used in Mozambique to promote
products with special characteristics, such as, for example, Sofala Bank shrimp and pineapples,
kid, capenta fish, penda trees, Chicoa de Tête, beans, peanuts from Niassa and Nampula,
Moamba potatoes and Chókweto tomatoes, to give just a few examples.
The use of intellectual property, and in particular of appellations of origin and geographical
indications, can make it possible to encourage typical local products, to add value to them,
produce higher earnings for the farmers involved in producing them and attract investment for
agro-processing, thereby transforming a small local product from a supplier of raw materials to
an exporter of high-quality processed products, generating employment and thereby combating
absolute poverty in the areas in which these products are produced, combating the rural flight to
the cities, promoting the protection and appreciation of local cultural heritage and traditions and
having a multiplier effect on the economies of rural areas.