Construction of a Knowledge Test to Measure the Level of Knowledge of Farmers on Geographical Indications in Agriculture

Abstract

Geographical Indication (GI), which indicates the unique geographical origin of a product, is protected as one of the categories of intellectual property items included under Article 22 of the TRIPs Agreement. It insists on the quality, reputation, or other characteristic of the good, which are attributable to its geographical origin. Geographical Indications are valued in the market because of the uniqueness of quality parameters or the processes involved in production. As GIs have the potential to enhance market opportunities of the producer communities and other stakeholders, they must have sound knowledge of various aspects of this system of intellectual protection and its benefits. This paper explains how a knowledge test was developed to measure an individual's knowledge level on various aspects of GI as part of the study viz. Geographical indications in agriculture and    community benefits: A cross-sectional analysis by the authors.  Knowledge on GI was operationalized as the accuracy with which various aspects of GI, registration, and the impact have been understood. The steps to develop and standardize the test included selection of items; item analysis and pre-testing; calculation of difficulty, estimation of discrimination index and point bi-serial correlation; final selection of items; and testing of reliability and validity. The final knowledge test retained 24 items out of 36 raw items. The test was found to be significantly reliable and valid, as indicated by a significant value of reliability coefficient and content validity. Researchers can use this test to measure farmers' knowledge on GIs.