Additionally to the conference programme you have the possibility to attend pre- and post-conference workshops.
Below you will find short descriptions as well as details on time and date of the workshop.
If you are interested in participating in one of those workshops, please contact the workshop organisers respectively. You find the particular contact details together with the
description. Please do mention `Tropentag' in the email subject line.
Tuesday workshops
Wednesday workshops
Friday workshops
Tuesday workshops
Organisers: Jonathan Steinke, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Germany /
Katharina Löhr, Leibniz-Institute for Agricultural Landscape Research, Germany /
Sarah Tojo-Mandaharisoa, Université d’Antananarivo, Madagascar.
Contact: jonathan.steinke@hu-berlin.de
Date: Tuesday, 19/09/2023, 16:00 – 17:30 h (CEST)
In-person workshop - zoom link will be made available for online participation
Location: Seminar Building, SR 1.204
Description:
Development projects in the food-agriculture-health nexus rarely play by the book. Intervention projects
targeting vulnerable population tend to involve constant decision-making. For example, development
stakeholders may need to reallocate resources, prioritize interventions, or integrate feedback from
project beneficiaries and political partners in planning and implementation of activities.
Accompanying research is a paradigm for generating scientific evidence and providing rapid advice that
aims at maximizing the impacts of intervention projects. Accompanying researchers support development
projects through continuous investigation of project context, implemented interventions, and
beneficiaries’ perceptions.
Accompanying research requires collaboration between researchers and development practitioners, who
often have different perspectives and face different pressures and incentives. This raises questions about
actual opportunities to adjust projects based on scientific evidence, agreeing on long- and short-term
research tasks and outputs, but also scientific independence and research integrity under time pressure.
The workshop organizers will share experiences and learnings from research accompanying GIZ projects in
Benin, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Ethiopia, Madagascar, and Togo. We invite participants from academia
and development practice to engage in a vivid exchange on mutual needs, challenges, and opportunities,
centered on the question: how can accompanying research effectively enhance projects of development
cooperation?
Main purpose of the workshop:
The objective of the workshop is to foster exchange between researchers and development practitioners
on opportunities and challenges of accompanying research in development projects.
Organisers:
Giovanna Chavez-Miguel: Ph.D project, Agricultural Economics, HU Berlin, Germany
Michelle Bonatti: Dr. rer. ag, Deputy Head of Research Group SUSLand at ZALF, Germany
Maria Schmiedbauer: Student research intern at ZALF, M.Sc. Agricultural Economics, HU Berlin, Germany
Guest lectures:
Teresa Da-Silva-Rosa, Professor of University of Vila Velha, Brazil
Jon Hellin: PhD, Co-lead, CGIAR ‘Climate Resilience’ (ClimBeR) Research Initiative, International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), Philippines
Vanessa Souza de Matos, MA Student, Integrated Natural Resource Management, HU Berlin, Germany
Contact: giovanna.chavez-miguel@zalf.de
Date: Tuesday, 19/09/2023, 14:00 – 18:00 h (CEST)
In-person workshop
Location: Seminar Building, SR 1.402, on 4.OG.
Description:
The workshop is designed to sensitise students and researchers who are conducting research in the Global South about the colonialities that prevail in science and knowledge production; and equip them with practical skills to conduct transformative and art-based research methods in sensitive contexts of the Global South. This session provides a unique opportunity for students, researchers, and practitioners to:
- do self-reflection and critically question their role as researchers from or working for Global North institutions, while identifying potential biases on applied narratives and methodologies.
- highlighting opportunities for action in adopting and promoting transformative research methodologies that are responsible and culturally sensitive to the local realities.
Outline:
- Introduction: Understanding Transformative and art-based methods
- Transformative research methods for integrating community voices
- Theory: Colonialities, power imbalances in knowledge production and the need to decolonize development research (Paulo Freire and Orlando Fals Borda) - Maria Schmiedbauer (20 - 30 min)
- Break 10 min
- Practical Cases: Operationalizing Transformative and art-based methods
- ClimBeR – Jon Hellin, Leonardo Medina & Vanessa Matos – CGIAR Initiative on Climate Resilience (ClimBeR). ClimBeR uses a social equity approach to operationalizes transformative methodologies. In terms of climate risk, social equity relates to responsibility for and distribution of climate impacts and policies across society, generations and genders, including in terms of who participates in and controls decision-making. Attention to social equity enables those conducting research to consider how social difference and associated inequalities may shape vulnerability and may influence people's access to innovations to build resilience or improve their livelihoods. We illustrate this with an example of ClimBeR research that recognizes and integrates community voices on understanding the linkages between climate effects and security and developing climate adaptation strategies the contribute to sustainable peacebuilding in conflict-prone settings (1 – 1.5 hr)
- Break 10 min
- Talking circles: listening experiences and exchanging memories on neglected territories in transformation - Teresa Da-Silva Rosa (20 min)
- Theater of the Oppressed – Michelle Bonatti (20 min)
- Film-based Research and community-based cinema– Giovanna Chavez-Miguel (20 min)
- Break 10 min –
- Group Exercise and Film (1h20m)
Teatro Foto: participants apply the learned content on a brief exercise, including group discussions
Closing + Brief evaluation of workshop (10 min)
After the workshop:
19h00: Film Premiere - ‘The Potato Guardians’ by Giovanna Chavez-Miguel
- YPARD – Young Professionals for Agricultural Development
- YPARD – Czech Republic
- AGRINATURA: The European Alliance on Agriculture Knowledge for Development
- AGRISCI-UA: The AgriSciences Platform for Scientific Enhancement of HEIs in Ukraine
Contact: Safiyya Kassim infoypardeurope@gmail.com
Date: Tuesday, 19/09/2023, 13:00 – 16:00 h (CEST)
In-person workshop
Location: Main Building, Seminar room 2093
Description:
This workshop aims to empower agriscience researchers by equipping them with effective
communication tools for competing pathways in equitable transformation of food systems. Through
visually engaging posters, participants explore trade-offs and synergies while considering diverse
perspectives.
The two-hour workshop begins with an introduction to the challenges facing current food systems and
the need for transformation. Participants gain insight into the concept of trade-offs and synergies,
understanding how different strategies impact stakeholders. The key elements of effective posters are
discussed, including layout, content organization, and clear writing. During the core activity, small
groups design visually appealing posters that represent assigned topics. These posters capture the
trade-offs and synergies associated with each topic. Presentations foster discussion and feedback,
encouraging a diverse exchange of perspectives.
The workshop concludes with a reflection session, highlighting key takeaways and encouraging
participants to apply their knowledge to their research and work. Additional resources are provided for
further exploration beyond the workshop.
Embark on this empowering journey of scientific communication and become a catalyst for positive
change in equitable transformation of food syst
Main purpose of the workshop:
The purpose of this workshop is to help participants effectively communicate their research, ideas, and
findings through the creation of visually engaging and informative posters and abstracts. The workshop
will also encourage participants to explore the trade-offs and synergies associated with different
pathways for transformation of food systems.
- To provide concrete knowledge, skills, and best practices in science communication through
posters and abstract.
- To enable attendees to network and share best practices.
- To enable attendees to put into practice the skills and knowledge obtained in the science
communication workshop using an interactive yet result-oriented system.
- Put theory into practice by allowing workshop participants to improve their presentation skills
through a practice session
Organisers: John-Baptist S.N. Naah1, Eric Nyarko2 & Sabine Schlüter1
1 TH Köln-Cologne University of Applied Sciences, Germany.
2 University of Ghana, Ghana
Contact: john-baptist.naah@th-koeln.de
Date: Tuesday, 19/09/2023, 13:00 – 18:00 h (CEST)
In-person workshop
Location: Main building, SR 2095A
Description:
The gold mining industry is one of the key means of natural resource exploitation in developing countries
and significantly contributes to the worldwide supply of global mineral resources. The phenomenon of
small-scale gold mining is widespread. Literature indicates that some developing countries in Africa e.g.
South Africa and Ghana, and other developing countries earn substantial foreign direct investment and
income from regulated small-scale mining as well as illegal small-scale mining (galamsey) activities.
Although the small-scale mining sector generally has economic benefits for those engaged in it, it also has
a myriad of serious social and environmental costs. Various key stakeholders in the global mining business
often create conflicts and parochial interests. Affected local mining communities are often the victims.
Galamsey operations are threatening local biodiversity, habitats, and household food security in Africa as
well as global food chain production and distribution. There is still a general paucity of information on
effective and sustainable national mining policies in addressing the galamsey menace in Africa. This
exploratory workshop, therefore,seeks to brainstorm and explore various pathways to ensure food security
in the global South and address known societal, economic, and environmental costs from galamsey
operations.
We set out to explore fundamental questions such as:
- What are the trade-offs and synergies of galamsey operations and local food production?
- What different approaches should be used to address the dilemma of galamsey operations and
food security?
- How can we handle the constraints, opportunities, and challenges facing proper handling of
galamsey operations to ensure sustainable food production in gold mining countries?
Main purpose of the workshop:
The main aim of this workshop is to explore and brainstorm various pathways for food security by
addressing societal, economic, and environmental threats from galamsey operations in the context of the
global South.
Organisers: Mahdi Fendri, Hana Bokri, Hanen Zaier, and Ajmi Larbi, Olive Institute, Specialized Unit of Tunis.
European project REFFECT AFRICA
Contact: fendrimahdi@yahoo.fr
Date: Tuesday, 19/09/2023, 13:00 – 18:00 h (CEST)
Online only workshop
Location: online
Description:
Population without access to electricity is set to increase in Africa. However many African countries
actually have a large potential to locally produce electricity starting from different kinds of biomass and
wastes. In order to tackle this, the present workshop is part of the activities of REFFECT AFRICA Project,
where it will demonstrate innovative, reliable and adapted sustainable energy solutions based on the
valorisation of biomass from agriculture and agrifood industry through biomass gasification or other
methods.
In this workshop we will explain how REFFECT AFRICA project or other initiatives can adapt and optimize
these mature technologies to a wide variety of biomass wastes available in the African context: olive mill
residues, almond hulls and husks, millet, rice, sorghum or peanut wastes and sugarcane bagasse, among
others. Three full- scale demonstrators are being implemented in Morocco, Ghana and South Africa to
consider both urbanized and rural contexts in Africa, as well as different socio-economic backgrounds.
Comprehensive Life Cycle Analyses (LCAs) will be carried out of each supply chain and will consider the
climate adaptation and mitigation potential of this technology compared to other technologies and
solutions in the African social, economic and environmental contexts.
The workshop will tackle the actual potential of biomass production in different context in Africa and will
explain the future development of renewable energy sources, providing solutions for on-grid and off-grid
communities, and their integration into the existing energy system. It will consider the generation of
renewable energy, the transmission, and the use of storage systems with the aim to closing all waterenergy-food links. The generation of Bbiochar from the gasifier and it use in agriculture for fertilization
can also contribute to increase the farmer’s incomes and contribute to implement more sustainable
production systems in Africa.
Main purpose of the workshop:
- Better understand the actual biomoss potential in Africa.
- Discuss mature technologies able to transform biomass and wastes into electrical energy in different
African contexts.
- Capacity building and creating new opportunities of collaboration and enlarge the network of REFFECT
AFRICA2021-2026.
- Identifying key stakeholders in countries where studies of replicability can be performed.
- Providing new sustainable solutions for job creation, welfare, economic development and cooperation
Organiser: Dominique Barjolle, ETH-Zurich, Switzerland
Co-convenors: Gilles Martin (IFAD), Nicole Paganini (TMG Research), Helen Prytherch (Swiss TPH), Florence
Tartanac (FAO), Sophie van den Berg (VdB Consulting)
Contact: barjolle@ethz.ch
Date: Tuesday, 19/09/2023, 14:00 – 17:30 h (CEST)
In-person and online workshop
Location: Main Building, Lecture hall 1070
Description:
The workshop intends to incentivize the action research into bridging the conceptual framework of
agroecology with the one of the food systems. In cities of the global South agroecology can be a crucial
concept to foster access to nutritious and diverse food, as well as to reduce the risks associated with the
excessive use of pesticides.
As an entry point for the workshop, we present the conceptual framework of agroecology in a food
system approach.
Further, we draw from case studies from different cities on how to evaluate the match between needs of
city population in terms of nutritious and fresh food and local agriculture capacities to contribute to those
needs.
We show how to design in a participative way and capture the relevance and impacts of interventions
related to improving nutrition and food security, especially of the most vulnerable population, to fostering
urban agriculture, but as well to rural agriculture in the food sheds around the cities, and to upgrading the
value chains up to the food delivery of consumers that provide safe and fresh food at affordable price. We
will discuss the services to be provided to farmers to support these transformations.
Contributions will be based on existing projects and networks, like the SDC Nutrition in City Ecosystems
(NICE) project (with interventions in 6 secondary cities of Bangladesh, Kenya, and Rwanda), the Green
Cities initiative at FAO, TMG’s Urban Food Future programme, and European projects.
Main purpose of the workshop:
The workshop convenes a gender and age balanced mix of researchers and experts to share their
knowledge and experience, to explore the possibilities of pooling data on the agroecology in the urban
food systems, and of developing a common research agenda based on the redundant gaps that are
identified in diverse contexts.
Organiser: Lilian-Marleen Beck, World Agroforestry Center, University Hohenheim, ATSAF
Contact: libk@posteo.de
Date: Tuesday, 19/09/2023, 14:00 – 17:30 h (CEST)
In-person workshop
Location: Main Building, Meeting room 2070 A
Description:
During this workshop, I would like to invite you to ponder the question of whether agroecology can
provide enough food for the world. We will begin with an informative session where I will provide some
helpful insights on the topic and insights into why agroecology could feed the world. Next, we will
examine a few case studies together in groups to explore this question further. Finally, we will engage in a
facilitated discussion where everyone can contribute their thoughts, concerns, and ideas.
Main purpose of the workshop:
Reflect on the question, “Can agroecology feed the world?”
Organiser: Susan Steiner, Research and Impact Assessment Division, International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD)
Contact: s.steiner@ifad.org
Date: Tuesday, 19/09/2023, 14:00 – 18:00 h (CEST)
In-person workshop
Location: Main building, Seminar room SR 2095B
Description:
As an international financial institution, IFAD provides grants and low-interest loans to projects in low- and middle-income countries. These projects aim at empowering rural people to increase their food security, improve the nutrition of their families, and increase their incomes. IFAD’s Research and Impact Assessment (RIA) division produces rigorous evidence in the form of methodological and applied research with the potential to inform project design, project implementation, and future investments.
Workshop participants will learn about how to conduct impact assessments using IFAD’s approach to measure results at the project and corporate levels. IFAD’s approach is to conduct ex-post quasi-experimental impact assessments that, first, allow for the estimation of projects’ impacts that are then, second, aggregated through meta-analysis and extrapolated to the entire portfolio of projects. This session combines theoretical knowledge and methods of impact assessment with their applications in real world situations. Specifically, participants will learn about the difference between contribution and attribution, main methods of conducting impact assessments, and the different steps involved in doing impact assessments. The session provides an easily accessible introduction to these topics using realistic examples and engages participants with previous minimal to no practical experience of conducting impact assessments in the field.
Main purpose of the workshop:
Participants can learn how to make evidence relevant for policy-making. They will also be introduced to RIA’s knowledge products, data and tools, which they can use for their own work. Last but not least, the workshop will hopefully raise interest in working at RIA.
Wednesday workshops
Organisers: Dr Santiago López Riduara, CIMMYT / Dr Timothy Joseph Krupnik, CIMMYT /
Dr Mary Atieno, CIAT / Dr Soytavanh Mienmany, CIAT / Dr Horst Weyerhaeuser, independent consultant.
Contact: horstweyerhaeuser@fastmail.fm
Date: Wednesday, 20/09/2023, 08:30 – 10:00 h (CEST)
In-person workshop
Location: Main Building, Seminar room SR 2095B
Description:
This Initiative addresses the Sustainable intensification (SI) of Mixed
farming systems (MFS). By SI, we mean the production of more food on the same piece of land
while reducing the negative environmental impact. MFS cover about 2.5 billion ha of land
globally1. In the developing world, MFS supply around 75% of milk, 60% of meat, and 41–86% of
cereals consumed2. These farming systems occur in nearly all agro-ecological zones, with an
enormous variety of climatic and soil conditions3 and livelihood patterns4.
In SEast Asia the initiative is working in Bangladesh, Nepal and Laos. In Laos, the Initiative is focusing on
two sites, one in the northern uplands where mostly maize is grown but farmers who are now
transitioning into more livestock raising and fodder crops. In the southern lowlands the initiative focus on
areas where coffee was the dominant crop, but recently those lands were converted to cassava.
Moreover, some forests have been cleared for cassava. These changes bring along challenges and tradeoffs related to food security, poverty reduction and environmental conservation.
To address these challenges, a systems approach is needed that takes into account the performance of
different components of the SI-MFS and their interactions. Some farmers in both sites have been
practising MFS for many years but have had limited if any support from research agencies and
development projects. This workshop will discuss factors that influence farmers’ decision-making on their
livelihood choices and farm practices and will be a starting point to discuss on the possibility to develop
coherent innovations for the co-design of SI-MFS and support farmers and local stakeholders into a
trajectory towards SI.
Main purpose of the workshop:
We would like to inform participants about the importance of mixed farming systems and how we
envisage to support farming communities and partners in the transition
Organisers:
Dr. Natalia Triana Angel, Dr. Rosa Jaúregui, Dr. Stefan Burkart, Dr. Juan Andrés Cardoso, Andreas Hansen
and Dr. Michael Peters, from the Tropical Forages Program at the Alliance of Bioversity International and
CIAT.
Contact: Stefan Burkart s.burkart@cgiar.org
Date: Wednesday, 20/09/2023, 10:00 – 11:30 h (CEST)
In-person workshop
Location: Main Building, Meeting room 2070 A
Description:
This workshop aims to further the discussion on the concept and practices of
gender, socially inclusive and responsive plant breeding processes and their significance, not only for
sustainable agriculture in general but mainly for orphan crops, and forages. There is a growing body of
practices and methodologies on how, if so, breeding programs can include the preferences and
knowledge of local communities and how, if possible, breeding processes can consider local realities in the
process of liberating new varieties. The workshop will be conducted interactively with group discussions
to facilitate knowledge exchange and networking among participants
Main purpose of the workshop:
he main objective of the workshop is to help participants and facilitators further the discussion on how
the current work on participatory variety selection and gender-sensitive breeding can guide, enrich and
consolidate an agenda applicable to orphan crops such as forages. Developing a network of contacts who
can provide support, share ideas, and collaborate on future projects related to gender and plant breeding
in general is also a major goal.
Through networking and collaboration, researchers will be better equipped to tackle the challenges facing
gender-sensitive, participatory plant breeding and contribute to the development of sustainable
agriculture. The workshop will also emphasize the need to apply a gender lens to orphan crops and forages
to ensure inclusivity in crop breeding programs.
Organisers: Carolin Breitenbach, Wendy Phillips, Maria Victoria Larrateguy, and Paul Ssuna
Welttierschutzstiftung (WTS), Berlin
Contact: Maria Victoria Larrateguy vetsunited@welttierschutz.org
Date: Wednesday, 20/09/2023 09:00 – 11:30 h (CEST)
In-person workshop
Location: Main building, SR 3053
Description:
The current global agricultural production is not sustainable, due to its negative impacts on animals,
humans and the environment alike. These impacts will even increase due to a growing demand in food
worldwide. The importance of looking at food systems holistically and the need for transformation is
widely acknowledged. But despite this consensus, animals are still mostly left out of the equation.
In this workshop, we want to introduce applied animal welfare in the context of livestock keeping. We will
display the nexus between animal welfare, human health, food safety, food security and environmental
protection and look at how this cross-cutting issue can add value to all relevant areas.
In a participatory setting, we want to share experiences and explore the benefits of animal welfare for
sustainable agriculture, and also look at hindrances and reservations that participants may have towards
the topic.
By the end of the session we will discuss ideas and conclude with possibilities for the transition towards
more sustainable food systems including improved animal welfare.
Main purpose of the workshop:
- Discuss the nexus between animal welfare and sustainable agriculture;
- Share experiences and best practice examples;
- Identify synergies, challenges and possible solutions.
Organiser: Michael Brüntrup
IDOS (German Institute of Development and Sustainability), Bonn
Contact: Aiveen Donnelly Aiveen.Donnelly@idos-research.de
Date: Wednesday, 20/09/2022, 08:30 – 11:30 h (CEST)
In-person workshop
Location: Main Building, Lecture hall 2091/92
Description:
The workshop will present the program "Sustainable Land Management in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA)"
funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) within the strategy of its
platform Research for Sustainability (Forschung für Nachhaltigkeit, FONA). This program will be active
over the next 4 years and has chosen Tropentag as a central platform for the presentation of results and
furthermore for more general discussion of topics and research strategies.
Agricultural development in sub-Saharan Africa faces significant challenges. Many soils are degraded,
yields are low, and support from government institutions is weak. Extreme weather events such as
droughts and heavy rains, partly as a result of climate change, also threaten crops and soils, and finally
socio-economic development.
To meet these challenges, sustainable land management is key. Four regional research and development
projects (COINS, DeClaRe, InfoRange, Minodu) and the accompanying INTERFACES project have been
selected by the BMBF to contribute to this endeavour. The knowledge gained together with regional
partners from science, administration, politics and industry is to be directly incorporated into local
support measures, training and further education measures.
In addition to the presentation of the program by the coordination unit of Deutsches Zentrum für Luftund Raumfahrt (DLR) and by BMBF (invited), as well as presentation of the individual projects, we see this
proposed side-event as a start for discussions on research strategies in and with SSA in the fields of
agriculture, rural development, natural resource protection and food security. We want to discuss
experiences under which conditions (from funding and administrative settings over partnerships to
dissemination) research is most successful in providing innovations for sustainable land use in SSA
Main purpose of the workshop:
Networking, information sharing, start of strategy discussions on future Tropentag conferences.
Organiser: Ian Scoones
professor at the Institute of Development Studies at the University of Sussex, UK and has
worked on livelihoods, agrarian and environmental change themes mostly in sub-Saharan Africa over the
last 35 years.
Contact: ian.scoones@gmail.com with the subject line ‘Livelihoods workshop’
Date: Wednesday, 20/09/2023, 09:30 – 11:30 h
In-person workshop
Location: Main Building, Lecture hall 1072
Description:
What is the sustainable livelihoods approach, what is it not, and how can it be extended? This informal
workshop will discuss the now open access book ‘Sustainable Livelihoods and Rural Development’ and ask
how livelihoods approaches can be linked to understandings of agrarian political economy in research on
rural development. Through the development of a new framework that links ‘sustainable livelihoods’ with
‘critical agrarian studies’, the book situates the analysis of diverse rural livelihoods within a wider political
economy of environmental and agrarian change. Four classic questions are asked and linked to livelihoods
analysis: Who owns what (or who has access to what)? Who does what? Who gets what? And what do
they do with it? To respond to these questions, research needs to take a differentiated and longitudinal
approach using mixed methods, which help to open up the complexities of dynamic livelihoods in the rural
world. The workshop will open with a short presentation by the book’s author, and then will move to a
wider discussion around the implications of the book’s argument for both thinking and action in rural
development.
You can download the book here: https://practicalactionpublishing.com/book/2123/sustainablelivelihoods-and-rural-development
More info and a podcast are here: https://zimbabweland.wordpress.com/2023/02/27/livelihoodsanalysis-and-agrarian-political-economy-a-new-podcast/
Main purpose of the workshop:
To discuss the now open access book ‘Sustainable Livelihoods and Rural Development’ and ask how
livelihoods approaches can be linked to understandings of agrarian political economy in research on rural
development.
Organisers: Mélanie Feurer, University of Freiburg, Germany /
Aldicir Scariot, Embrapa, Brazil /
Carlos Torres, Universidade Federal de Vicosa, Brazil /
Kathrin Meinhold and Eleydiane Gomes-Vale, Hochschule Rhein-Waal, Germany
Contact: melanie.feurer@waldbau.uni-freiburg.de
Date: Wednesday, 20/09/2023, 08:30 – 11:30 h (CEST)
In-person workshop to be streamed online
Location: Main Building, Seminar room SR 2095A
Description:
Silvopastoral systems (SPS) are globally important food production systems that provide multiple benefits
and are more resilient compared to extensive grasslands or intensive livestock production. They can
transform degraded lands into more productive landscapes and contribute to climate change mitigation
through carbon sequestration. Various types of SPS are found across tropical and subtropical regions of
Latin America, Africa and Asia as well as in temperate regions. They range from natural forest pastures
over savannah parklands to row plantation systems with exotic tree species, from large landowners over
smallholders to collectively managed resources. However, studies have commonly focused on case studies
in a particular region, investigating either agricultural productivity and income diversification or
environmental benefits. More holistic assessments of ecosystem services (ES) from SPS, which include
provisioning, regulating and cultural services, are missing. This raises the question: What are ES bundles,
synergies, and trade-offs within different SPS across world regions and who wins / who loses?
The workshop uses as a starting point the research project EcoSiPaS, which aims to improve the
sustainable management of the Brazilian Cerrado by quantifying ES in autochthonous and modern SPS. It
will then invite contributions of researchers from other regions to consolidate findings
Main purpose of the workshop:
The workshop aims to collect and synthesize knowledge on ecosystem service trade-offs and synergies in
various silvopastoral systems as sustainable and resilient pathways for food production, particularly in
semiarid areas of the tropics. Using experiences from different world regions and SPS types, the goal of
the workshop is ultimately the joint development of a common classification of SPS according to ES
bundles and beneficiaries and ideas for potential future collaborations.
Organiser: Marcus Giese
Moderator: Juliet Kariuki
University of Hohenheim, Stuttgart
Contact: Ms Maria Oguche maria.oguche@uni-hohenheim.de
Date: Wednesday, 20/09/2023, 08:30 – 11:30 h (CEST)
In-person workshop
Location: Main Building, Seminar room SR 2093
Description:
The workshop will clarify the potential and limitations of co-existing dominant narratives for sustainable
agriculture in Africa. On the one hand, addressing challenges facing crop and livestock production on the
continent has led to a proliferation of paradigms and practices for which a cohesive pathway of action is
unclear. On the other hand, there are many proven, successful concepts. Through a World Café, the
workshop will interrogate and deliberate on questions including: Under what conditions do agroecological
practices compliment sustainable production without undermining socio-economic and cultural
dynamics? Under what circumstances do holistic farming approaches provide synergies between human - nature interactions while increasing productivity? What examples exist of effective institutions and
policies for agricultural production in complex environments? How can digitalisation promote agricultural
production where high levels of illiteracy exist and to what extent is indigenous knowledge leveraged? The
workshop is part of the DAAD Agri-Alumni Net project where alumni participants from different countries
in East Africa with different disciplinary and professional expertise are invited to contribute their first-hand
experience alongside other interested participants. Exploring these questions from a standpoint of tradeoffs and synergies can provide a detailed synthesis and way forward for sustainable agricultural
production in Africa and an in-depth understanding of guiding principles going forward
Main purpose of the workshop:
Discussion on the applicability and achievability of dominant narratives for sustainable agricultural
practices.
Organiser:
OSIRIS – Open Science to Improve Reproducibility in Science
CZU – Czech University of Life Sciences Prague
YPARD – Young Professionals for Agricultural Development
Contact: Stacy Hammond (OSIRIS Communications officer) comms4osiris@gmail.com
Date: Wednesday, 20/09/2023, 08:30 – 11:30 h (CEST)
In-person workshop
Location: Seminar Building, Seminar room SR 1.204
Description:
It is crucial to ensure that this generation and the next are able to produce evidence-based results and have
a clear path in conducting Reliable and Trustworthy scientific research. Currently, the burden of improving
reproducibility lies with the researchers, as there are limited to no incentives to encourage active
engagement in reproducibility and ideas for improvement have never been tested in practice. We need a
paradigm and culture shift to reform the R&I (research and innovation) system both from the top down and
the bottom up to regain overall trust in science.
This Open Science and reproducibility workshop will provide young researchers with ways to identify
incentives and embed reproducibility in the strategy and design of research projects. They will understand
the underlying drivers and effective interventions that increase evidence-based reproducibility at funding,
publishing, university, and researcher-level trough an interactive peer-to-peer exchange.
The reproducibility of scientific results is at the core of scientific progress. After all, if a scientific finding is
not reproducible and accessible, it is untrustworthy and cannot form the basis of future research and
innovation.
Join us at our Open Science workshop!
Main purpose of the workshop:
- Expose the problem in understanding how to improve and increase reproducibility in Science.
- Provide concrete knowledge, skills, and best practices in reproducibility measures.
- Enable attendees to network and share experience in conducting Open Science in their field of
expertise
Organiser: Claudia Raedig and Sabine Schlüter
TH Köln – University of Applied Sciences,
Institute for Technology and Resources Management in Tropics and Subtropics ITT, Germany
Contact: claudia.raedig@th-koeln.de
Date: Wednesday, 20/09/2023, 08:30 – 10:30 h (CEST)
In-person workshop
Location: Main Building, Lecture hall 2094
Description:
Despite immense advances in technology, it remains difficult to involve local stakeholders in science. How can we change this? The idea of this workshop is to look into a complex scientific challenge and integrate stakeholder perspectives into scenario development to address this challenge by using online tools. In an SDG alumni project, such scenarios have been developed for the biodiversity - food security nexus: how can the protection of biodiverse forests and its functions and services contribute to more sustainable agriculture food security in the surrounding areas? The alumni are working in different areas of sustainable resources management and bring in their working experience and stakeholder contacts to this project.
In the workshop, different forests and surrounding areas are presented together with videos showing the stakeholder perspectives on the biodiversity-food security nexus. After each presentation, workshop participants discuss the different scenarios with the alumni and with local stakeholders connected online, and discussion findings are recorded and summarized to be returned to the local stakeholders. In this way, workshop participants can discuss with alumni about experiences on producing vidoes using smartphones, learn about perspectives of different local stakeholders, and are sensitized to better include local stakeholders in their future research activities.
Main purpose of the workshop:
Exploring transdisciplinarity: participate in discussions with scientists and practioneers of the biodiversity-food security nexus on how to better integrate stakeholder perspectives into research.
Organisers: Dr. Mary Njenga, World Agroforestry (ICRAF) / Dr. Solomie Gebrezgabher, International Water Management Institute (IWMI) /
Dr. Alexander Schöning, GIZ / Dr. Andrew Adam-Bradford, Oxford Brookes University / Dr. Ruth Mendum, Penn State University
Contact: Dr. Mary Njenga m.njenga@cifor-icraf.org
Date: Wednesday, 20/09/2023, 08:30 – 11:30 h (CEST)
In-person workshop
Location: Main Building, Lecture hall 1070
Description:
The workshop will explore and share lessons and invite participants to contribute with their own
experiences the potential of nature-based solutions in the context of refugee hosting landscapes in subSahran Africa. The workshop will include the following interrelated areas:
- Why refugee hosting landscapes are important to the tropics and subtropics; most refugees are located
in the tropics, with many in camps and settlements often in fragile and degraded dryland zones.
- Nature-based solutions (NbS) for resilent landscapes and livelihoods; NbS can be used to maximise the
safe recovery and reuse of greywater and organic wastses providing key circular bioeconomy inputs.
- Food, nutritional and energy security; agroforesty, home gardens, briquette production and the use of
energy efficient stoves provides an intgrated means to enhance food, nutritional and energy security.
- Gender integration and social protection; the majority of refugees and even host community
members are adult women and children, making gender sensitive protection a critical issue.
- Planning, designing and capacity building for scale; landscape resilience requires NbS at scale, in turn this
requires effective planning and design, coupled with capacity building of all stakeholders involved
Main purpose of the workshop:
Flipping the framing of refugees as a cause of land degradation to seeing them as a solution for tropical
landscape restoration through nature-based solutions.
Karun Kumar Yarlagadda, SusPoT- Center for sustainability,India; Rama Devi - Royal Agriculture University, United Kingdom and Prof. Dr. P V Rao, Retired Dean of Professor Jayshankar Telangana State Agricultural University.
Website: https://www.suspot.org/events/
Contact: karun@suspot.org
Date: Wednesday, 20/09/2023, 08:30 – 11:30 h (CEST)
online workshop
Location: online (access via the whova platform)
Description:
In this workshop we are going to present about the utilization of latest technical interventions and farmers to store business models that will enable farmers to adopt regenerative farming and also make them profitable.
There are several technical interventions which have helped farmers in making regenerative farming feasible and easy. For example: Rain Pipe Systems have helped farmers in reducing labour and time while practicing multi-layer regenerative farming in Nizamabad district of Telangana State, India. There are several such technological interventions, which will enable middle class farmers to easily pursue regenerative farming.
On the other hand, there are business models wherein farmers products go directly to retail stores and consumers with minimal third-party interventions. It is found out that mainly these farmers are making reasonable and quick income and hence are continuing to practice regenerative farming methods.
Through this workshop, two important aspects are addressed to scale up regenerative farming in India:
- To enable farmers to pursue regenerative agriculture and,
- To make a farmer profitable by enabling his produce to be sold at the right time and ensuring he/she gets paid within a short
time.
Main purpose of the workshop:
To equip the change agents like NGOs, Entrepreneurs, Government officers, Agricultural University
and Business Schools with the design solutions to scale up regenerative farming in India.
In India, regenerative farming practices are yet to be adopted by more than 95% of the farmers. In
spite of several years of promotion and teaching of regenerative farming by Governments, NGOs
and Individuals, there are many barriers and challenges for accepting these methods by farmers in
India. For example: Due to intensive labour work in doing regenerative farming, farmers are not
showing interest to pursue it. Exposure to modern technological solutions should reduce the
manual labour problems of farmers. In addition, even if a farmer becomes successful in practicing
regenerative farming, he/she is unable to earn good income, due to issues like lack of dedicated
storage spaces for natural produce and also lack of direct marketing with the consumers. These
are very practical design problems which are to be addressed if regenerative farming practices
have to be scaled up in India.
The event aims to provide feasible solutions which are practical to the current times.
Organisers: Prof. Dr. Ralf Schlauerer; Dr. Bernd Müller
Applied agricultural management
HSWT Weihenstephan-Triesdorf University of Applied Sciences, Weidenbach
Contact: bernd.mueller@hswt.de
Date: Wednesday, 20/09/2023, 09:30 – 11:30 h (CEST)
In-person workshop
Location: Main Building, Meeting room 2249 A
Description:
Students, universities and industrial partners use the common rankings to get an overview of the expected performance of universities. Typical rankings are e.g. the World University Rankings of Times Higher Education (THE), the QS World University Rankings or the ShanghaiRanking. But the tasks, the approaches and the challenges of the different sciences are asking for different focusses. The main question is, if basic sciences can be or should be measured with the same criteria as applied sciences. The past has shown, that it seems that because of rankings, some sciences have lost the contact to their clients. This seems to be particularly the case for applied sciences. Therefore the question has to be raised, which are criteria for ranking of applied sciences which may better fulfill to show a difference of relevance in between the competing universities. Also wrong criteria led to a wrong targeting inside the sciences and respectively in the university structures. This concerns particularly means and support for development of the applied units.
Main purpose of the workshop:
The workshop wants to discuss existing criteria for rankings and deviated directions for the applied sciences. It aims to show bottlenecks and needs for correction of the criteria in order to fulfill the demands of applied sciences towards the public more efficient.
Friday workshops
Organiser: Lilian-Marleen Beck, World Agroforestry Center, University Hohenheim, ATSAF
Contact: libk@posteo.de
Date: Friday, 22/09/2023, 14:30 – 18:00 h (CEST)
In-person workshop
Location: Main building, SR 2095B
Description:
In this workshop, I invite stakeholders to come together and discuss the challenges surrounding the
adoption of agroforestry among farmers in the tropics. We will also discuss the challenges that arise when
attempting to scale up agroforestry and the challenges extension services face when promoting this vital
practice. Through a collaborative investigation, we can work together to better understand these complex
issues as the entry point to ultimately foster a better collaboration to solve these problems.
Main purpose of the workshop:
Investigate challenges to scaling up agroforestry as an entry point to better understand and to foster a
better collaboration to solve these problems.
Organisers: Stéphanie Domptail and Martin Petrick
Justus Liebig University Giessen
Contact: Stephanie.domptail@agrar.uni-giessen.de
Date: Friday, 22/09/2023, 14:30 – 16:30 h (CEST)
In-person workshop
Location: Main building, Meeting room 2070A
Description:
The workshop unfolds within the context of the voices, which in increasing numbers, call for an
epistemological and political reflection on teaching curricula and research methods: the call for the
decolonization of knowledge. The paradigm of decolonial thought is meant to widen the understanding
and scope of knowledge systems on the relationship between people, nature and the economy.
Cultivating a decolonial thought will thus enrich the global community by bringing the Eurocentric thought
to the periphery and creating a polycentric line of thought that takes into consideration a holistic view of
the nature of reality to enhance sustainable human life on Earth.
This workshop will provide ideas on how to operationalize the decolonial thought by scrutinizing the role
of social science data collection and analysis that perpetuate Eurocentric thought. The proposed
workshop emphasizes that both methods of analysis, methods of data collection as well as theoretical
concepts promote unequal power relations between researchers and researches, , between different
sources of knowledge, as well as in the framing of the observed “reality”. The workshop aims to tap from
the experiences of participants in these domains and stimulate self-reflection in the often-undiscussed
practice of science.
Invited speakers:
- Dr. Stéphanie Domptail, Senior researcher and lecturer, Institute of Agricultural Policy and Market
Research, Justus Liebig University Giessen, Germany:
”Introduction: Methods and their framing of research and results”
- Felix Ndayisaba, PhD student, International PhD Program in Agricultural Economics, Bioeconomy and
Sustainable Food Systems (IPPAE), Justus Liebig University Giessen, Germany:
“Researcher positionality and field work outcomes in the context of epistemological decolonisation: What
could I have done differently?”
- Prof. Toyin Kolawole, PhD, Professor of Rural Development, Okavango Research Institute, University of
Botswana:
“Indigenous way of knowing in natural resources management and Western fortress conservation
approach in southern Africa”
- Prof. Dr. Martin Petrick, Professor of Agricultural, Food and Environmental Policy, Institute of Agricultural
Policy and Market Research, Justus Liebig University Giessen, Germany:
“Standpoint epistemology vs modern science: friends or foes?”
Main purpose of the workshop:
The workshop aims first to map and providing an overview of the perceived field of methodological
challenges in decolonising fieldwork and analysis.. Second, we will further deepen selected challenges
with first-hand experience from participants.
The workshop is structured as follows:
Input 1: Introduction to the topic with definitions (Domptail)
Participatory exercise 1: mapping experienced (or anticipated) challenges which could be
interpreted under the decolonial lens from fieldwork and empirical data analysis.
Input 2: Series of 3 short inputs by speakers Ndayisaba, Kolawole and Petrick
Participatory exercise 2: Group work around 3 selected challenges: rich mapping of challenges
and experiences
Organisers: Jakob Herrmann and Kajo Stelter
Weltweit - Gesellschaft zur Förderung lokaler Initiativen e.V.
Contact: jakob @welt-weit.org
Date: Friday, 22/09/2023, 14:30 – 17:30 h (CEST)
in-person workshop
Location: Main building, SR 2093
Description:
In the first 90 minutes participants will share their experiences of successful empowerment of small scale
farmer initiatives in a round table discussion. Through mind mapping tools we will extract a vision on how
research institutions, public policy, NGOs and CBOs should interact to create a nurturing ground that
maximizes local farmer empowerment and sustainable food production. A policy appeal, to be reviewed and
endorsed after the second part of the workshop, will be drafted as the main output.
In the second 90 minutes of the workshop, we will dive into the potential of decentralized technologies in
bolstering local initiatives for food systems transformation. Key topics will encompass:
- Regenerative Finance (ReFi): Exploring innovative financing models that can provide resources for
local projects, reducing reliance on traditional funding structures.
- Supply Chain Transparency: Discussing how blockchain technology can enhance traceability and
accountability in food production and distribution, promoting ethical and sustainable practices.
- Web3-based Community Empowerment: Analyzing the role of decentralized decision-making and
innovative mechanisms, such as smart contracts and tokenization, in fostering community engagement,
ownership, and support for small-scale development initiatives and change agents.
These topics will be addressed through presentations, case studies, and interactive discussions, enabling
participants to understand the potential and challenges of Web3 and blockchain technology in promoting
local food system initiatives.
Main purpose of the workshop:
The workshop's primary goal is to explore practical applications, challenges, and potential solutions, with a
particular focus on mechanisms to support local change agents in improving their communities. The
workshop's specific objective is to foster discussion and co-creation around harnessing Web3 and blockchain
technology for empowering local communities and initiatives to achieve sustainable and equitable food
systems.
Organiser: Robert Carcamo Mallen, HU Berlin, Ana Burgos and Octavio Barrera, Universidad Autónoma de México (UNAM)
Contact: carcamor@hu-berlin.de
Date: Friday, 22/09/2023, 16:00 – 18:00 h (CEST)
online workshop
Location: online
Description:
The workshop will focus on the appropriate economic models and mechanisms for disadvantaged rural
territories requiring multidimensional rural innovation processes. This includes the structural
characteristics of disadvantaged territories that restrict their economic dynamics; the role of the social
and solidarity economy; the construction of local and regional markets; collective marks and appellations
of origin; construction and operation of peasant cooperatives, rural tourism; Value chains; among other
economic aspects necessary for sustainable rural change.
The following questions will guide the workshop:
How could multidimensional innovation processes contribute to the sustainable economic development
of disadvantaged local territories?
How does the implementation of rural innovation strategies influence the development of markets and
the promotion of the solidarity economy in marginalized rural communities?
Main purpose of the workshop:
The main objectives are:
- Exchange conceptual, theoretical, empirical and methodological knowledge on multidimensional
innovation processes in disadvantaged rural territories in Latin America and the Caribbean
- Strengthen academic and institutional collaboration between universities in Latin America and
other parts of the world
- Know the social and political impact of the new approaches to Rural Development, particularly in
disadvantaged rural territories, from the perspective of endogenous-based multidimensional
innovation
Organiser: Suresh Chandra Babu, IFPRI and University of Pretoria;
Mousumi K. Bhattacharjee, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Asia-Pacific Regional Network,
Patrice L. Mirindi, University of Pretoria (UP), and
Patrick N. Mirindi, World Health Organization (WHO)
Contact: mousumi.tiss.hyd@gmail.com
Date: Friday, 22/09/2023, 15:00 – 18:00 h (CEST)
online workshop
Location: online
Description:
- Introduction to the need for multidimensional indices
- Brief on different index construction methods
- Pros and Cons
- Introduction to Alkire-Foster methodology
- Construction of multidimensional food and nutrition security indices
- Hands-on STATA exercise
- Implementation using other datasets made available by participants
- Policy implications
Main purpose of the workshop:
To teach how to construct multidimensional food security or nutrition indices
Replication exercise for one of our papers - Constructing a Multi-Nutrient Shortfall Index
Applications for the Democratic Republic of the Congo under a Decade of Humanitarian Crises.
Organisers: Dr. Karin Gaesing; University of Duisburg-Essen; Faculty of Social Sciences; Institute for Development and Peace (INEF)
Contact: Karin.gaesing@uni-due.de
Date: Friday, 22/09/2023, 14:30 – 16:30 h (CEST)
In-person workshop
Location: Main building, SR 2095A
Description:
Smallholder farmers often lack the financial resources to invest in their farms for more productivity. They would like to mechanize, diversify or increase their production, irrigate their fields, but they do not have the money, labour and inputs for it. The possibility to receive credits for agriculture does not only provide a huge potential for farmers, but can also put them into the trap of repayment pressure and indebtedness. In case of repayment failure, they may even risk to lose their land.
A team from INEF, University of Duisburg-Essen, analysed the needs and strategies of farmers with regard to savings and credit as well as into the offers of financial institutions regarding agricultural finance in such diverse countries as Benin, Cambodia, Ethiopia, Uzbekistan and Zambia. The INEF-team looked into savings opportunities, investment preferences as well as risk avoiding strategies of farmers on the one side and into credit programmes and insurances adapted to the situation of smallholders on the other hand. Innovative ideas and lessons are derived from the research results and can be adapted to other contexts to provide solutions for farmers and financial institutions.
Main purpose of the workshop:
To exchange good practice examples for the agro-financial support of smallholder farmers with the participants using the examples from our own research and good practice examples introduced by the other participants.
Organisers: Michael Brüntrup
NGO Let’s Plant e.V.
Contact: Michael.bruentrup@idos-research.de
Date: Friday, 22/09/2023, 14:30 – 16:30 h (CEST)
In-person workshop
Location: Seminar Building, SR 1.402
Description:
For research to have an impact in the real world, it often takes more than its publication in scientific journals. Photographs can be powerful tools to make research more accessible, to attract attention, to illustrate the context of research and researchers. "A picture is worth a thousand words" is especially true for making complex issues attractive to the public or as illustrations in scientific articles. This is especially true for subjects and motifs such as tropical agriculture, the leitmotif of Tropentag.
This workshop aims to help better represent the typical subjects of research on agriculture and landscape approaches in the tropics in photographs. We want to discuss basic principles of good photos and apply them to our particular subjects. There will be a short theoretical introduction on technical and creative principles, followed by joint discussions of concrete photo examples of individual pictures and picture stories from the 4 years of the Tropentag Photocontest. Aim is that participants are encouraged and guided to take better photos of their research projects.
Main purpose of the workshop:
The aim is that participants are encouraged and guided to take better photos of their research projects.