Tropentag 2018

20th September 2018
by secretary

Paepard

16-19 September 2018. Gent, Belgium. Tropentag 2018 was organised by the University of Ghent, Belgium in close cooperation KU Leuven and Antwerp University (both Belgium).

Tropentag is an annual interdisciplinary conference on research in tropical and subtropical agriculture, natural resource management and rural development (TROPENTAG) jointly organised by the universities of Berlin, Bonn, Göttingen, Hohenheim, Kassel-Witzenhausen, Hamburg, ZALF e.V., ETH Zurich (Switzerland), Czech University of Life Sciences Prague (Czech Republic), BOKU Vienna (Austria) and the Council for Tropical and Subtropical Research (ATSAF e.V) in co-operation with the GIZ Advisory Service on Agricultural Research for Development (BEAF).
The Tropentag is a development-oriented and interdisciplinary conference. It addresses issues of resource management, environment, agriculture, forestry, fisheries, food, nutrition and related sciences in the context of rural development, sustainable resource use and poverty alleviation worldwide.
The Tropentag 2018 conference theme was Global food security and food safety: The role of universities

Social media of Tropentag

Keynote speakers

Alexander de Croo (see picture below the cowboy!), Minister of Development Cooperation, Digital Agenda, Telecom and Postal Services, Belgium
Namukolo Covic, coordinator A4NH in Ethiopia
Namukolo Covic works for the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) as Senior Research Coordinator in the Poverty, Health and Nutrition Division and is based in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The Current focus of her work is the CGIAR Research Programme on Agriculture for Nutrition and Health (A4NH). She is the country coordinator for A4NH in Ethiopia where she also provides representation for the programme in its interactions with the African Union’s Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP).
Ramon L. Espinel, Professor and Dean, Facultad de Ciencias de la Vida, ESPOL-Guayaquil, Ecuador
Ramon Espinel is currently the Dean of the Faculty of Life Sciences in ESPOL University, associate Professor at the University of Florida, and Representative of the Republic of Ecuador to the Board of the International Monetary Fund. He has served as Minister of Agriculture, Livestock and

Winners of the fiat panis Award 2018
and Josef G Knoll European
Science Award 2018

Fisheries, and as President of FINAGRO (Banco del Agro).
Bernhard Freyer, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, Austria
Univ. Prof. Dr. Bernhard Freyer heads the Division of Organic Farming as well as the working group of Transdsciplinary Systems Research at the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna
Emile Frison, Member International Panel of Experts on Sustainable Food Systems (IPES-Food), Orvieto, Italy
Emile Frison is an expert on conservation and agricultural biodiversity who has headed global research-for-development organisation Bioversity International for ten years, after holding top positions at several global research institutes. He is currently the Chair of the International Scientific Committee on Sustainable

Food Systems of the Daniel and Nina Carasso Foundation. His areas of expertise include the conservation and use of agricultural biodiversity. He has a particular interest in sustainable food systems and the deployment of agricultural biodiversity to improve nutrition and the resilience and sustainability of agricultural systems.
Stineke Oenema, coordinator of the UN SCN (Standing

Committee on Nutrition), ItalyStineke Oenema is nutritionist (Wageningen University) and agricultural economist (London University). She worked several years for FAO and UNICEF in Ghana, Vietnam and Latin

Great applause for Erick for compiling
the Book of Abstracts “Bible”

America. Group, she supported the development of the Global Nutrition Reports during its initial years. Before joining the United Nations System Standing Committee on Nutrition (UNSCN) in 2016, she worked at Wageningen University, the Centre for Development Innovation. In her current function as Coordinator of the UNSCN, she contributes to maximising coherency of nutrition policy and advocacy; as well as to coherent and accountable delivery by the UN system.
John McDermott, Director, CGIAR Research Program on Agriculture for Nutrition and Health (A4NH), IFPRI-Washington, USA
Previously he was Deputy Director General and Director of Research at the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) in Nairobi from 2003-2011. John has lived and worked in Africa for 25 years. As a researcher, John’s research career has focused on public health, animal health and livestock research in developing countries, primarily Africa.
Michael Ochieng Odhiambo, Director; People, Land and Rural Development (PLRD), Kenya
Michael Ochieng Odhiambo is a lawyer who founded and served as first Executive Director of

the Resource Conflict Institute (RECONCILE), a regional policy research and advocacy NGO based in Nakuru, Kenya. he has advised and supported UN agencies, donors, international and national non-governmental and community-based organisations on pastoralism and policy-related issues all over the Horn of Africa, with assignments in Ethiopia, Eritrea, Kenya, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda. He has at various times conducted policy research and analysis, training and evaluations for the European Union, the African Union, FAO, the World Bank, UNDP, DFID, USAID, Oxfam, NPA, NRC, IWGIA and Cordaid.
Anthony Whitbread is the Research Program Director for Innovation Systems for the Drylands

(ISD), International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), based in Hyderabad, India.
Dr Whitbread leads a team of 30+ scientists across south Asia and sub-Saharan Africa in an innovation systems mode devising strategies to manage climatic risk, soil fertility and identifying market led development opportunities. This role was preceded by a 20 year research career in the crop-livestock systems of semi-arid Australia, SE Asia and Southern Africa
Francois Stepman, Platform for African, European Partnership in Agricultural Research for Development (PAEPARD), Belgium
Since 2010, PAEPARD has been working to promote new innovation processes through partnerships Multi-actors and mediation work between research organizations, NGOs, peasant organizations And the private sector. This process allows new projects to emerge or bring added value To existing projects in different sectors.

Left to right: Ms. Odile Ano,

Dr. Helene Mavar, Ms Eva Ba

Extracts of the programme

Pre-conference workshop: Workshop 5: Linking the ”diaspora” with research and SMEs

This Diaspora workshop was a follow-up on a Diaspora Agro Food Forum held in Brussels on 25 April 2018. The African Diaspora Agro Food Forum 2018

Pastoral systems

Chair: Ann Waters-Bayer, Agrecol Association, Germany
MICHAEL OCHIENG ODHIAMBO: Pastoralism in Eastern Africa: Policy and Institutional Challenges, Opportunities and Responses Web-Version (html)
ERICK OMOLLO, OLIVER WASONGA, YAZAN ELHADI, WILLIAM MNENE: Is Fodder Production in the Drylands Profitable? Analysis of Fodder Value Chain in Southern Kenya
Web-Version (html)
MARIA VICTORIA LARRATEGUY, ANTONIA BRAUS, ANGELA R. SCHUG, KASSIM YOUSSF ABDALLA, ABDIKAREEN ESSA, MAURICEKIBOYE: One Health Approach: Key Function in Project Activities in Food Security and Safety in Somaliland Web-Version (html)
GUYO ROBA, MARGARETA LELEA, BRIGITTE KAUFMANN: Linking Pastoralists to Markets – Understanding the Role and Working Conditions of Local Traders in Northern Kenya Web-Version (html)
BENJAMIN WARTH, CARSTEN MAROHN, FOLKARD ASCH: Grassland Functions Improve a Mechanistic Crop Model to Assess Savannah Crop Encroachment and Overstocking Impacts Web-Version (html)

Land degradation and livelihoods for the Sahel

Chair: Anthony Whitbread, International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), Innovation Systems for the Drylands, India
ARRON ORR: Land Degradation Neutrality: Global Vision and Perspectives for Africa Web-Version (html)
PATRICE SAVADOGO, JULES BAYALA, SIBIRI JEAN OUéDRAOGO: Restoration Pathways for Degraded Land in West African Sahel and Dry Savannah: A Review Web-Version (html)
DOUGBEDJI FATONDJI, ALPHONSE SINGBO, RAMADJITA TABO, ANTHONY WHITBREAD: Empowering Women Farmers and Providing Nutritional Benefits to Households through Degraded Landscapes Regeneration in Niger Web-Version (html)
EMMANUEL OLATUNBOSUN BENJAMIN, OREOLUWA OLA, HANNES LANG, GERTRUD BUCHENRIEDER: Public-Private Cooperation in Extension Services – Impact on Agricultural Development in Sub-Saharan

Africa Web-Version (html)
TOBIAS FELDT, LEON BESSERT, EVA SCHLECHT: Rivalry for Urban Food Markets Between Farmers and Pastoralists in the Western Highlands of Cameroon Web-Version (html)

Panel representing #A4NHResearch flagships discuss
how partnerships can lead to impact, what we have learned
about how agriculture can improve nutrition,
and what we need to do to support
the SDGs at #Tropentag2018

A4NH – Leveraging agriculture for nutrition and health outcomes

Chair: Namukolo Covic, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), Poverty Health and Nutrition Div., Ethiopia
JOHN MCDERMOTT: Leveraging Agriculture for Nutrition and Health Outcomes Web-Version (html)
JOHN MCDERMOTT: Improving Nutrition through Agriculture – What Have We Learned and How Can We Support SDG Outcomes Web-Version (html)
NAMUKOLO COVIC, INGE D. BROUWER, JEFF LEROY, ERICK BOY, KRISTINA ROESEL, FRED UNGER, ERASTUS KANG’ETHE: Pathways and Theories of Change for Nutrition and Health Outcomes from Agriculture, Examples Across Food Systems, Biofortification, Food Safety and Integrated Programs and Policies Web-Version (html)

Source: PAEPARD FEED

Tropentag 2018

Pre-conference workshop: Workshop 5: Linking the ”diaspora” with research and SMEs

Share

You might also like