Part 1: Rattan Lal, Sir Gordon Conway and Paul Richards on how to include small holders into carbon trade Part 2"What you're calling marginal is political opposition"

A commonly held opinion when talking about traditional biological control, is that it is difficult to find successful stories without undesirable side effects. Prof. Christian Borgemeister from the International Center of Insect Physiology and insect Ecology (ICIPE) believes the contrary and he even challenged the audience to give him a recent example of biological control that “went out of control”. “Yes”, he added, “only in the best case scenarios traditional bio-control (BC) works as a stand-alone solution and often it has to be combined with other compatible and “bio-rational” interventions. However, we cannot deny that insects and other organisms deliver a critical environmental service in terms of pest control. ” The problem seems to be that the discussion about BC has been dominated by early mistakes while successfully improved techniques are overlooked; or in the words of Prof. Borgemeister “there is a gap between myths and reality”. Bio-control on the margin

This is part 2 of a series of 3 videos. Part 1: Rattan Lal, Sir Gordon Conway and Paul Richards on how to include small holders into carbon trade Part 3: Solutions to help people improve their situation, Rattan Lal, Sir Gordon Conway and Paul Richards discuss

Tropentag 2011 brings together prominent researchers and thinkers alike to discuss and exchange the challenges of development on the margin. Food security, rural incomes and livelihood diversification are in the core of the debate, while the conservation of biodiversity and the valuation of ecosystem services attract more and more attention. With a special invited paper on Resource use and ecosystem services by Christian Borgemeister from ICIPE, this session highlighted that the conservation of biodiversity does not have to exclude economic opportunities, but at the same time its success is vulnerable to various risks. Christian Borgemeister, ICIPE

Introduction by Dr. Stefan Schmitz: In introducing the session, he said that the talk is focussed on marginality, fragility, uncertainty, instability, food security and rural development. Crisis at the horn of Africa but also experiences from all over the world are major issues of worry and of priority to GIZ. He stated that various aspects of national key sectors come together (e.g cultural, political, environmental etc) and need attention by development agencies. Do all these dimentions of fragility interlink or are they independent? We should link evidence base, research base, scientific base etc., with political situations which is what GIZ is doing. Anneke Trux then spoke on the topic “How can UNCCD and other UN Conventions support and enable sustainable land management in fragile systems?” She started by answering the questions; What is a convention? and What does a convention regulate? She explained that a convention is a treaty among different countries, is an internatinoal legal framework, and that even though it is not a law, partners agree to the terms and aims. A convention regulates strategies, obligations, aims and objectives. She emphasized that since conventions are not laws, the commitment of parties is a major obstacle for implementation.

As every year, the meeting of “Friends of CGIAR” took place in Tropentag 2011. "This public event is a great opportunity for networking, job opportunities and update of current news of the 15 centers of the Consultive Group on International Agricultural Research, CGIAR” said Prof. Dr. Asch, University of Hohenheim. Brigitte L. Maass, from CIAT- International Centre for Tropical Agriculture-, speaking in four languages showed her friendly predisposition for contacting with researches from everywhere. She is an agronomist specialized in forage. She was talking with Erica, a Colombian student who is making his master in Germany. Erica was asking for potential field work “I want to make my field work in Colombia for my thesis”. Brigitte was working in Colombia for many years as a young scientists. And now, she is located in Nairoby, Kenia. Something will work out of this meeting!

Worldbank sets a minimum amount of 2 Mio. € for carbon trade. That avoids small scale farmers from taking advantage of this trading scheme. Hear about the ideas of Rattan Lal, Sir Gordon Brown and Paul Richards! This is part 1 of a series of videos. Part 2: "What you're calling marginal is political opposition" Keynote Discussion Part 3: Solutions to help people improve their situation, Rattan Lal, Sir Gordon Conway and Paul Richards discuss

Katrin Pütz uses low-tech innovation to help rural communities establish village-level biogas systems It’s about time we give people on the margin dignity and responsibility, demands Katrin Pütz of Hohenheim University. And she has a solution: Enter the Biobag. A four layered, gas tight, one cubic meter bag that can be worn as a backpack. The Biobag is part of a greater village level biogas system value chain. The envisioned system allows for capital investment, usually from commercial farmers or other investors, to finance the construction of a biogas plant. From here small-scale farmers can sell their animal’s dung to the biogas plant owner. Village residents can then bring their reusable Biobag to the plant to fill it up with fuel. Solving rural poverty can be just this simple, anticipates Pütz.

Behind the idea

After working in Rwanda on an agricultural project with farmers Pütz saw how development aid was working. She also saw how it created dependencies. “I became angry about how people were being treated,” reflects Pütz. She started to study again, but this time doing her master’s in agricultural engineering. It was during this time she learned about biogas and knew: “This is it!”