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President of ATSAF introduces controversial issues at Tropentag

Tue, 10/04/2011 - 16:07 — De-Registered User
With only one day to go, Professor Dr Asch, president of ATSAF, is looking forward to the event that can be seen as a ‘hub of discussion’. ‘We can cause shifting paradigms’. The German based organization ATSAF, the Council for Tropical and Subtropical Agricultural Research, is organizing the Tropentag this year and combines the expertise of development oriented agriculture research in the tropics and subtropics. With ‘people on the margin’ as a central theme of the Tropentag 2011, there are a lot of scientific issues that will stir up the debate and may be controversial. Asch: ‘I’m pretty sure that we will have a lot of interesting keynotes and discussions at the conference. How to empower people who are marginalized through globalization, climate change, food insecurity and life style, such as the nomadic ethnical groups? This will be an important discussion point.’ Food insecurity But there is more, according to Asch. ‘The debate about bio energy versus food will be controversial. Furthermore, there is a whole discussion going on about what the meaning is of food insecurity. Do we have to go to local smallholder decentralized systems or do we have to emphasis large production units? What are the benefits and constraints?’ As Asch argues, this year’s Tropentag is a ‘hub of discussion’. These discussions will not only help us in ‘shaping ideas’ and ‘shaping paradigms’, but can also cause a ‘shifting paradigm’ in the scientific community. ‘The typical feature of the Tropentag is that along the sessions, in the plenary debate, during coffee breaks and over dinner, these issues are being discussed.’ Advice: don’t be scared of the titles Not only established scientists will take part in the discussions during the coffee break, but there will also be a lot of opportunities for young scientists and students. Prof Dr Asch especially invites them to join the debate. ‘Use the potential of the Tropentag as much as you can. People that are coming here are open for discussion and easy to approach. Just because someone is a professor doctor doctor, doesn’t mean you cannot talk to him or her. Furthermore, if you have to give a presentation, don’t be nervous. Everyone has to start at some point of time. Also very important: stick to the ten minutes!’

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