Looking back on the first day of Tropentag 2011 A ‘hub of discussion’, ‘the most important international conference for the development oriented scientific community’ or just a networking event… with more than 1000 participants from all over the world Tropentag is everything but boring. Looking back on the first day. ‘There are a billion people that are currently hungry. We’ve never had that number of hungry-stricken in the world before. If we’re going to feed the world by 2050 we need to increase food production by something as 70 to 100 percent. The food price spikes are going to recur and food prices will stay high.’ This statement of Sir Gordon Conway (Imperial College) during the plenary speeches on the first day of the Tropentag, will be leading during the whole conference in Bonn. These are the facts. How can research make a contribution to solve this problem? Questions As Claudia Mueller (University of Bonn) argued in the opening session of the Tropentag, research on ‘development of the margin’ is needed and should be a guiding principle for all researchers. ‘We will only be successful if we manage to improve the hunger situation for the marginalized in development.’ She raised questions such as how to balance development in favorable and marginal environments? Should marginalized people and communities become key players in an increasingly globalized resource use, and if so, how? Paul Richards, Rattan Lal and Sir Gordon Conway at the plenary session More questions were raised during the plenary speeches of Sir Gordon Conway (Imperial College), Rattan Lal (The Ohio State University) and Paul Richards (Wageningen University and Research Centre). Although this conference aims at finding some answers on these big issues, the remark of Joachim von Braun (University of Bonn) before the plenary speeches began, turned out to be true… after the plenary speeches the audience had probably more questions than answers on the problem of ‘development of the margin’. Wish list Unfortunately, the biggest question of how to solve hunger in the world isn’t that simple. According to Conway, ‘if you really want to reduce poverty, you have to invest in agriculture’. However, although agriculture can be a ‘multiplier’ for development, ‘appropriate intervention’ is needed, that works, adds significant value, is resilient, stable, equitable, and where the counterfactuals are clear. There are a lot of techniques available in agriculture, but ‘it’s not technology alone’. As Conway argues, we also need an appropriate macro-economic environment, investments in agriculture, security of land tenure, minimal corruption (which caused laughter among the audience), an effective and fair market and a supportive environment for small and medium enterprises. Furthermore, the physical and social infrastructure should be there, even as well functioning institutions and regulations. Then all this is also threatened by climate change. You can even add more to this ‘wish list’, but it’s clear that a lot needs to be done. Twenty crashing jumbo jets a day Just as Conway, Rattan Lal stressed the magnitude of global hunger. ‘Every day there are 6000 people dying of hunger. That is approximately equal to 20 jumbo jets crashing every day, seven days a week. And yet, it’s not a newsworthy item. This is a serious issue that needs to be addressed.’ Rattan Lal advocates for the protection of soils. If we do not take the soils more seriously, the Millennium Development Goals will not be achieved. ‘We can increase the food production, but it has a price. Everything has a price. Do not take the soils for granted. We should protect the soils. We have climate change, food security…how to restore the marginalized soil?’ At Rio+20, the United Nations Conference on Sutainable Development, Lal will plead for sustainable management of soil, and the interlink between all those processes. ‘Marginal people’? Paul Richards wanted to stir up the controversy during the Tropentag. He added a question mark to ‘development of the margin’. According to Richards, there are no ‘marginal people’. 'Marginality is not a state or a thing, it is something we do as humans and as social beings. Labelling people as 'marginal' includes and excludes people.' According to his research on the origin of rice in several African countries, the so-called ‘marginal people’ have been ‘brilliantly successful’. They developed hybrids themselves. ‘It’s about recognition. It’s about the ingenuity of the poor.’ According to Richards, market societies blame the margins when things are going wrong. He stresses the danger of language. By using the phrase ‘marginal people’, ‘we exclude the agency and the talent of these people.’ ‘No real solutions’ Although a lot of issues were raised during the plenary sessions, some of the participants were disappointed. As two German scientists told me: ‘I left after the first keynote speech. I didn’t hear anything new, there were no solutions or innovative ideas presented. This could have been an introductory lecture for students, but it’s a scientific conference for students and scientists with a career in research. They have told their story as you can read in their books and articles. Just because they are well-established scientists, it should be interesting. But it was not. Everyone would agree on the first speech. It would have been better if the Tropentag invited four young scientists with real innovative ideas to speak at the plenary session.’ For young scientists and PhD students agreed that it was not innovative or that there were real solutions presented. ‘But that’s not what I came for, this is a scientific conference and it is a fact that research on this topic is complex and answers are not that simple.’ One of the young students found the lecture of Richars quite interesting, although she did not agree on his point of view. ‘Marginality is not a perception, it also has to do with circumstances. It was a pity there wasn’t more time for questions.’ Finding the real solutions On the second day of Tropentag there will be more opportunities for young scientists to present their research during the oral sessions on themes as ‘vulnerable people’, ‘resource use and ecosystem services’, ‘production systems on the margin’ and ‘systems under stress’. Even as yesterday, there are also more than 400 poster presentations from young students and scientists. Let’s see if we can find real solutions there!