Tropentag 2019 - Student blog - Food security and quality

Meet the Speakers: Prof. Paul Richards

De-Registered User — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 08:28:28 +0000

Paul Richards is currently Professor of Technology and Agrarian Development at Wageningen University, The Netherlands. He was a member of the Department of Anthropology at the University College of London (UCL) for 20 years from 1979 (Head of Department 1989-1992, Professor from 1992). While in UCL, he specialised in ecological anthropology, technology studies and West African ethnography. His main fieldwork focus was on Sierra Leone, and included studies of Mende village rice farming systems and forest conservation on the Liberian border. He continued to work on and in Sierra Leone during the period of the civil war (1992-2002) and has written extensively on that conflict, and on the anthropology of modern armed conflicts more generally.

Meet the Speakers: Prof. Sir Gordon Conway

De-Registered User — Sat, 28 May 2011 13:55:57 +0000

Prof. Sir Gordon Conway Gordon Conway is Professor of International Development in the Centre for Environmental Policy of the Imperial College of London and holds five honorary degrees and fellowships. Trained in agricultural ecology, he attended the universities of Bangor, Cambridge, West Indies (Trinidad) and California (Davis). In the 1960’s he was a pioneer of sustainable agriculture, developing integrated pest management programs for the State of Sabah in Malaysia. He joined Imperial College in 1970 setting up the Centre for Environmental Technology in 1976.

Rushing for land

De-Registered User — Tue, 03 May 2011 07:09:19 +0000

Food prices are 36% above the levels of a year ago and remain close to the 2008 peak, driven in part by higher fuel costs connected to instability in the Middle East and North Africa. With current double digit food price inflation in crisis-striken Egypt and Syria, a major World Bank report shows wheat, maize and soya costs have soared, requiring a relaxation of grain export controls and a rethink on biofuels. "Already 44 million people have fallen into poverty since June 2010. If the food price index rises by just another 10% we estimate another 10 million people that fall into extreme poverty. And a 30% increase would add 34 million more people to the world's poor, who now number 1,2 billion" said World Bank President Robert Zoellick while presenting the World Bank's Food Price Watch last month. Eager to capitalise on rising food and energy prices or shore-up their own country's food security, foreign investors are pouring in to lease or buy huge tracts of cheap land that governments have cleared of people in the developing world. This high-stakes global land rush is essentialy a third wave of outsourcing and is taking place in the largest recipient countries of humanitarian food and development assistance. From Ethiopia's lowlands to the hilltops of Madagascar, vast tracts of farmland and forests are being gobbled up by foreign investors creating super-sized farms.

Blowing the whistle against hunger

De-Registered User — Wed, 06 Oct 2010 14:10:21 +0000

October is the month of increased attention on hunger and poverty, with special focus on the future and nature of international aid. Twenty-two countries are facing enormous challenges like repeated food crises and an extremely high prevalence of hunger due to a combination of natural disasters, conflict, and weak institutions. These countries are in what is termed a protracted crisis, FAO said in its “State of Food Insecurity in the World 2010” hunger report, jointly published today with the World Food Programme (WFP). The current aid architecture needs to be modified to better address both immediate needs and the structural causes of protracted crises. Findings of the 2010 hunger report will be discussed by members of the newly reformed Committee on World Food Security (CFS) in Rome (11-16 October 2010). This happens while Tropentag keynote speaker Paul Collier blogs about the need for international aid that is subject to the same standards of integrity and transparency, while one of the most important donors' vision for "feeding the world" is questioned.

Where was your bread last night?

De-Registered User — Sat, 25 Sep 2010 07:54:51 +0000

Agriculture science for most people has this name of being bad, of being about pollution, about large-scale, about the destruction of the environment. That is not necessary. We need more science and not less. And we need good science. But there is something we must do. It's not enough to say "Let's get more bold science into agriculture." We ourselves must go back, and think about our own food chain. We need to think differently about our science as a whole. Every meal we eat contains ingredients from all across the world. Everything makes us so privileged, that we can eat this food, that we don't struggle every day. And that, evolutionarily-speaking, is unique. We've never had that before. This is why it's time for agricutural scientists to stand for responsible agriculture and food consumption, as they are crucial to world stability. Enjoy the talk of Louise Fresco, a powerful thinker and sustainability advisor, on feeding the whole world. She says environmentally sound mass production will feed the world, yet leaving a role for small scalers and traditional methods.

Final Adress: Agriculture at the Crossroads or the Missing “K”

De-Registered User — Thu, 16 Sep 2010 22:08:41 +0000

After three days of intense debates, the Tropentag did not arrive at a final destination but at a road sign pointing in several directions. Figuratively speaking, Jack Heinemann, Professor for Genetics and Gene Ecology at the University of Canterbury, NZ, and author of the book “Hope not Hype: The Future of Agriculture”, had pulled the road sign out of the ground and was waving it in front of the audience that had gathered for a last time in the Scherrer Auditorium of ETH Zurich. Mr. Heinemann spoke about the findings and opportunities envisioned by the IAASTD report to which he contributed as co-author. Jack Heinemann presenting the IAASTD

Oral Presentations III: Food Quality and Technology

De-Registered User — Thu, 16 Sep 2010 10:01:00 +0000

ADEBAYO ABRAHAM ADEWUMI: Lean Meat for the 21st Century: A Case Study of Emu Dromaius Novae Hollandiae [Le Souef 1907] The emu bird, only slightly smaller than the ostrich, is originally from Australia. It will grow up to two meters tall and weigh 60 kg. Its red meat is almost fat free, low in cholesterol and high in protein and iron. In the study, the meat of 16 emus was analyzed and compared to beef. Emu meat's cholesterol level is about 35% lower than that of beef. In regards to the total minerals there were no differences. Since consumers are looking for appetizing food and are increasingly basing their choice on fat, calories and cholesterol, Emu meat is the perfect choice. FOLUSHO UGWU: Complimentary Feeding Practices and Nutrient Intake of Children Aged 6-18 Months in Ebonyi State, South East Nigeria

Nestlé's Contribution to Global Food Supplies

De-Registered User — Wed, 15 Sep 2010 17:34:11 +0000

Most of you have noticed that this year's Tropentag is being held in Zurich. Therefore, there was a Swiss Session today, giving Swiss organizations from the field of agricultural and rural development like the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation or the Swiss College of Agriculture an opportunity to present their work. One special guest of the Session was a Swiss institution far older than the other organizations that many people do not relate to issues of development at the first glance: Nestlé. The world's largest food company was represented by Hans Jöhr, Corporate Head of Agriculture of Nestlé. Mr. Jöhr delivered an adress on “effective contribution to ensure supply of safe, quality assured and affordable products to consumers”, in short, Nestlé's contribution to global food supplies.