Welcome to Tropentag 2014

“Are we going to talk about nationality or internationality?” asked Michal Lošťák, Vice-Rector of CULS, as he welcomed the crowded assembly to Tropentag yesterday. Taking the conference theme of ‘gaps’ to be ‘bridged,’ he focused on gaps between perspectives from different cultures. “A scientific community operates across borders,” he continued, “[it is] interesting to hear how African students agree or disagree with European students.” While I agree that points of conflict are intellectually illuminating, for me something was missing in all the introductory speeches at the Plenary session yesterday. (Continue...)

“It’s about making livestock systems more sustainable,” Jimmy Smith said about the research undertaken by the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI). Speaking at the Tropentag conference this year in Prague, Smith stressed that smallholder livestock producers can meet the growing demand of animal products in developing countries. What is required, however, is a system transformation. In order to be sustainable, such a transformation would result increased productivity with limited resources, or in Smith’s words, “producing more with less.” (Continue...) Blog post by Pramila Thapa and Rachel Friedman

This year’s Tropentag is taking place at Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Czech Republic. Over 800 participants from 70 different countries composed of students, professors, researchers and private individuals attending the said conference. I had have been asking about that myself why a lot of people are interested to attend said conference. So I end up with the question has this something to do with the place because it’s Prague or the idea of conference itself?

"No need for rocket efforts to implement the accumulated knowledge”, Christel Weller-Monongua opens the keynote presentation session of Tropentag 2014 with her cogent statement. Christel has worked in the development cooperation field for over 25 years now and she is convinced that there is no need for the research, if the results don't reach the farmers. ( Continue . . . )

Many of our student reporters this year are trying out scientific journalism for the first time at Tropentag. But Vitalii Korol, last year’s videographer from Ukraine, enjoyed his experience so much that he’s back for more. You may be wondering, though – why are students the reporters at a formal academic conference in the first place? (Continue...)

“When can nature pay for biodiversity conservation? Can local communities prosper by protecting wildlife?“ Miroslav Zámečník addressed these questions during the opening plenary session. Blog post by Pin Pravalprukskul and Juan José Egas. (Continue...)

Voices from around the world fill the entrance hall of the Study and Information Center this morning, as Tropentag Conference participants line up for registration. The energy level is high, and colleagues greet each other with smiles and handshakes, many with poster tubes over their shoulders, ready to present their research in the coming days. But whom exactly might you find on the campus of the Czech University of Life Sciences in Prague this morning?