by Pacifique Ingabire and Nizam Hussein

When people talk about value chains, we may understand how products move from one actor to another, and of course when you are a researcher or a student you hear it from lectures; but do we really conceptualize value chains in the same way? Given the variety contexts and questions in which it is used, do researchers have a common, concrete definition for this concept, or is it a vague term that is used differently depending on the objectives of the researcher? Christian Klein Continue...

The problem of aggravating hunger in the world is one of the most recurring topics for every student of economics, environmental science etc. Most of the time, however, it is treated more as a grievous occurrence happening somewhere, and there is probably some NGO dealing with the matter already, right? Continue...

Here is our video feature on two keynote speakers from yesterday's opening, former colleagues Brave Ndisale and Shenggen Fan, who so kindly found some time for us amidst their busy schedules. The talk was about women in food systems and the interplay of international organizations after a fairly discussed opening ceremony.

Did you know that Berlin is eight times the size of Paris, that it has 150-plus museums and even more of contemporary art galleries, that the central Tiergarten comprises 520 acres, or did you know that here there is museum dedicated to the famous currywurst? Discover our top 3 districts...

Poster Session 1.3 Biodiversity and ecosystem services Kai Behn, University of Bonn, Germany, presented a really informative poster at this mornings poster session. His studies are about different plant species on fallow cropland in a valley in Namulonge, Uganda.

One of the highlights of this year's Tropentag is the introduction of the elevator pitch. This refers to a short summary that can be delivered in the time span of an elevator ride. During the guided poster session "Climate change, Carbon Sequestration and Greenhouse Gases" presenters were allowed to speak for only two minutes. Continue after this pitch :)

Do we know enough to effectively conserve tropical forests? That was the topic of my pre-conference workshop, where we debated to find an answer to this question. Do we really need more and more research on conservation to make a change and answer society’s questions, or we just after satisfying our own curiosity? Continue...

Brave Ndisale, FAO

In our earlier post, we highlighted the subject of gender and land tenure as discussed by the Tropentag keynote speaker, Brave Ndisale. A gathering of researchers and development practitioners also presented research posters addressing issues of gender and land tenure, value chains, and collective action drawing from case studies in Nigeria, Sudan, Ecuador, Kenya, Uganda and Ghana. Continue...