“We are going to have a controversial discussion, but a respectful one.”

I had been waiting for some conflict and controversy...for nearly three days. It was decidedly inconspicuous at a conference bearing those very words in its title. But now, here was conference organizer Stefan Sieber promising that controversy in the closing keynotes and plenary. The speakers, and their topics of choice, followed one of the most fundamental debates in the fields of agriculture and rural development - pitting the core philosophies around technology dissemination and institutional support versus grassroots innovation and social movements against one another.

Did you leave Tropentag wondering if tropical agriculture is still your future career? Well, you were in the right place, because the student reporters caught up with one woman whose career path might just inspire you. Dr. Ajantha Perera, an Assistant Professor at Fiji National University, and the only one from Oceania participating at the Tropentag conference this year answered a few questions about  her career and her motivation to fly thousands of miles for Tropentag. Continue...

At conferences, we live for coffee breaks. They are the times when we take a breather from presentation after presentation, the places where we meet new people and reconnect with old colleagues, and of course the spot to refuel. For many of us, that sustenance of choice is coffee, and (at least in my book) chocolate-covered biscuits are the best complement. That’s all pretty standard for organized events. But what makes the coffee breaks at a meeting like Tropentag unique is the array of experts present to relay the story behind the coffee, tea, biscuits, and fruit.
So as I wandered around posters this morning, it struck me that these studies are not merely relevant to those specific geographies or ecosystems and to the local people and communities. There are also ties not very far removed from life outside of our study sites. And yet, we don’t always or even often think about what lies beyond the mug when sipping at a conference venue. Continue...

We all agree that science can do a lot of good. Everyday we see and experience its positive impacts in various facets such as healthcare, nutrition and technology. In Tropentag 2015's session tagged "Cooperation and Conflict Management", a wide range of research and studies showing the role of science were presented and discussed. The audience is a big part of all sessions in Tropentag 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.

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...

"The world is facing a barrage of shocks". Director General and applied economist Shenggen Fan of International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) was one of the keynote speakers of this year’s Tropentag 2015. "The world is facing a barrage of shocks". Continue...