Sustainability is founded on the three pillars: economics, environmentalism and social consciousness. The efforts to create a more sustainable conference at this year’s Tropentag cannot be unnoted.

S.Oladokun and F. Martinelli
Student Reporter at the Tropentag 2019 Conference, Kassel, Germany

This study aimed to question the long-standing premise that “scientists are boring”. We hypothesize that given the right conditions, place and time; the fun in scientist can be unleashed.

The study location was the Bio-Restaurant Weissenstein, at the University of Kassel, venue of the conference dinner of the 2019 Tropentag Annual Conference. The program started at 19:45h with live music from the stables of FitzPassing. The FitzPassing live band consist of Vincent Wolf (guitar) and Lisa Karkos (singer), who are inspired by the works of the great jazz musicians Ella Fitzgerald and Joe Pass. Other local experimental conditions include; an indoor temperature of 18C and 50% humidity. At least seven types of intercontinental buffet service were available, with a supply of drinks ranging from red wine, beers, fruit and fizzy drinks. Dessert was described to be as much as the desert sand. The study population in attendance was 560. A mixed model approach involving the use of photography evidence and sample interview was used to test study hypothesis.

At only 16 years old, Greta Thunberg is making waves that can only be described as unbelievable around the world as a climate activist. Fed up with climate change being considered a partisan issue, and political inaction on the climate change agenda, Greta is without a doubt an inspiration to both young and old. Perhaps it’s her age fueling her passion for climate action. She’s well aware her generation will bear the brunt of climate change; a roaring commonality seen through Tropentag’s wide range of academic presentations.

As many of Tropentag’s participants work to mediate and mitigate climate change’s impact on the population of the tropics, we cannot ignore tomorrow’s #FridayforFuture #ClimateStrike. However, we also cannot ignore that we have two highly esteemed keynote speakers scheduled just before the strike, and closing ceremonies during it. As participants debate attending the strike, or the closing ceremony, Tropentag has offered a solution to add their signature to the climate strike.

Two outstanding master theses on the theme of food security were centre stage at the Tropentag 2019 opening ceremony.



Hundreds of people at the #Tropentag2019 stood still to reward academic hard-work, dedication and innovation, as the 21st edition of the Hans H. Ruthenberg - Graduate Award was given out. This prestigious award, instituted in honour of the famous German Agriculturist- Prof. Dr. Hans-Hartwig Ruthenberg, has been awarded to 54 recipients since 1999 for outstanding scholarly work on food security.

30 youths from over 15 countries gathered to proffer youthful solutions to global agriculture challenges at the Tropentag 2019.


The 21st edition of the largest gathering on tropical and subtropical agriculture, Tropentag, kick-started today with a pre-conference workshop titled “Supporting youth in agriculture and research: Role of youth-based organisations”. This session was facilitated by two #YouthinAg centred organisation; YPARD and Agrinatura. With global youth membership over 16,000 and support from FAO and Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, YPARD has been providing #YouthinAg support and mentorship for the past 11 years. The Agrinatura also plays the same role with the support received from major European research and education stakeholders. If you would agree with me, the session was facilitated by competent hands.

What do a mining company in Peru, a forest in Ecuador and a river in India have in common? All of them have been stages for conflicts caused by unsustainable practices. The impact caused by those practices in nature affects the ones who most need it: the people who historically live there.

On an attempt to understand this global and complex topic, scientists from different areas got together in Kassel yesterday afternoon, kicking off the Conference Tropentag 2019. Organized by the Center for Development Research (ZEF) at University of Bonn, the workshop called attention to a potential (and surprising) solution: ask the locals! Listening and integrating their knowledge allows easier understanding of where the conflict is happening, its intensity and action taken when they scale up.

Guten Tag!

It is the day before the main activities of Tropentag 2019 kick off in Kassel, Germany and preparations by the student reporter team are in full swing.

Tropentag 2019 is full of promise, there are 24 sessions of oral presentations, with 107 individual presentations, as well as 29 guided poster sessions, with 310 individual poster presentations. Tropentag 2019 is attended by almost 900 people, hailing from a staggering 85 countries. Importantly, in this year's Tropentag conference bag, there is a reuseable cup for beverage consumption, and almost 1/3 of attendees chose not to recieve the printed book of abstracts, saving 250 printed copies. #GoGreta !  

As the conference unfolds, you'll see us Student Reporters in our white t-shirts (we'll be taking great care not to spill on them) running around like busy little bees. Please feel free to approach us if you'd like your poster, presentation or general self documented here within our blog or on Twitter, Flickr, YouTube, Instagram, or Facebook.  

You can follow us at #Tropentag2019, and we wish you all great success and much fun over the coming days.