Annual Report 2012/2013

Transcription

Contact
Tropenzentrum | TROZ
Universität Hohenheim
Garbenstraße 13
70599 Stuttgart | Germany
Center for Agriculture in the Tropics and Subtropics
Tel. +49 711 459 23543 | Fax +49 711 459 23315
Tropenzentrum I TROZ
[email protected] | www.troz.de
Report 2012/2013
Report 2012/2013
Table of contents
Preface
1
About us
2
Imprint
Research
5
SFB 564 5
Map of TROZ cooperations
7
Multifunctional grasslands 8
Global food security Coping with climate change
15
Sustainable resource management and bioenergy production 26
Multifunctionality and biodiversity in agricultural production
30
21
Advocacy and Networking
Capacity development
34
39
Annex46
Published by
Tropenzentrum (790) I Universität Hohenheim
Garbenstr. 13
70599 Stuttgart
Phone: + 49-711 459 23543
Fax: + 49-711 459 23315
[email protected]
www.troz.de
Edited by
Bärbel Sagi, Dr. Barbara Ramsperger, Juzha Zillich
Layout
Bärbel Sagi
May 2014
Photographs: © Vinzenz Bauer pp. 19, 26; © Sonja Braisch p. 15; © Corel&Unger pp. 3, 7, 35; © Oskar Eyb
back cover, pp. 1, 36; © Maria Gerster-Bentaya p. 25; © Marcus Giese front cover, pp. 8, 9, 12, 13, 14, 43;
© Juliana Dias Bernandes Gil p. 15; © Franziska Harich p. 32; © Martin Hegele p. 39; © Ludger Herrmann
p. 21; © Falk Kullen p. 16; © Liu Jingxin pp. 26, 30; © André Markemann p. 11; © Carsten Marohn p. 23; ©
Jochen Menz p. 30; © Sven Reichardt p. 30; © Joachim E. Roettgers, GRAFFITI pp. 4, 21; © Nadja Reinhardt pp. 4, 21; © Rafael Schäfer p. 40;
Printed on paper made from 100% recycled materials
Printed by
Offizin Scheufele, Stuttgart
You are holding the report on the most important
activities in 2012 and 2013 of the “Center for
Agriculture in the Tropics and Subtropics (TROZ)”
in your hands. Both TROZ and the University of Hohenheim are proud to present with this report once
again the wide scope our members cover in combating hunger and promoting sustainable development worldwide.
The recent years have brought global food security,
climate change, and energy requirements into the
focus of public attention. It is a new development
that we are actually asked to explain and elaborate
on the complex interactions between resource use
and conservation, biodiversity in agricultural production systems, and multifunctional use of agro-ecosystems and how climate change and the production focus may interfere with those interactions.
Food security is a very prominent research issue in
recent years. Governments worldwide are trying to
develop strategies as to how food security and food
safety can be maintained or achieved in a world that
increasingly competes for almost all resources. It
is obvious and logic that TROZ works hand in hand
with its sister center, the “Food Security Center” on
these issues.
However, without having understood basic functions
of ecosystems, without aggregating knowledge
on interactions between plants, animals, humans
and climate in new or improved models that help
us understanding the consequences of potential
interventions, without understanding people, their
priorities and desires in life as well as their limits to
acceptance, without understanding the fragile links
between organisms and the very existence of an
ecosystem, without transferring this understanding
into concepts of training and education, without talking and writing about it, and without exciting young
scientists in a way that they want to keep it going
– without all that – we will not be able to contribute
substantially to achieving our self-imposed goals of
combating hunger and promoting sustainable development for and in a food secure world.
Prof. Dr. Folkard Asch
our members have been working on over the last
two years and I hope you will enjoy reading about it.
In 2013 we hosted for the 5th time the “Tropentag” –
with about 700 participants the usual highly
interesting and colourful review on development
oriented agricultural research in the tropics and subtropics – despite the new regulations for fire protection at the University.
Finally, we are happy to announce that we are up
to full strength again in tropical agricultural science.
Prof Dr. Uta Dickhöfer has joined the University of
Hohenheim in summer 2012 and completes with
her activities the scope of the Institute for Animal
Production in the Tropics and Subtropics. You can
read about her vision and focus in our feature on
“Multifunctional Grasslands”.
Thus, we are looking back happily on two successful years or research, training, teaching and collaboration – many new ties have been knit and a number of new and exciting opportunities are waiting to
be ceased. I thank all our members and contributors
for their efforts and I am looking forward to continuing our constant efforts to make the world a little bit
a better place.
Along those lines, we are also happy to be able to
transfer some of the knowledge generated during
12 years of the special project “Sustainable land
use and rural development in mountainous regions
of south-east Asia – SFB 564” in three ongoing
transfer projects.
Hence, when you browse through the selected activities of 2012 and 2013, you will realise the large
number of projects and the impressive range of foci
Director
1
Preface
ABOUT US
Preface
ABOUT US
Organisation
About us
TROZ is the cross-sectional and interdisciplinary
center on development-oriented agricultural and food sciences at
the University of Hohenheim.
The center´s vision is an ecologically and socioeconomically sustainable development that focusses on the needs of the people and contributes
to the improvement of their living conditions. TROZ
aims to generate new approaches towards solving
the food related and environmental problems in the
tropics and subtropics.
Its three main competence areas are: interdisciplinary research, capacity building and networking.
The center brings together more than 100 natural
and social scientists from the three faculties of the
University, actively involved in research projects
worldwide.
Moreover, the center contributes to developmentoriented training and promotes knowledge exchange and transfer. Through political consultancy,
TROZ aims to increase the influence on the future design of national and international politics,
strengthen the exemplary function of Germany and,
at the same time, fulfil the international obligation
towards global food security.
TROZ acts within a national and international
network with more than 85 research institutes,
universities and CGIAR centers, alone in the tropics
and subtropics, as well as with governmental and
non-governmental partners.
Thematic focus areas
Global food security, including plant, animal,
technology, economic, nutrition and social
sciences
Adaptation strategies and mitigation measures
of tropical agriculture to encounter and cope with
climate change
Renewable resources and sustainable bioenergy
production
Multifunctionality and biodiversity in agricultural
production
2
Ten tropical chairs
Institute of Plant Production
and Agroecology in the
Tropics and Subtropics
Plant Production in the Tropics and Subtropics
Agroecology in the Tropics and Subtropics
Crop Water Stress Management in the Tropics
and Subtropics
Institute of Animal Production
in the Tropics and Subtropics
Animal Husbandry and Animal Breeding in the
Animal Nutrition and Rangeland Management in
the Tropics and Subtropics
Institute of Agricultural
Economics and Social
Sciences in the Tropics and
Subtropics
Rural Development Theory and Policy
International Agricultural Trade and
Food Security
Social and Institutional Change in Agricultural
Development
Land Use Economics in the Tropics and
Subtropics
Institute of Agricultural
Engineering in the Tropics
and Subtropics
Agricultural Engineering in the Tropics and Subtropics
Since June 2012, Jun.-Prof. Uta Dickhöfer is leading the new division “Animal Nutrition and Rangeland Management” of the Institute of Animal Production in the Tropics and Subtropics.
The working group conducts research at animal,
farm system, and landscape level with the main aim
of enhancing the resource-use efficiency and ecological sustainability of forage-based livestock production by sophisticated feeding and management
strategies. Research combines innovative analytical
methods, modelling tools, and non-invasive sensor
and marker techniques and currently focusses on
farming systems of Central/East Asia, West Asia/
Northern Africa, and South America.
Her research interests and expertise are:
Interactions between herbivores and rangeland
vegetation;
Modelling biomass and feeding value of the forages on rangelands;
Optimizing grassland and forage use in ruminant
production systems;
Fermentation processes and protein turnover in
the forestomachs of ruminants;
Development and evaluation of non-invasive
research methods.
Uta Dickhöfer has previously been working as a
research assistant at the Institute of Animal Nutrition and Physiology, Christian-Albrechts-Universität
zu Kiel, Germany, where she was involved in a
DFG project on matter fluxes in grasslands of Inner
Mongolia and a BMBF funded project on optimizing protein use efficiency in dairy cows. She holds
a PhD in Agricultural Sciences
which she obtained at the University of Kassel, Germany. Thesis:
“... Becoming a junior professor was a jump into
Tradition and transformation –
the deep end and is from time to time quite chalSteps towards a sustainable goat lenging. However, I very much appreciate the
husbandry in mountain oases of
possibility to follow up on my research ideas and
Oman.
develop my own working field in the multicultural
environment of the University of Hohenheim. ...”
Jun.-Prof. Uta Dickhöfer
3
Organisation
ABOUT US
New core professor
4
RESEARCH
Rice cultivation in Northern Vietnam
Special Research
Program – SFB 564
Over the last twelve years, the Special Research
Program SFB 564, also known as Uplands Program, has made important scientific contributions
to the development of knowledge on and innovations in sustainable land use and rural development
in the mountainous areas of Southeast Asia. The
Uplands Program was initiated in the year 2000
and will end in 2014 with the completion of the last
transfer projects.
The Thai-Vietnamese-German collaborative research program is a long-term collaborative and
interdisciplinary research program. It is funded by
the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) and
co-funded by the National Research Council of
Thailand and the Vietnamese Ministry of Science
and Technology. Nine universities and research
institutes from Thailand, Vietnam and Germany are
working together with partners in Northern Thailand
and Northern Vietnam in research that addresses
key issues of sustainable land use and rural development in mountainous regions.
Apart from the core funding by the DFG and the
funding by the National Research Council of Thailand and the Ministry of Science and Technology in
Vietnam, the German Academic Exchange Service
(DAAD), the Foundation fiat panis, the governments
of Thailand and Vietnam and various other donors
supported individual theses and dissertation studies, as well as conferences.
Key objectives
The Uplands Program´s key objective is conserving natural resources and improving the living
conditions of rural populations in the mountainous
regions of Southeast Asia. The primary strategy
used to achieve this objective has been through
interdisciplinary research, involving soil and water,
plant and animal, agricultural engineering and food
technology, economic and social sciences as well
as through capacity building activities such as the
training of young researchers and the fostering of
research collaborations between Germany, Thailand
and Vietnam.
A principal contribution of the Uplands Program
has been to show that agriculture in mountainous
areas is characterised by an at times inefficient and
unsustainable use of resources, such as: a suboptimal use of irrigation in fruit trees, overuse and
incorrect use of synthetic pesticides, insufficient
integration of smallholder farmers into high-value
markets, the poor performance of small-scale animal husbandry systems, and a rapid degradation of
intensively cultivated sloping land.
Research results
Research results demonstrate that soil protection
and water conservation methods, such as minimum
tillage in combination with relay cropping, mulching
and contour ridging by creating a permanent soil
cover reduce soil erosion and raise productivity on
sloping land.
Improved irrigation techniques, such as microsprinkler systems, deficit and partial root zone irrigation, as well as better scheduling of irrigation by
monitoring water stress in fruit trees, can increase
the efficiency of irrigation and save water.
Improved integrated pest management (IPM) methods for upland areas supported by raising farmers`
and consumers` awareness of pesticides` health
risks are effective in reducing wrong and dangerous
application of pesticides.
A community shared, participatory approach to fruit
drying and post harvest management of perishable farm produce allows smallholder farmers to
integrate themselves into high-value markets and
improve income.
Similarly, a community based pig breeding and
extension network, promoting better adapted local
breeds in Northern Vietnam shows that participatory
5
SFB 564
Global food security, coping with climate change, sustainable resource
management and bioenergy production as well as multifunctionality and biodiversity are in the focus of ongoing Hohenheim development research.
RESEARCH
Research
SFB 564
RESEARCH
approaches involving all stakeholders (farmers, extension workers, researchers, government officials)
cooperating on equal terms are more effective in
sustainably introducing innovation and building
durable knowledge systems.
Important policy and institutional research results
underline the vital importance of long-term tenure
security and effective poverty orientation in rural
credit extension for encouraging mountain farmers
to invest in soil conservation and natural resource
improvements.
Scientific output
Research results were published in altogether 200
papers in peer-reviewed journals of biophysical,
horticulture, animal, agricultural engineering, food
science, economic and social science as well as
in interdisciplinary journals. With completion of the
Uplands Program 91 doctoral candidates will have
earned a Ph.D. degree; and 99 students wrote their
M.Sc. and 54 their B.Sc. thesis.
The Uplands Program organised six international
conferences, two each in Chiang Mai, Hanoi and
Stuttgart. These conferences helped to extend
networks, integrate the Program into the chosen
research area, and share knowledge and ideas.
Over its twelve years, researchers working on
the program gave a total of 497 presentations at
international conferences, of which 61 were peerreviewed. A large number of workshops were also
organised to exchange ideas with stakeholders at
the local level.
Transfer projects
Since 2009, the Uplands Program has worked with
private companies and government organisations
to adapt some of the developed innovations into
practical applications. While fourteen DFG-funded
projects concluded their research on 30th June
2012, three projects, on the assessment of mango
quality using sensor technology, the modelling of
land use dynamics and community based pig breeding, will continue until June 2014. Projects funded
by the National Research Council of Thailand will
also continue for another year.
Future perspectives
There has been a general willingness among German, Thai and Vietnamese researchers to carry on
their fruitful collaborations, and so various ongoing
initiatives will ensure the continuation of research
into sustainable land use systems in the mountainous areas of Southeast Asia and they can build on
a lot of groundwork already in place - institutions
that know each other and a vast pool of researchers
trained in methods, familiar with mountain issues
and international cooperation.
SFB 564
2000-2012: 23 subprojects, total funding of 19,9 Mio Euro (DFG, BMZ, MWK, University of Hohenheim)
Additionally six transfer projects (1 Mio Euro) from 2012-2014
The principal research contributions made by the Uplands Program since 2006 appear collectively as a book,
entitled Policies and Innovations for Sustainable Land Use and Rural Development in the Mountainous
Areas of Southeast Asia, Springer Environmental Science and Engineering, 2013, ISBN: 978-3-642-33376-7
(Print) 978-3-642-33377-4 (online)
The book represents an interdisciplinary account of challenges to the sustainable development of mountainous areas, but also shows how knowledge, innovations and policies can be combined to find solutions to
these challenges.
6
7
TROZ research cooperations
RESEARCH
TROZ research cooperations
RESEARCH
Multifunctional grasslands
Multifunctional grasslands: adaptations to a
changing global environment
Jun.-Prof. Dr. Uta Dickhöfer
Dr. Peter Lawrence
Grasslands are terrestrial ecosystems whose
vegetation is dominated by grasses (and herbs)
with no or only a scattered tree or shrub cover.
Some may think of the (sub)tropical savannas in
Sub-Saharan Africa that are grazed by antelopes,
gnus, or zebras, the open steppes of Eastern Europe, Central Asia, and Mongolia used for nomadic
goat and sheep production, or the (sub)polar tundra
regions of Northern Canada, Russia, and Scandinavia that are a habitat for large caribou herds. Others
rather picture scattered beef cattle on extensive
grassland paddocks in South America or Australia
or dairy cows grazing the sown pastures in Northern
Germany and The Netherlands.
Grasslands, whether they are natural or artificial,
permanent or temporary, cover about 40% of the
terrestrial land surface worldwide (1, 2) . Even in the
industrialised countries of Europe they account
for about 39% of the total agricultural land area (3).
They are an important source of human-inedible
plant biomass that can be converted to high-quality
food by a multitude of ruminant production systems
across the world and thereby aid in reducing the
Gaucho in the province Corrientes, North Argentina
8
competitive land use for food, fuel, or feed production. Approximately 27% of the cattle and 33% of
the sheep and goats worldwide are kept in grazing
systems that use these forage resources to varying extents (4), so that grasslands contribute to the
food and income security of about one billion people
on earth (1). Besides, they fulfil a multitude of other
functions, among which the provision of fuel material and medicines, the storage and sequestration of
carbon, other nutrients, and water, the conservation
of biodiversity and cultural heritage, and the use for
recreational or religious purposes are quite commonly mentioned (e.g. 1, 2). Depending on the climatic
conditions and geographical settings, manifold
expressions of grassland ecotypes exist with differences in e.g. the botanical composition, biomass
production, and thus ecosystem functioning and
services.
Grassland management: continuous
adaptation to changing environmental
conditions
Globally, the increasing competition for resources
and land for environmental conservation, food or
feed crop cultivation, the production of plant biomass as an energy source, and even the fulfilment
of people’s recreational, cultural, spiritual, and
Motorbikes often replace horses in sheep heerding in Inner Mongolia
For instance, in Inner Mongolia, Northern China, governmental incentives initiated the re-immigration of
the Chinese Han population in the 1950s which, since then, together with the raising per-capita meat consumption have led to a considerable increase in the density of the livestock populations in the province (5).
Moreover, the sedentarisation of the formerly nomadic and transhumant farm households and a shift towards
governmental land ownership have induced profound changes in the grassland use in Inner Mongolia and
neighbouring provinces and countries (5, 6).
Nowadays, the steppe vegetation close to the farms is continuously grazed by cattle, sheep, and/or horses,
whereas distant areas are used for haymaking without any fertilisation and thus nutrient returns to the
grassland. Grazing animals can partly compensate for a low availability of forage by adapting their foraging
behaviour and maintain their intake and performance level at moderate to high stocking densities (7, 8). This
supports the common practice of local farmers of grazing large animal herds on rented grassland throughout the year to be able to maximise their (short-term) economic profit from the sale of milk, live animals, and
wool and to increase the supply of dung for use as fuel for cooking and heating.
However, the continuous grazing has reduced ground cover and biomass production of the steppe vegetation in Inner Mongolia (9), increased the risk of soil erosion and the frequency of dust storms (10), reduced
the proportion of palatable forage species (11,12), and decreased soil organic matter content and the carbon
sequestration potential of this temperate grassland ecosystem (13).
9
their underutilisation. These grasslands are subjected to pronounced changes in political, societal,
economic, and environmental frameworks which
greatly affect land management and the sustainability of the resources they contain.
RESEARCH
intellectual needs greatly decrease and fragment
the remaining grassland areas. Together with the
growing livestock populations, this strongly amplifies
the intensity of grassland use. Instead, grasslands
in many European regions are disappearing due to
RESEARCH
In the subtropical, semi-arid highland regions of
Northern Oman, farmers in the small oasis settlements keep some cattle, sheep, goats, or chickens for milk, meat, or egg production and income
generation (14,15). While cows are solely stall-fed,
small ruminants graze the natural vegetation of the
surrounding rangelands during the day and receive
only a little supplemental feed at the homestead.
Feed intake during grazing therefore accounts for
most of the nutrient and energy supply to goats and
sheep, even during the dry season (14,16). The high
intake during grazing allows for a substantial import
of organic matter and nutrients into the mountain
oases (14). Since the animals are kept in stables/corrals during night, their dung can be collected and is
used as fertiliser for the cultivation of fruit, vegetable, and cereal crops (17).
These strong linkages between the crop and livestock components have enabled a viable agricultural production system to be maintained in this harsh
environment over centuries, if not millennia.
However, since the 1970s, considerable changes
in the political, economic, and societal frameworks
in Oman have occurred that, amongst others, have
enhanced access to external food and feed markets, improved education and social services, and
increased off-farm employment of family members.
This in turn has altered the perspectives, needs,
and objectives of local people in the oases, amplified the outmigration in particular of young people,
and changed traditional land use and livestock
management practices. Hence, farmers have increasingly abandoned the rotational use of different
rangeland areas and the herding of their animals
during grazing due to the shortage of family labour
and a loss of knowledge of the locally adapted grazing practices (18). Additionally, expansion of settlement areas, roads, and other infrastructures (e.g.
for recreational purposes) have defragmented and
reduced the size of village pastures that are nowadays used for continuous grazing at stocking densities far beyond their natural carrying capacity (19, 20).
Animal grazing is therefore considered a major
cause of land degradation, reducing botanical
diversity, ground cover, and productivity of grassland vegetation (20, 21). This not only limits animal
performance and revenues from livestock production, but also hampers ecosystem functions such
as the infiltration of rainwater and the restoration of
the groundwater aquifers for maintaining permanent
water courses and year-round crop production in
the whole region.
Hence, changes in the political, economic, and societal environment such as in Inner
Mongolia or Oman, are continually transforming the anthropogenic grassland use in
many regions of the world.
Additionally, changes in the amount of precipitation, the variability in the temporal
and spatial distribution of rain and snowfall, ambient temperatures, and/or atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations directly or indirectly affect the biophysical processes within these ecosystems and modify e.g. rates of photosynthesis, evapotranspiration, and mineralisation, or the leaching and volatilisation losses of nutrients (e.g.
22, 23, 24)
. Moreover, they may alter botanical composition and diversity of the vegetation, changing the proportion of C4/C3 plants or facilitating encroachment of ligneous
plants (24, 25, 26). This may reduce plant biomass production and nutritional quality of
the forage, and thus potential revenues from grasslands worldwide (23, 27).
10
11
Llama keeping in Bolivia
RESEARCH
RESEARCH
One of the few water courses in North China´s semi-arid grasslands
Future outlook and scope of grassland
research
Numerous management recommendations exist for different grassland ecotypes. They aim at
improving grazing and/or pasture management
(i.e. stocking density, mixed grazing, integration of
new forage species), livestock feeding (i.e. strategic supplementation), or at developing value and
market chains for grassland-based products. In
Inner Mongolia, grazing systems that mimic the
transhumant or nomadic land use and allow for
resting periods during which vegetation can recover,
such as an alternating use of the steppe for grazing and haymaking in subsequent years, improved
many vegetation and soil parameters even after just
a few years (9). They can partly mitigate the negative
ecological effects of high stocking densities, and
thereby conserve natural resources, while allowing
profitable animal production (7, 8, 9).
Moreover, supplemental feeding of grazing livestock
with locally available concentrate and roughage
feeds reduced feed intake of sheep and goats during grazing in Inner Mongolia (28) and Oman (16) and
may be an effective means to (temporarily) relieve
grazing pressure on the grassland vegetation. In
the highland regions of Oman, marketing incentives
combined with the development of a local ecotourism sector were recommended to enhance the
12
contribution of agricultural activities to household
income, render them more interesting for young
people, and thereby counteract the increasing outmigration of oasis inhabitants (18, 29).
These are only a few selected examples of the
many available regional-specific management
recommendations that may or may not be applicable to other grassland ecotypes.
However, to simultaneously enhance and exploit
the totality of grassland ecosystem functions and
services and adapt to the changing environmental
conditions, a profound understanding of the interactions between the different components of these
ecosystems and how they are affected by variable
abiotic factors and diverse management practices
is needed, while at the same time, management options must be explored that optimise grassland use
worldwide.
For instance, animal grazing may decrease or even
increase plant growth, nutritional quality, botanical diversity, and carbon sequestration potential of
temperate, tropical, or polar grassland swards depending on the local environmental conditions and
management practices (9, 11, 12, 13, 20, 21, 30).
Moreover, the interactions between herbivorous animals, the vegetation, and other ecosystem compo-
Many advanced technologies and scientific methodological approaches are nowadays available that
allow for such in-depth analysis at different temporal
and spatial scales, including automatic sensors and
positioning recorders to monitor animal behaviour,
feed intake, diet selection, and health and performance parameters. Remote sensing tools and near
infrared spectroscopy enable comprehensive, multiannual vegetation and soil analyses and modelling
tools can be used to extrapolate and predict longterm ecosystem and animal responses to changing
climatic conditions.
Additionally, interdisciplinary and transnational research is required that aims at holistically optimising
Here, ruminant production systems are commonly
criticised for, amongst other things, their strong
reliance on feed imports (in particular of protein
sources such as soybean), their competition for resources that could be used for food crop production,
and decoupled waste management that leads to
high nutrient losses. Promoting a grassland-based
ruminant production and increasing the efficiency
of the use of these feed resources e.g. through
improved pasture management and/or precision
grazing and feeding techniques may substantially
decrease the reliance on imports of high-quality
feeds and food, and close nutrient cycles, while, at
the same time, introducing many beneficial ecological effects. In view of the above, the maintenance of
permanent and temporary grasslands was specified
as one of the essential practices that form the basis
of the “greening” payment regulation of the European Union (31).
In an evolutionary sense, grasslands and herbivores
can be said to have grown up together. There is a
long established synergism in which the products
of the one fulfil the needs of the other. Humankind
Sheep herding in Inner Mongolia
13
These relationships however, differ between different grassland systems and are strongly affected by
climatic and management factors, making it impossible within the present state of our knowledge to
reliably predict behaviour, feed intake, and performance of animals or the ecological consequences
of grazing in different geographical settings and
under changing environmental conditions. Exploring such multifactorial relationships and identifying
causes for the apparently contradictory effects is
essential for developing sophisticated, large-scale
(cross-continental) land use strategies.
land and resource use through improved management at animal, plot, farm system, or regional level
to efficiently and sustainably use grasslands of the
world. This not only applies to low-input systems
such as those in the tropics and subtropics where
an intensification of grassland use could substantially increase food and income security of local
people, but also the high-input systems such as
those in the industrialised countries e.g. in Europe.
RESEARCH
nents profoundly affect feed intake and forage use
efficiency in grassland-based livestock production
as well as the intensity and spatiotemporal distribution of the impacts of these interactions on natural
resources.
RESEARCH
has learnt to exploit this system for its own benefit
over many millennia. The future challenge will be to
generate a profound understanding of the relationships between the biotic and abiotic components of
the grassland ecosystems worldwide and to apply
this scientific knowledge and our managerial skills
so we may sustainably intensify and efficiently use
these natural resources for food, feed, and/or fuel
production, while maintaining or even enhancing
their ecological and societal functions and services.
Jun.-Prof. Dr. Uta Dickhoefer, Dr. Peter Lawrence
Animal Nutrition and Rangeland Management in
the Tropics and Subtropics, Institute of Animal
Production in the Tropics and Subtropics
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14
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14 Schlecht E, Dickhoefer U, Predotova M, Buerkert A (2011) J Arid
Environ 75, 1136-1146.
15 Dickhoefer U, Nagieb M, dos Santos Neutzling A, Buerkert A,
Schlecht E (2012) Agr Syst 110, 131-141.
16 Dickhoefer U, Mahgoub O, Schlecht E (2011) Animal 5, 471-482.
17 Luedeling E and Buerkert A (2008) Plant Soil 304, 1-20.
18 Dickhoefer U and Schlecht E (2010) in Buerkert A and Schlecht E
(Eds): Oases of Oman - Livelihood systems at the crossroads. Al
Roya Press and Publishing House, Muscat, Oman, 38-43.
19 Schlecht E, Dickhoefer U, Gumpertsberger E, Buerkert A (2009) J
Arid Environ 73, 355-363.
20 Dickhoefer U, Buerkert A, Brinkmann K, Schlecht E (2010) J Arid
Environ 74, 962-972.
21 Brinkmann K, Patzelt A, Dickhoefer U, Schlecht E, Buerkert A
(2009) J Arid Environ 73, 1035-1045.
22 Soussana and Lüscher (2007) Grass Forage Sci 62, 127-134.
23 Reddy AR, Rasineni GK, Raghavendra AS (2010). Current Science 99, 46-57.
24 Chris D, Thomas CD, Cameron A, Green RE, Bakkenes M,
Beaumont LJ, Collingham YC, Erasmus BFN, Ferreira de Siqueira
M, Grainger A, Hannah L, Hughes L, Huntley B, van Jaarsveld AS,
Midgley GF, Miles L, Ortega-Huerta MA, Peterson AT, Phillips OL,
Williams SE (2004) Nature 427, 145-148.
25 Kgope BS, Bond WJ, Mindgley GF (2012) Austral Ecology 35,
451–463.
26 Higgins SI and Scheiter S (2012) Nature 4 8 8, 209-212.
27 Stiling P and Cornelissen T (2007) Global Change Biology 13,
1823–1842.
28 Bösing BM , Susenbeth A, Hao J, Ahnert S, Ohm M, Dickhoefer U
(2014) Livest Sci (accepted).
29 Buerkert A, Luedeling E, Dickhoefer U, Lohrer K, Mershen B,
Schaeper W, Nagieb M, Schlecht E (2010) Journal of Ecotourism
9,104-116.
30 Schuman GE, Reeder JD, Manley JT, Hart RH, Manley WA (1999)
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31 Regulation (EU) no 1307/2013 of the European Parliament and
of the Council of 17 December 2013 establishing rules for direct
payments to farmers under support schemes within the framework
of the common agricultural policy and repealing Council Regulation
(EC) No 637/2008 and Council Regulation (EC) No 73/2009.
However, in 2050 population will be close to ten
billion people with three billion more mouths to be
fed. At the same time, the amount of arable land is
shrinking, and climate change is exacerbating the
situation even further. Changing consumption patterns are further aggravating the situation.
Hohenheim has always followed a two-pronged
strategy, focussing on growth and production issues
but also pursuing social and institutional issues in
research and development policy.
In 2009, the substantial contribution of the University of Hohenheim in the area of food security in the
tropics and subtropics was institutionalised by the
foundation of the Food Security Centre, expanding
Hohenheim’s leading role in tropics-related agricultural and nutrition research and teaching in Germany and to sharpen its profile at both national and
international levels.
The following research projects are a selection of
onging Hohenheim research in global food security.
15
Global food security
Hunger and malnutrition have been challenging the
ever since its foundation. Approximately one billion
people currently suffer from hunger and chronic
malnutrition. The role of science to increase production on a sustainable and more resource-efficient
basis is undoubted, especially since over the past
five decades, agricultural supply has been outpacing demand.
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Global Food Security
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Sustainable diets in South Africa: linking
nutrition, food systems and the environment
The concept of “Sustainable Diets” started to evolve
in the 1980s, but only since recently receives
renewed attention. FAO/Bioversity International
(2012:7) defined sustainable diets as follows:
“…diets with low environmental impact which contribute to food and nutrition security and to a healthy
life for present and future generations. Sustainable
diets are protective and respectful of biodiversity
and eco-system, culturally acceptable, accessible, economically fair and affordable, nutritionally
adequate, safe and healthy; while optimising natural
and rural resources.”
South Africa is considered a newly industrialised
country and serves a large number of export markets. Yet about half of households are considered
food insecure, and almost one in five children is
stunted, reflecting chronic undernutrition and adverse living conditions.
At the same time South Africa is undergoing a nutrition transition, with increasing rates of overweight
and related non-communicable diseases becoming
a major public health concern.
Street vendors, South Africa
16
Since 2013 research is being carried out in collaboration with Dr. Nicole Claasen at the Africa Unit
for Transdisciplinary Health Research (AUTHeR),
North West University, South Africa. Among the
research aims are:
to explore local meanings and socio-cultural
perceptions regarding local food systems in rural
communities within the concept of sustainable
diets;
to assess food security, nutritional status and food
consumption patterns at household level;
to analyse local food supply chains integrating
food producers and local government/institutional
structures.
This research will enable to more clearly determine
challenges, but also the potential of local food
systems and how these could be promoted in a
sustainable manner. Recommendations from this
specific case study might be applicable to other
regions, and can further stimulate the current discourse on sustainable diets.
Dr. Stefanie Lemke, Acting Chair, Gender and
Nutrition, Institute for Social Sciences in Agriculture
Recently, the World Health Organization of the
United Nations (WHO) ranked vitamin A deficiency
(VAD) as a moderate to severe public health problem in 122 countries worldwide, primarily in those
with lower per capita income. VAD significantly
contributes to morbidity and mortality from infections
among children and pregnant women, thus representing a substantial cause in the development of
preventable childhood blindness.
In particular, a high prevalence of vitamin A deficiency is observed in developmental countries of
tropical and subtropical regions. In such countries,
the enhanced consumption of local fruits rich in
provitamin A carotenoids was proposed by the
World Health Organization of the United Nations for
combating vitamin A deficiency, since carotenoids
such as β-carotene are efficiently metabolised to
vitamin A by humans. In developed countries, where
vitamin A deficiencies are rare, dietary intake of carotenoids was also recommended due to numerous
potential health benefits beyond vitamin A supply.
For instance, frequent consumption of lycopenerich foods like tomato products was associated with
a lower incidence of cardiovascular disease and
cancer.
The current project revealed the outstandingly
high potential of red- and yellow-fleshed fruits from
diverse papaya genotypes for efficiently providing high amounts of provitamin A carotenoids
(β-carotene, β-cryptoxanthin) and lycopene. In addition, carotenoids were shown to be highly bioavailable from papaya fruits. For instance, β-carotene
bioavailability in humans was approximately 3 times
higher from red-fleshed papaya as compared to
carrot and tomato. By analogy, the post-prandial
absorption of lycopene was approximately 2.6 times
more efficient from red-fleshed papaya than from
tomato. Although establishing a clear-cut causeand-effect relationship appears to be intricate due to
the complexity of the food matrices and carotenoid
absorption, the different deposition forms of the respective carotenoids in the chromoplasts of papaya,
carrot, and tomato provided a most comprehensive
explanation of these findings.
Irrespective of the factors responsible for these differences, the exceptional bioavailability of β carotene and lycopene highlights the enormous nutritional potential of red-fleshed papaya fruits.
Red-fleshed papaya
Contributing to the dietary importance of this fruit,
the efficient absorption of β-cryptoxanthin from papaya as well as the efficient conversion of papaya
carotenoids to vitamin A were shown for the first
time in a post-prandial clinical trial. Representing a
robust pioneer species, Carica papaya L. can easily
be cultivated in tropical and subtropical regions,
where large parts of the poorer population often
suffer from vitamin A deficiency. In the affected
countries, an enhanced utilization and consumption of papaya fruits may help diminishing this most
prevalent but avoidable deficiency together with its
severe implications for human health.
Prof. Dr. Reinhold Carle, Dr. Ralf Schweiggert
Plant Foodstuff Technology, Institute of Food
Science and Biotechnology
Partners: Department of Biochemistry, Ohio State
University, USA; Department of Biochemistry and
School of Food Technology, University of Costa
Rica, Costa Rica
Breeding strategies for sorghum adaptation
to low phosphorus soils in West Africa
Sorghum productivity is severely impeded by low
phosphorus (P) and aluminium (Al) toxic soils in
sub-Saharan Africa and especially in West Africa
(WA). Improving productivity of this staple crop under these harsh conditions is crucial to improve food
security and farmer’s incomes in WA.
17
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Nutritional potential of Costa Rican papaya
genotypes for diminishing vitamin A deficiency
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Over the past decade, the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT)
in Mali in collaboration with national partners and
the University of Hohenheim (Inst. 350a) have conducted several sorghum breeding projects to tackle
these severe constraints in WA.
These results suggest that Al-tolerance and Pefficiency are controlled by the same genomic
region and possibly the same gene. The identified
molecular markers can help accelerate the breeding
process and improve P-efficiency and Al-tolerance
simultaneously.
In a study across three WA countries, namely Mali,
Senegal and Niger, grain yields of 187 diverse West
African sorghum varieties were assessed in 29 sites
with and without P fertilisation over seven years
(2006-2012). Despite yield levels of the P-fertilised
sites doubling those without P fertilisation, varieties were generally ranked quite similarly for grain
yield between the two fertility conditions. Yet, some
genotypes showed specific adaptation to P-limited
conditions and direct selection under P-limited conditions was shown to be more efficient than indirect
selection under P-sufficient conditions.
These are the first results ever published showing
that breeding sorghum for low P soils is feasible and
necessary to enhance sorghum productivity in WA
and that Al-tolerance and P-efficiency are controlled
by the same genes.
Especially landrace varieties showed a better adaptation to P-limited conditions and had a higher P
uptake potential, hence being a valuable source for
further breeding efforts. Using molecular markers
based on novel sequencing technologies, we identified one genomic region on chromosome 3 which
was strongly associated to enhanced grain yield
production under P-limited conditions. The same
genomic region is also responsible for Al-tolerance
in sorghum.
apl. Prof. Dr. Bettina Haussmann, Plant Breeding,
Institute of Plant Breeding, Seed Science and
Population Genetics
Production of high quality banana planting
material for multi-purpose crop cultivation
in Sub-Saharan Africa
Banana planting material is obtained by vegetative
propagation and cannot be produced from seeds
due to the specific genomic background of most
cultivars and to retain the cultivar specific quality
features. Plantlets (suckers) growing at the basis of
the mother plant are generally used for new plantations but their quality and numbers are unreliable
and they might be the source of diseases easily
transferred to new plantations.
BiomassWeb is a ZEF (Center for Development Research of the University of Bonn) coordinated research programme on “Improving food security in Africa through increased system productivity of biomassbased value webs” with the participation of numerous African research institutions, the Forschungzentrum
Jülich and the University of Hohenheim.
It aims at contributing to food security in Sub-Saharan Africa by focussing on biomass-based value webs.
Biomass-based value webs are complex systems of interlinked value chains in which food and fodder, fuels,
and other raw materials are produced, processed and traded. BiomassWeb expects to contribute to enhancing the capacity of African countries to participate in the emerging regional and international bio-economy.
Hohenheim is involved with five work packages (WP). The chair Social and Institutional Change in Agricultural Development provides the institutional mapping of public and private organisations, communities and
collective-action organisations, including the role of agricultural research, extension services and farmer
organisations and gender issues (WP Governance). The Tropics and Subtropics Group of Agricultural Engineering aims at intensifying the use of all plant parts in production and post-harvest value innovation (WP
Postharvest innovations). The chair Biological Chemistry and Nutrition investigates local and regional food
quality (WP Nutritional quality) and the Speciality Crop chair is developing a production line for high-quality,
low-cost in-vitro-culture planting material (WP Innovative propagation technologies). The Hohenheim Food
Security Center deals with the work package Global Biomass Utilisation.
Funded by: Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF)
Funding period: 2013-2016
about 1.3 Mio Euro are assigned to the Hohenheim contribution
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High quality planting material from in vitro culture
is currently not affordable or accessible to local farmers, therefore, cost-effective and easy propagation
methods are needed to produce high quality and
healthy plantlets. This work package is part of the
research programme BiomassWeb “Improving food
security in Africa through increased system productivity of biomass-based value webs (see opposite
box). It will focus on low budget production of high
quality planting material of banana/plantains to increase crop biomass/yield and quality and to make
healthy plantlets available to farmers at low cost,
which will also benefit food and non-food consumers. Using inexpensive, easily and locally applicable manipulation techniques will result in efficient
production of improved planting material.
This improved propagation and cultivation systems
will be based on knowledge gained from fundamental research on plant propagation and development.
Prof. Dr. Jens Wünsche, Crop Physiology of
Speciality Crops, Institute of Crop Sciences
Impact of improved rice-based technology
adoption on household food security in The
Gambia
The chair of Rural Development Theory and Policy
in collaboration with AfricaRice is hosting two PhD
projects. The doctoral students are financed by AfricaRice through scholarships under the Global Rice
Science Partnership (GRISP). The GRISP provides
a single strategic plan and unique new partnership
platform for impact-oriented rice research for development. It is designed to more effectively solve
development challenges. AfricaRice also provides
technical support and field research supervision for
the two projects.
The first project primarily seeks to assess the
impact of improved rice-based technology adoption
on household food security in The Gambia. Initial
results from this study have shown that the New
Rice Varieties for Africa (NERICA) have a current
adoption gap of 26%, in The Gambia, that can be
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Banana harvesting
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addressed by increasing awareness and access to
NERICA seeds.
Ready to Use Food for malnourished children
The second project assesses the impact of fertiliser
subsidy programme on farm level productivity and
food security among rice producing households in
Northern Ghana. Preliminary results from this study
show that about 70% of farmers apply fertilisers on
rice fields. The subsidy programme is expected to
increase the rate of fertiliser application, rice yields,
caloric intake, and dietary diversity among the rice
producing households.
Globally, about 10% of the children are suffering
from moderate acute malnutrition (MAM). This
implies that about 55 million are moderately wasted.
These children are usually supplemented with uncooked food supplements such as corn soy blend,
often substituted with sugar and oil.
Prof. Dr. Manfred Zeller, Rural Development
Theory and Policy, Institute of Agricultural Economics and Social Sciences in the Tropics and
Subtropics
Partners: AfricaRice; Savanna Agricultural Research
Institute (SARI) of the Council for Scientific and
Industrial Research (CSIR) in Ghana; National Agricultural Research Institute (NARI) of The Gambia
Cystic echinococcosis in Africa
Sub-Saharan Africa is home to the largest diversity
of Cystic echinococcosis (CE) agents in the world,
and the disease places an enormous burden especially on traditional pastoralist societies. Next to
dogs and livestock, numerous wild mammal species
are involved in the transmission of echinococcosis,
and at least one species is regarded as a primary
wildlife parasite of lions and their prey. However,
data from most African regions are still anecdotal, and even in the better researched countries
the specific identity of these pathogens is/was not
known.
Since 2009, the CESSARi programme, funded by
the German research agency (DFG), has started to
coordinate and focus research capacities in various
African countries towards a concerted study of the
molecular epidemiology of echinococcosis, ranging
from the estimation of general disease burdens to
the identification of local transmission routes.
Prof. Dr. Ute Mackenstedt, Dr. Thomas Romig
Parasitology, Institute of Zoology
Partners: Universities Al-Neelain and Gezira and
Central Veterinary Laboratories in Sudan; Kenya
Medical Research Institute, African Medical & Research Foundation, Meru University of Science and
Technology in Kenya; Makerere University, Uganda;
University of Lusaka, Zambia; University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa
20
In 2008, a WHO/UNICEF/WFP/UNHCR meeting
focussed on the management of MAM children and
highlighted the importance of dietary management
by providing both nutritional counselling and locally
adapted food supplements. To date, fortified peanut/
milk paste ready-to-use therapeutic foods (RUTFs),
which have been tested with promising weight gain
for severely and moderately wasted children in
hospital- and community-based settings, are mainly
commercially produced at international or national
levels.
To support malnourished Indonesian children in the
community before they need to be admitted to hospitals, Ready to Use Food (RUF) products, made
from locally available foods are needed. Nine recipes using local Indonesian food sources were developed at University of Hohenheim and tested on
Nias Island, Indonesia. The two most favoured RUF
biscuits (made of wheat flour, peanut, soy bean/
mung bean, oil, sugar and micronutrient premix)
were selected, locally produced and distributed in
specific intervention programmes in urban and rural
areas with and without intensive nutrition education.
Additionally, locally produced peanut/milk-based
spread was tested in comparison to RUF biscuits.
Results indicated that cereal-based biscuits or milkbased spread were similarly effective for rehabilitation of wasted children. However, biscuits were
better accepted and achieved better programme
outcomes, especially in combination with participatory nutrition education. Based on these research
findings similar intervention studies are currently
developed for prevention of malnutrition among
mother- and child pairs in West Bengal, India.
Dr. Veronika Scherbaum, Gender and Food,
Institute of Social Sciences in Agriculture
Partners: University of Brawijaya, Malang; Study
Programme Nutrition, Faculty of Medicine; SEAMEO-TROPMED Regional Centre for Community
Nutrition; University of Indonesia, Church World
Service, Indonesia
Climate change threatens staple food production and human livelihoods, particularly in vulnerable countries due to poor adaptation and coping
strategies leading to an increase of poverty (risk for
poverty) and hunger.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
(IPCC) predicts that climate change will particularly
affect tropical and subtropical agriculture through
increased temperatures, changes in rainfall patterns, increased frequency and intensity of extreme
events, and sea-level rise.
Many if not all projects carried out by the scientists
of the Center for Agriculture in the Tropics and Subtopics (TROZ) are in one way or another dealing
with climate change. The following research examples are a selection of projects explicitly focussing
on climate change issues.
21
Coping with climate change
Agriculture is one of the main causes for climate
change and at the same time one of the most affected sectors. The majority of the poor in low-income
countries depend directly or indirectly on agriculture
for their food security.
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Coping with Climate Change
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AACCCCCCCoping with climate change
Sustainability of livestock production
systems under climate change impact in
Northeast Brazil
The Itaparica reservoir, built in the 1980ies, dams
up the São Francisco River in the semi-arid hinterland of Northeastern Brazil to supply people with
water and electricity. About 40,000 people were dislocated from the river’s fertile borders to surrounding dryer areas. Many are suffering from insufficient
draining systems, poor soils and salinisation. The
water of the lake is partly polluted and algae blooms
occur frequently. Thus, the area faces considerable
socio-economic and agro-ecological problems.
Many farmers around the Itaparica artificial lake live
from livestock production. The animals are an important source of income for many families and contribute to food security. However, cattle, sheep and
particularly the numerous goats threaten the white
forest (Caatinga). „If the grazing pressure becomes
too high, plant species diversity and vegetation
density suffer, because only the few plants animals
refuse to feed on, can grow”, warns Dr. Christoph
Reiber, scientist at the Institute of Animal Production
in the Tropics and Subtropics.
At first, researchers determine which animals
are raised and which resources are used by the
farmers. In addition, livestock measurements are
conducted. The results are used to evaluate the
social, economic and ecological sustainability of
the different livestock production systems. First
results indicate that livestock keepers faced economic losses during the extended drought period
in 2012 and 2013. These losses are mainly due to
high livestock losses and high feed costs. Based on
farmers’ statements, the cultivation of forages could
contribute to alleviate these constraints. The aim of
this project is to derive and recommend solutions
for an ecological intensification of livestock production systems. The project is part of the
INNOVATE research programme (see box below).
Prof. Dr. Anne Valle-Zárate, Dr. Christoph Reiber
Animal Breeding and Husbandry in the Tropics
and Subtropics, Institute of Animal Production
in the Tropics and Subtropics
Enhancing women´s assets to manage risk
under climate change: Potential for group
based approaches
The project explores ways to contribute to poverty
reduction in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia
(especially Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Kenya, and Mali)
through helping poor women farmers and pastoralists manage risks and adapt to climate change as
a result of more effective programmes to protect or
strengthen women’s control over critical assets.
Control over assets plays a fundamental role in
increasing incomes, reducing vulnerability, and
INNOVATE - Interplay among multiple uses of water reservoirs via innovative coupling of substance cycles in
aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems
Innovate is an interdisciplinary joint research project with various German and Brazilian research institutes.
The German project coordination is assigned to the Technical University Berlin (TUB). The University of
Hohenheim (UHOH) is represented by the Institute of Plant Production and Agroecology in the Tropics and
Subtropics (380b), the Institute of Farm Management (410c) and the Institute of Animal Production in the
Tropics and Subtropics (480a), the latter coordinates the contributions of the University of Hohenheim.
The BMBF funded INNOVATE project aims at a sustainable watershed management, exemplarily focussing
on the Itaparica reservoir. Measures to reduce the nutrient content of the reservoir are tested and assessed
economically. The Green Liver System is further developed to purify contaminated lake water. The impact of
biochar, clay and manure application on soil fertility and crop yields in mixed smallholder systems is evaluated. Changes of biodiversity and C sequestration accruing from management alterations are monitored. The
contribution of livestock, particularly goats and sheep, to sustainable smallholder livelihoods is assessed.
Land use and hydrology are modelled, accounting for climate change. Governance options for a sustainable
aquatic and terrestrial management are developed, based on constellation analysis.
Financed by: Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF)
Funding period: 2012 - 2016
about 5.1 Mio Euro total funding from which 696,990 are assigned to the Hohenheim contribution
22
The project aims at an enhanced understanding of
how men and women and their respective control
over assets are affected by climate variability and
change, the scope for group-based approaches
(compared to other approaches) to address rural men’s and women’s needs for climate change
adaptation and understanding of determinants for
women’s participation in such approaches and
programmes.
Furthermore the project´s objective is to strengthen
the capacity of communities and development
agencies in case study countries to adapt to climate
change using group-based approaches. The fourth
Prof. Dr. Regina Birner, Social and Institutional
Change in Agricultural Development, Institute of
Agricultural Economics and Social Sciences in
Partners: Data Analysis and Technical Assistance
(Bangladesh); Addis Ababa University (Ethiopia);
Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (Kenya); Innovations for Poverty Action (Mali); Center for Development Research (ZEF); International Food Policy
Research Institute (IFPRI)
Addressing the challenges of smallholder
farming communities: Restoring degraded
agroecosystems
The objective of the project is to improve livelihoods of the rural poor in Nicaragua and Paraguay,
by restoring degraded soils and agroecosystems
through the adoption of improved climate-smart
agroforestry and silvopastoral based systems (AFS)
by smallholder communities and thus enhancing the
Quesungual: Maize-beans based agroforestry system in Nicaragua
23
objective is the synthesis and outreach to design
future development of policies related to gender
and climate change. The project is supported by
the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and
Development, Germany.
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empowering people to move out of poverty. This
is particularly important in the context of climate
change, where assets (broadly defined to include
secure land and water rights, agricultural technologies, livestock, knowledge and social capital) can
help individuals and households adapt to increasing
variability of production. At the same time, climaterelated shocks, such as droughts, floods, fires
and hailstorms, can also rapidly deplete assets as
people are forced to sell assets to cope with these
shocks, thus potentially foregoing future investments in health and education, including for children
in the household.
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AAnCoping with climate change
productivity, profitability, resilience, and generation
of other ecosystem services of agricultural production systems, that are highly vulnerable to climate
change.
At first, strategies for the adaptation of AFS that
integrate improved crops, forages, multipurpose
trees, and management options for improved
productivity, profitability and resilience to restore
degraded lands and confront climate change will be
developed. Then the impact of the improved AFS
strategies will be assessed at farm and landscape
scales for ecosystem services (reduced soil erosion
and greenhouse gas emissions, improved soil quality and water dynamics, carbon sequestration, and
biodiversity conservation), based on field quantification and modelling of landscape scenarios.
In a next step tools and strategies will be developed to identify regions in the tropics facing similar
constraints for subsequent adaptation and dissemination of eco-efficient (environmentally sustainable
and resilient; economically productive, profitable
and competitive; and socially equitable and fair)
AFS. Finally the project aims at developing strategies and implementing institutional innovation
systems for the dissemination of improved AFS for
suitable regions of Central and South America.
Prof. Dr. Georg Cadisch, Plant Production
in the Tropics and Subtropics, Institute of Plant
Production and Agroecology in the Tropics and
Subtropics
Partners: Colombia: CIAT, UNIVALLE; Nicaragua:
Consorcio para Manejo Integrado de Suelos, Catholic Relief Services, Sustainable Natural Resource
Management Project; Paraguay: Grupo Desarrollo
Agrícola, International Plant Nutrition Institute
Agro-economic modelling: agent-based assessment of land management strategies
Land use in southern Amazonia has undergone
rapid changes in recent years, especially in Central
Mato Grosso where favourable soybean prices have
led to both massive deforestation and expansion of
the soybean area into former grazing lands.
This project is part of the CarBioCial research
programme (see box below) and explores options to
adapt land management to climate change, considering the soybean value chain and overall carbon
balance (including the mitigation potential through
increased bioenergy supply). The project will take
an agro-economic perspective and analyse incentives for farm enterprises to adopt GHG reducing
land management strategies. Finally, it will assess
the trade-offs between various land uses and policy
interventions in terms of GHG reduction, profitability
and ecological sustainability.
To achieve these objectives, the project will use
the MP-MAS software (standing for mathematical programming based multi-agent system) using
mathematical programming to replicate the actual
decision-making of farmers and other land users.
Each real-world farm household is represented by a
single agent in the model, so that there is a one-toone correspondence between real-world farmers
and modelled agents.
MP-MAS is spatially explicit and employs a cellbased data representation where each grid cell
corresponds to one farm plot held by a single
landowner. Sub-models of, for example, water
run-off and crop growth are linked to this cell-based
spatial framework. Since MP-MAS is specified at a
CarBioCial (Carbon-optimised land management strategies for southern Amazonia) is a research
programme, coordinated by the Georg-August-University of Göttingen and financed by the German Federal
Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). The research focusses on the analysis and development of
methods for improving carbon storage in the soil, reducing greenhouse gases and preserving important ecosystem functions like soil fertility and water quality. Besides the University of Göttingen, nine other German
universities, two Helmholtz centers and numerous Brazilian partners are involved.The University of Hohenheim is involved with the chair of Land Use Economics in the Tropics and Subtropics, Institute of Agricultural
Economics and Social Sciences in the Tropics and Subtropics.
24
very fine resolution, it offers potential for interactive
validation and simulation together with farmers and
other local stakeholders.
Prof. Dr. Thomas Berger, Land Use Economics
in the Tropics and Subtropics, Institute of
Agricultural Economics and Social Sciences in
Urban agriculture in Casablanca
Urban Agriculture Casablanca is a GermanMoroccan research project of the German Federal
Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) within
the megacity research programme “Research for
the Sustainable Development of Megacities of
Tomorrow”. The project analyses to what extent
urban agriculture can make a relevant contribution
to climate-optimised and sustainable urban development as an integrative factor in urban growth
centers. Research area was the Greater Region of
Casablanca, and four specific sites were selected
as pilot areas. In addition to its socio-economic and
agricultural expertise for the overall project, the
Department of Rural Sociology of the University of
Hohenheim is involved in exploring the synergies
between peri-urban agriculture and tourism.
The research site is the Oued el Maleh valley,
located 20 km north-east of Casablanca center. It is
characterised by small-scale farming and is a popu-
lar destination for city dwellers for recreation and
food provision. The pilot project aims to maintain the
heritage of the valley and strives for a symbiosis
between the needs and potentials of the city dwellers and the inhabitants of the valley. In this context,
the pilot project contributed to increase the income
of the valley inhabitants by supporting associations to enlarge their portfolio along the food chain:
processing of locally grown vegetables and fruits,
packaging and marketing (labelling, promotion, cook
book, direct selling) of the produces and services
(farm stay, offering dishes, snacks). Special emphasis was laid on the training and accompaniment of
the associations to manage their organisation independently from external support and to constitute a
societal actor that is heard by the administration and
that can benefit from various sources of finance.
Profitable, economically viable urban and peri-urban
farms are less threatened by real estate speculations and can contribute with green open spaces to
mitigate heat stress in cities and better life quality of
the citizens.
Dr. Maria Gerster-Bentaya, Rural Sociology,
Institute of Social Sciences in Agriculture
Partners: Prince Sidi Mohammed Institute of Agricultural Management and Commerce; University
Hassan II Casablanca; local associations (Women’s
Association of the Valley Oued el Maleh; Rural
Tourism Association)
25
RESEARCH
Selling of locally grown products
RESEARCH
Sustainable resource management
Sustainable Resource Management and
Bioenergy Production
Sustainable resource management has been in the
focus of TROZ research activities from the very beginning. The challenge of increasing the productivity
of natural resources while conserving their longterm viability and reducing the pressure on them
is increasing as global demand for land has grown
considerably in the past decades due to increasing
requirements for food, feed and industrial (non-food)
bio-based materials, especially for the production of
fuels.
The challenge is to contribute to a sustainable
production of bioenergy that does not displace food
production, small-scale farmers or indigenous people, nor advance the further destruction of primary
rainforests.
26
The Center for Agriculture in the Tropics and
Subtropics promotes new initiatives for innovative,
interdisciplinary research projects which seek to
identify realistic options and best practices for the
sustainable production of energy plants especially
in small holder systems. Optimal plant species with
promising potentials and sustainable production
chains, taking into account local social, ecological
and economic aspects need to be identified.
A research group in Hohenheim is currently investigating the potential and ways to improve the value
chain of promising oil plants like Acrocomia aculeata.
The Tarim River Basin is one of the driest regions
in the world. It is a large, unique and arid region of
extreme vulnerability. Rainfall is extremely rare and
low and does not exceed 50 mm per year. Thus,
all kind of economic activities as well as the natural
ecosystems depend on the Tarim River, which is the
largest river of the Tarim Basin, fed from snowmelt
and glacier-melt in the mountains.
A change towards a more sustainable water distribution would have consequences above all for the
agriculture in the Tarim Basin.The Hohenheim
model should indicate how agricultural business
management will develop.
The region is one of the most important cotton
producing regions in China. Due to strong population growth and extension of irrigated agriculture in
oases along the rivers since the 1950s river flows
have strongly decreased, leading to a degradation of floodplain vegetation, while agricultural soils
have become unusable due to salinisation. There is
a clear trade-off between generating income from
irrigation agriculture, mainly cotton, at the cost of
Ecosystem Functions (ESF) and Ecosystem Services (ESS) provided by the natural ecosystems.
The Institute of Farm Management wants to develop a farm model for the whole region which
simulates the effects of different market and political
scenarios on agriculture. The project is part of the
SuMaRiO research cluster (see box below), focussing on analysis and assessment of current and
innovative agricultural production systems along the
To assess the impact of certain policy measures
that aim at reducing agricultural water consumption
on farm management (and farmers’ income), the
application of farm optimisation models is a powerful tool. In that respect the introduction (increase) of
water prices on agricultural water usage and farm
management practices are tested.
Prof. Dr. Reiner Doluschitz, Computer
Applications and Business Management in
Agriculture, Institute of Farm Management
REOPTIMA - Reuse options for marginal
quality water in urban and peri-urban agriculture
Inadequate wastewater treatment capacity in Indian
cities is challenged by increasing volumes. The disposal of polluted water is a major problem faced by
most of the municipalities with limited space for land
based treatment and disposal.
SuMaRiO (Sustainable Management of River Oases along the Tarim River) is a research consortium of
fifteen German partners and three further international partners alongside with eight Chinese partners and
nine Chinese stakeholders. SuMaRiO aims to contribute to a sustainable land management which explicitly
takes into account ecosystem functions and ecosystem services.
In a transdisciplinary research process, SuMaRiO will identify realizable management strategies, considering
social, economic and ecological criteria. This will have positive effects for nearly 10 million inhabitants of different ethnic groups. The central question is how to manage land use, i.e. irrigation agriculture and utilization
of the natural ecosystems, and water use in a very water-scarce region, with changing water availability due
to climate change, such that ecosystem services and economic benefits are maintained in the best balance
for a sustainable development.
The University of Hohenheim is involved in SuMaRiO with four working groups: Besides the contribution of
Prof. Dr. Reiner Doluschitz and his team (see above) soil scientists are analysing soil samples integrating
them into a model that permits predicting future scenarios, the agricultural engineers with Prof. Dr. Joachim
Müller research on different water saving methods in irrigation and Prof. Dr. Michael Ahlheim and his team
are responsible for a subproject on contingent valuation of a more sustainable oasis management.
about 6.1 Mio Euro total funding from which 1.5 Mio are assigned to the Hohenheim contribution
27
Tarim River at farm and regional levels with special
regard to water consumption.
RESEARCH
Socio-economic analysis of farm-systems
in the Tarim river basin of China
RESEARCH
At the same time, it is increasingly realised that
waste water is an important resource for productive
uses, such as agriculture, if associated risks can be
properly dealt with.
well as physicochemical parameters were analysed.
The proof of a good honey quality might exploit an
additional source of food and income for the rural
population.
The project studies wastewater flows in a water
chain approach to create preconditions and define
proper management for the sustainable handling
and use of wastewater in agriculture, without compromising food quality and the ecological equilibrium.
The experiments were performed in cooperation
with the companies JatroSolutions GmbH, JatroGreen, the Hohenheim Institute of Botany and
were financed by the Fiat panis foundation and the
Universitätsbund Hohenheim e.V.
The objective of the project is to promote, facilitate
and disseminate the various research findings on
productive use of (treated) wastewater in India and
Europe and to develop collaboration among Indian
and European experts in this field.
REOPTIMA does not only intend to disseminate
state of the art research results, but also more
traditional and indigenous technology on the use of
wastewater in agriculture. REOPTIMA will consider
research issues with a comprehensive approach for
exploring suitable niches for treated or untreated
wastewater use in the ambit of livelihoods, productivity and long-term sustainability.
Prof. Dr. Thilo Streck, Biogephysics
Institute of Soil Science and Land Evaluation
Partners: ICAR, Bhubaneswar, India; WUR, Wageningen, The Netherlands; CEBAS-CSIC, Murcia,
Spain; ICMR, Ahmedabad, India
Pollination of Jatropha in Madagascar
Driven by the increasing energy demand of a
growing world population, the use of Jatropha as a
bioenergy plant is gaining progressive importance.
Being less demanding regarding soil properties and
water requirements, it can also be cultivated on
poor, dry soils with low nutrimental concentrations.
Because Jatropha curcas is an entomophilious
plant, there has to be sufficient pollinators available to achieve good yields. As the honey bee, apis
mellifera, represents an excellent pollinator, the
potential of honey bees for pollination in Jatropha is
investigatd.
Due to the lack of a sufficient local honey bee
population, at first bee colonies had to be introduced to the experimental plantation to analyse
the pollination capacity. Additionally, samples of
Jatropha honey were collected and toxicological as
28
Dr. Peter Rosenkranz, Dr. Peter Horn
Apicultural State Institute
Post-harvest processing, biomass and
waste product utilisation
Trans-SEC (see box opposite page) is supported
by the funding initiative “Securing the Global Food
Supply – GlobE” and embedded in the framework
programme “National Research Strategy BioEconomy 2030”. Seven German research institutes,
two CGIAR research centers from Kenya and USA
as well as five Tanzanian institutes are involved in
Trans-SEC. Approximately 70 scientists and nongovernmental professionals will contribute to innovate strategies to safeguard food security through
the use of technology and knowledge transfer.
The Institute of Agricultural Engineering is mainly
involved in post-harvest processing, biomass and
waste product utilisation. Initially, baseline reports
on post-harvest processes and bioenergy production will be compiled. Furthermore, several
enhancements on currently applied post-harvest
processes will be developed, then tested and
compared to the baseline scenario. In addition, we
will perform life cycle assessments, especially for
bioenergy options. The impact assessment will feed
into other work packages and help to develop future
proofing strategies and risk analysis.
Prof. Dr. Joachim Müller
Agricultural Engineering in the Tropics and Subtropics, Institute of Agricultural Engineering
Hohenheim research activities concentrated on data
collection in Acrocomia sole and mixed plantations.
Crop growth, flowering und fruit bunch formation
was monitored in 4, 6 and 8 years old sole cropped
stands in three locations of the campus of the
Universidad Católica de Itapúa (UCI). Additionally, a
6-year-old Acrocomia mixed plantation was monitored. Data collection concentrated on dry matter
production, leaf formation and duration, leaf area
index, flowering, light interception, and fruit development. Also data on soil and micro climate were collected.The data provide first insights in crop physiology and requirements and growth performance of
this high potential plant.
The importance of biodiversity and minor species
such as Acrocomia as renewable resources and raw
material for bio-based products was presented on
the 6th Brazilian-German Symposium in Santarem,
Pará, Brazil. Next steps are initiating research on
genotype x environment interactions involving the
institutes 350 (Plant Breeding, Seed Science and
Population Genetics) and 380 (Plant production and
Agroecology in the Tropics and Subtropics).
Dr. Thomas Hilger, Plant Production, Institute of
Plant Production and Agroecology in the
Dr. Barbara Ramsperger (TROZ)
Trans-SEC (Innovating Strategies to safeguard Food Security using Technology and Knowledge Transfer: A
people-centred Approach) is supported by the funding initiative “Securing the Global Food Supply – GlobE”
and embedded in the framework program “National Research Strategy BioEconomy 2030”. Seven German
research institutes, two CGIAR research centers from Kenya and USA as well as five Tanzanian institutes
are involved in Trans-SEC.
The specific objective of the collaborative research project Trans-SEC is to improve the food situation for the
most-vulnerable rural poor population in Tanzania. This project is designed to identify successful food securing upgrading strategies and/or innovations along local and regional food value chains, test and adjust them
to site-specific, sustainable settings and tailor these concepts to be disseminated for national outreach. After
the project lifetime, the results can be implemented at different levels of policy, extension and research.
In addition to the Institute of Agricultural Engineering (see opposite page) three more Hohenheim working
groups are involved. The chair of Crop Water Stress Management in the Tropics and Subtropics focusses on
the resource efficiency of food production by analysing the current situation regarding bio-physical conditions
and by participatory on-farm/station testing, monitoring and assessing impacts. The Biological Chemistry
and Nutrition group analyses and enhances food quality and consumption practices and works on minimising quality losses related to food processing. Soil Chemistry and Pedology deals with the establishment of a
web-based GIS with a multi-scale digital Food Security Atlas of Tanzania and also with developing and applying tools to link-up crop, land evaluation, and water management to optimise planning of food security.
Funded by: Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), co-financed by BMZ
29
The indigenous palm tree of Latin America, Acrocomia aculeata or macaw palm recently gained
economic importance in Paraguay and Brazil as
an alternative for sustainable vegetable oil. It has
a high yield potential also in semiarid regions and
on less fertile soils, can be integrated into different
smallholder production systems and thus contribute
to agrobiodiversity, income generation and the provision of food, feed, industrial raw material and fuel
without competing with food production. To date,
there is little information available on crop growth of
Acrocomia in cropped stands.
There was also an intensive academic exchange
with the UCI. In 2012 a delegation of scientists from
the University of Hohenheim (UHOH), Paraguay and
Argentina visited different institutions, ministries and
field sites in Paraguay in order to discuss research
needs and further strategies for joint cooperation.
Prof. Köller and Birner visited UCI in 2013, and a
cooperation agreement was signed, and collaboration was officially inaugurated. Four UHOH students
were based at UCI for research stays, one UCI
student spent some weeks at UHOH for research
and one scientist visited UHOH to discuss further
research collaboration with the respective institutes.
RESEARCH
Acrocomia research on a potential crop
RESEARCH
Multifunctionality and biodiversity
Multifunctionality and Biodiversity in
Agricultural Production
Ever since, mankind has been dependent on
natural resources and deriving benefits from a wide
array of processes and interactions that take place
in our environment. These ecosystem goods and
services are in danger as the human impact on the
environment is constantly increasing. A resource
and input intensive agriculture contributes worldwide to deforestation, soil degradation and soil loss,
water scarcity and water pollution, and the loss of
biodiversity (habitat loss). However, biodiversity is
crucial for a sustainable food security as it contributes to pest control, pollination, microbial processes
in soils etc.
The social, ecological, economical and cultural
consequences of the loss of wild and domesticated
biodiversity are up to date not entirely understood
and investigated and are not sufficiently considered
in policy decisions, because ecosystems services
30
are just not taken into account. Synergies between
biodiversity conservation and agriculture are manifold and have potentials to contribute to ensuring
food security. Qualitative and quantitative analyses
of ecosystem functions and services for the development of new and sustainable land use concepts
are needed.
The concept of multifunctionality recognises agriculture as a multi-output activity producing not only
commodities (food, fodder, fibers and biofuels), but
also non-commodity outputs such as ecosystem
services, landscape amenities and cultural heritages (IAASTD).
The selected following projects show research efforts taking into account ecosystem services and
trying to conserve wild and domesticated biodiversity.
The loss of ecosystems and ecosystem services
deteriorates the living conditions of humans
and therewith their wellbeing or life satisfaction.
In SURUMER a scenario for a more sustainable rubber plantation in Xishuangbanna has
been developed. The realisation of this scenario
through a suitable government project (the “Re-
In the economic subproject (SP7) of SURUMER
we try to assess these social benefits in monetary
terms, so that they can be compared to the costs
of the RRF project in order to decide if it would be
worthwhile implementing. We use the so-called
Contingent Valuation Method (CVM) to assess the
preferences of people for a more sustainable rubber
plantation in XB in terms of their willingness to pay
for the practical implementation of the RRF project.
In this CVM study we include (i) on-site residents in
XB, (ii) temporary visitors, i.e. people living outside
this region who spend their holidays there and (iii)
outside stakeholders, i.e. people who have never
SURUMER - Sustainable Rubber Cultivation in the Mekong Region: Development of an integrative
land-use concept in Yunnan Province, China
SURUMER is a research programme, coordinated by the University of Hohenheim (Institute of Plant Production and Agroecology in the Tropics and Subtropics) in cooperation with the Humboldt University Berlin, the
Leibnitz University Hannover and eleven Chinese reseach institutes and stakeholders.
The overall objective of the joint project SURUMER is to develop an integrative, applicable, and stakeholdervalidated concept for sustainable rubber cultivation in Yunnan. The outcomes of the project will not only refer
to the regional situation of the study region, but rather provide a wider application for potential rubber cultivation areas across the Mekong region. The concept is based on multi-, inter- and transdisciplinary approaches
to identify trade-offs and synergies between ecosystem functions and services on the one hand and socioeconomic goals and constraints on the other hand.
Six of the nine sub-projects are coordinated by the University of Hohenheim:
Prof. Dr. Georg Cadisch: Carbon dynamics in different land use systems
Apl.Prof. Dr. Konrad Martin: Pollinator services in a rubber dominated landscape
Dr. Gerhard Langenberger: Agro-ecological diversification of rubber dominated land use systems
PD Dr. Anna Treydte: Conflicts of human land-use, conservation areas, and rubber cultivation
Prof. Dr. Folkard Asch: Impact of rubber cultivation on the local water balance
Prof. Dr. Michael Ahlheim: Welfare economic valuation of sustainable rubber production
about 4.6 Mio Euro total funding from which 3.1 Mio are assigned to the Hohenheim contribution
31
During the last decade, world production of natural rubber (Hevea brasiliensis) has increased
by one-third. By 2020, China is projected to use
30% of the world rubber production, a great part
of which is produced in the tropical southern regions of China, i.e. in Yunnan and, especially, in
Xishuangbanna (XB). XB with its extensive rain
forests is one of the most important hotspots of
biodiversity in the world. As a consequence of
increasing rubber prices rubber plantations have
encroached the rain forest in XB from all sides
over the past decades. This still continuing process has already destroyed many valuable ecosystems in XB, many others are under threat.
turn-Rubber-into-Forest Project” – RRFP) would, of
course, be costly. Government would have to face
labour and capital costs as well as compensation
payments to rubber farmers whose incomes from
rubber would drop as a consequence of the RRFP.
While these costs can be calculated on the bases
of market prices there is no analogous possibility
to assess the social benefits accruing from such a
project, since there are no market prices for environmental “goods” like biodiversity or the natural
beauty of a rain forest.
RESEARCH
Rubber versus forest - a welfare economic valuation study
RESEARCH
Elephant in Southern Thailand
visited this region personally but who, nevertheless,
would appreciate the fact that such a biodiversity
hotspot would be preserved in their country. As an
example of this latter group we chose the residents
of Shanghai. Of course, people in other parts of China should be included in a comprehensive appraisal
study in order to assess the total social value of the
RRF project.
The results of such a study could be used for a benefit-cost comparison as well as for the realization of
a “payments for ecosystem services” system (PES),
where the beneficiaries of the RRFP would have to
pay those who provide these services, especially
the rubber farmers, according to the benefits they
receive.
Prof. Dr. Michael Ahlheim
Economics, esp. Environmental Economics and
Regulatory Policy, Institute of Economics
Conflicts of human land-use, conservation
areas, and rubber cultivation
Another subproject of SURUMER is aiming at
highlighting the importance of ecosystem services
and functions arising from wildlife biodiversity and
tourism in areas adjacent to rubber plantations.
Human-wildlife conflict zones will be spatially con32
fined and damage and threats to rubber plantations
and local villages addressed. In particular, this study
will assess possibilities to establish or improve
buffer zones and to make existing wildlife corridors
more attractive for mega-herbivores such as the
Asian elephant. The ecological importance of elephants as seed dispersers as well as their economic
importance with respect to crop raiding damage will
be quantified. The project will further help to construct a sound management plan for corridors and
buffer zones concerning elephant and other large
wildlife species within a rubber dominated landscape.
The project draws parallels between elephant and
other wildlife population movement patterns in
Yunnan, China and in Tai Rom Yen, Thailand. Particularly farmers perception of wildlife visiting their
plantations will be assessed and potential wildlife
conflict remedies are being discussed. Hence,
overall, this sub-project aims at finding solutions for
a parallel coexistence of large-scale rubber plantations and natural wild animal biodiversity in remaining forests and within the cultivated landscape.
PD Dr. Anna Treydte, Agroecology in the Tropics
and Subtropics, Institute of Plant Production
and Agroecology in the Tropics and Subtropics
Livestock based pastoral and agro-pastoral communities in African dry lands are poor, vulnerable and
marginalised - and becoming more so. Dependency
on traditional livestock based livelihood options
is increasingly untenable making diversification
more and more urgent. Payment for environmental
services (PES) based on carbon sequestration and
reduction of carbon emissions linked to livestock
and rangeland management practices has been
proposed as potential additional livelihood option,
but the science-base how to manage livestock to
combine income from such PES systems with that
of livestock production is absent.
Pig production incorporating local breeds is an important part of livelihood of small farmers in northern Vietnam. The market competitiveness of their
small-scale enterprises is however reduced due to a
missing integration into vertical networks.
The project proposed here aims to fill this knowledge gap through an integrated four-step research
programme:
Estimate the carbon sequestering potential of
rangelands taking advantage of existing long-term
livestock and rangeland management experiments and assess the potential of avoiding carbon
emissions by decisions on land-use and livestock
management;
Explore adaptive livestock management options
to sequester and avoid emissions of carbon from
rangelands through collaborative research with local livestock keeping communities in Ethiopia and
Burkina Faso;
Assess the effects of changes in livestock and
rangeland management on GHG emissions and
land surface albedo;
Synthesise the research findings, combining the
impact of livestock and rangeland management
practices aimed at sequestration and avoidance
of carbon emissions while taking into account the
combined radiative forcing of GHG emissions and
albedo, and assess the potential of PES scenarios to diversify pastoral livelihoods.
The DFG funded transfer project of the SFB 564 is
incorporating two distinct local pig breeds into the
community based breeding programme (CBP) in
order to optimise breeding practices and the multiplication of local pig breeds.
The pilot project intends to transfer the CBP into a
sustainably operating breeding and marketing programme for pork produced with local pig breeds in
cooperation between a farmers’ cooperative, traders
and research institutions. By means of a stratified
breeding scheme, building on existing organisational structures and links, a horizontal and vertical network is sought to tighten the currently weak
links of small-scale pig production to other breeding
institutions and conserve local pig breeds in remote
regions by profitable utilisation.
Thus helping to create a sustainable income for
smallholder farmers, conserving local pig breeds in
the region, and exploiting market opportunities in
speciality meat products.
Prof. Dr. Anne Valle-Zárate, Animal Breeding
and Husbandry in the Tropics and Subtropics,
Institute of Animal Production in the Tropics and
Subtropics
.
Prof. Dr. Folkard Asch, Water Stress Management in the Tropics and Subtropics, Institute of
Plant Production and Agroecology in the Tropics and Subtropics
Partners: ILRI - International Livestock Research
Institute; DITSL - German Institute for Tropical
and Subtropical Agriculture; ICRAF - International
Agroforestry Center; Hawassa University, Ethiopia;
INERA, Burkina Faso
33
Transfer of a community-based breeding
programme incorporating local breeds into
sustainable practice in Son La province,
northwest Vietnam (T7)
RESEARCH
LiveCarbon - Livelihood diversifying potential of livestock based carbon sequestration
options in pastoral and agro-pastoral systems in Africa
30 years TROZ
ADVOCACY AND NETWORKING
TROZ is actively involved in communication and
networking activities at national and international level to keep
rural development issues on the global agenda.
30 years jubilee
On the occasion of its 30th anniversary the Center
for Agriculture in the Tropics and Subtropics (TROZ)
had been organising a symposium on the role of
agricultural research for global food security and
environmental sustainability.
In his welcome address, the rector of Hohenheim
University, Professor Dr. Stephan Dabbert, called
the Center for Agriculture in the Tropics and Subtropics “a jewel of our University” and underlined the
leading role of TROZ in development research.
In his keynote speech, Dr. Andrea Fadani of the
Foundation fiat panis recalled that the climate
changes caused by the eruption of volcano Tambora in Indonesia in 1815 resulted in crop failures
and famine in Southern Germany and other parts of
Europe. And that against this backgrund the royal
couple of Württemberg had founded the agricultural
34
research and teaching institution of Hohenheim in
1818. At the time of its foundation the institution´s
obligation was thus oriented to the region - today
the University of Hohenheim works on global hunger issues.
Prof. Dr. Søren E. Frandsen, Pro-Rector of Aarhus
University, Denmark called for research with ambition for impact and underlined the role of the
researcher as a key communicator.
Dr. Carlos Seré, Chief Development Strategist at
IFAD in Rome, pointed out the changing context
and new questions in smallholder agriculture.
Prof. Dr. Peter Hazell from the Imperial College of
London elaborated on priorities for agricultural research and that it requires significant improvements
to the policy environment and that is where economists have an important role to play especially in
times where policy makers are looking for guidance.
In the morning prior to the symposium a press event
was organised where a group of students of the
International Master Courses erected a big globe
to raise awareness of the almost one billion people
which are suffering from hunger.
During the whole year the Center received numerous greeting messages from all over the world and
a brochure highlighting the research efforts of thirty
years was published.
„Poverty and hunger do not belong to
civilised human society, their proper
place is in a museum.“
Dr. Andrea Fadani
During its anniversary year TROZ had been activeley involved in the agenda-setting of the Studium
Generale 2012 of the University, and Prof. Dr. Birner
opened it with a lecture on the Center´s research
experiences of the last 30 years. Prof. Dr. Niko
Paech, adjunct Professor for Production and Environment at the University of Oldenburg gave a talk
35
30 years TROZ
Prof. Dr. Jack A. Heinemann from the School of
Biological Sciences and Director of the Centre for
Integrated Research in Biosafety of the Canterbury
University, New Zealand, recalled that the future of
agriculture was addressed in the IAASTD and that
business as usual is not the option. He argued that
neither high external input commercial nor poor
traditional models are sustainable. He pledged to
promote agricultural diversity, convert high input
industrial farming to sustainable high output farming and convert low output subsistence farming to
sustainable higher output farming.
on his vision of a post-growth economy, where progress will no longer be measured merely in added
economical value.
He lamented that still many knowledge gaps and
unresolved debates on key policy issues exist.
Major activities
Press event on world hunger
René van Veenhuizen, RUAF Foundation on his key note lecture at Tropentag 2013
36
Also in 2012 and 2013 the Seminar Series ”TROZ
Invites” continued to take place. A special highlight
was the talk of Dr. Felix Prinz zu Löwenstein, the
head of Germany’s Association for Organic Food
(BÖLW), who presented his provocatively-named
book “Food Crash – We will Subsist Organically or
Not at all”. More than a hundred people joined into
the dicussion in the Aula of the castle.
The association for the Promotion of Teaching and
Research for the Tropics and Subtropics at the
University of Hohenheim (PROTUS e.V.) is a young,
but steadily growing student initiative. Their main
goal is to support students, in their studies and
research with regard to the tropics and subtropics
and establishing networks within and outside of the
university. TROZ is assisting the initiative in establishing themselves at the University.
Policy Advice
Prof. Dr. Regina Birner, deputy director of TROZ,
Chair of the Social and Institutional Change in Agriculture was appointed in September 2012 as one
of the 17 members of the Bioeconomy Council. The
Council is an independent advisory board to the
German Federal Government and has been established by the Federal Ministry of Education and
Research (BMBF) and the Federal Ministry of Food,
Agriculture and Consumer Protection (BMELV) in
2009. The central task of the council, whose expertise covers the full spectrum of the bioeconomy,
is to search for ways and means for sustainable
solutions, and to present their insights in a global
context.
Prof. Dr. Regina Birner was also appointed to the
Scientific Advisory Board that supports the Federal
Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL) in the further development of agricultural policy. The Advisory
Board’s main tasks include covering and analysing
the changing general conditions of global agricultural trade, of the demographic development, of technical progress, of the food and energy industries and
of EU policies regarding rural areas as well as agriculture, forestry and fisheries with their upstream
and downstream sectors. Based on this, proposals
for the further development of agricultural policy are
drawn up, options for sustainable land use analysed
and rural development issues addressed.
Tropentag 2013
The annual Tropentag, the largest European interdisciplinary conference on research in tropical and
subtropical agriculture and natural resource management, rotates between the universities of Bonn,
Göttingen, Hohenheim, Kassel-Witzenhausen,
Berlin, ETH Zürich, and the Czech University of Life
Sciences in Prague.
The Tropentag 2013 took place on the campus of
the University of Hohenheim from September 17
- 19. The event was organised by the Center for
Agriculture in the Tropics and Subtropics .
670 participants from 65 countries joined the conference on “Agricultural development within the ruralurban continuum”. The organisers recorded 400
presentations including 95 orals.
In addition to paper and poster presentations,
lectures and discussions during the Tropentag, a
film festival on urban and peri-urban agriculture was
taking place. This mini-festival gave a taste of how
films have been used in documenting, encouraging
and supporting urban and peri-urban agriculture in
the South (Africa, Asia and Latin America) and the
North (Europe).
Especially scientists with policy relevant research
are appointed by the Federal Minister for the duration of three years. Another Hohenheim expert in
the board is Prof. Dr. Harald Grethe, Chair of the
Agricultural and Food Policy Section at the University of Hohenheim and TROZ board member. He was
elected as chair of the Scientific Advisoy Board.
37
Major activities
PROTUS
TROZ Invites
Tropentag 2013
What can agriculture in and around cities
perform?
Cities in development countries are growing at an
unprecedented rate and so does the demand for
food. Can local agriculture in and around cities provide sufficient quality food? What are the answers
by the international research community?
This year’s topic of the Tropentag was dedicated to
“Agricultural development in the urban-rural continuum”. More than 500 researchers from around
the world came to the University of Hohenheim in
Germany to present their research findings on how
sufficient and nutritious food can be produced, be
it by local farmers in the hinterland or in the urban
agglomerations. They also discussed health, social
and environmental topics related to intensive food
production.
At the opening session, Dirk Niebel, then Federal
Minister for Economic Cooperation and Develeopment, criticised that so far, the rural-urban continuum had been given far too little consideration in
political decisions. For example, no country seemed
to have a Ministry of Urban-Rural Relations. At the
same time, Niebel stressed that this issue had been
peripheral to science as yet.
Niebel emphasised the enormous potential for
small-scale farmers to make the leap from subsistence farming to producing for urban markets. At the
same time, urban agriculture could also offer many
opportunities for producing fresh nutritious food and
for creating new jobs.
René van Veenhuizen of the RUAF Foundation, a
network of resource centres on urban agriculture
and food security, was not quite as euphoric about
the large development potential of the rural-urban
relationship. His first argument was that, as yet,
potential farming land in cities had not been clearly
defined and that therefore, no targeted knowledge
transfer could take place. According to Veenhuizen, a further problem was that urban agriculture
was above all practised in an informal environment
and predominantly served subsistence. Since this
form of food production was extremely intensive,
there was a considerable danger of water and soil
contamination, he warned. Veenhuizen pointed to
projects of the International Water Management
Institute (IWMI) focusing on making use of residual
nutrients from wastewater e.g. as a plant fertiliser
while simultaneously minimising health and environmental risks.
38
On the other hand, the expert stressed that urban
and peri-urban agriculture had a positive impact
on food security and poverty reduction. However,
access to land and small areas suitable for farming
purposes above all had to be made easier for the
poor urban population, and local markets for local
produce had to be promoted.
Gordon Prain of the International Potato Centre
(CIP), Lima/Peru, addressed the urban divide that
had prevailed in politics, economics and research
for decades. Prain regarded the neglect of infrastructure development between urban agglomerations and the hinterland as particularly disastrous
in this context. One of the impacts was that such
formidable numbers of people in the rural population were migrating to the cities since they had no
income prospects in the poorly connected rural
areas, he stressed.
At the same time, however, the rural migrants were
bringing economic knowhow and links with the rual
areas to the cities that had to be taken advantage of
more than was presently the case. Prain presented
the example of Lima, the Peruvian capital, and its
environs. There were a large number of multi-local
households some family members of which were
growing organic products and vegetables in the
hinterland while others were living in the city as
teachers or civil servants and further family members were selling food harvested in the rural areas
on local markets in the city.
The scientist reported that CIP had examined the
urban rural interlinkages around Lima in several
studies and deduced recommendations from them
that would probably also be valid for other regions.
This above all included supporting sustainable
vegetable and small livestock production on the
periphery of cities and in the hinterland, taking into
consideration the possible impacts on water and
soil. The CIP recommended that urban and periurban agriculture always had to be closely linked to
an environmentally compatible handling of waste
material. As an example, Prain referred to the use
of food leftovers from restaurants in Hanoi in small
animal production in the peri-urban environs of the
Vietnamese capital.
Author: Angelika Wilcke, Rural 21
International Master of
Science Programmes
The Faculty of Agicultural Sciences at the University
of Hohenheim offers seven international Master of
Science programmes taught in English. The AgriTropics and SAIWAM courses are the two degree
programmes especially focussing on development
issues in the tropics and subtropics with a strong
teaching component of the tropical core professors.
Costa Rica Excursion
2012
TROZ regularly organises excursions to the tropics
for advanced students who are interested in agricultural development in the tropics and subtropics and
to complement the theoretical knowledge acquired
during the study course with practical insights and
impressions from the field.
The excursion from February 22nd to March 10th
2012 aimed to demonstrate and discuss at the
example of Costa Rica issues related to tropical
agriculture, processing and marketing of tropical
crops, rural development, as well as research and
teaching and the conservation of natural resources.
There was great interest of the students to participate and finally 18 students were nominated. They
had different academic backgrounds and during the
winter semester 2011/2012 the participants held
preparatory seminars to familiarise themselves with
the country, land use and resource conservation,
major tropical crops and their agronomical importance, post-harvest technologies as well as marketing issues.
Together with students and colleagues from the
Universidad de Costa Rica (UCR), a number of
small as well as large farming operations, processing units, research and training institutes as well
as nature sites could be visited. Furthermore, the
group was introduced to research projects in the
schools of agronomy, food sciences and technology,
respectively, at the Universidad de Costa Rica.
The trip became only possible through the very
generous support of the Erwin Warth Stiftung,
Kommission Studiengebühren, Oskar and Elizabeth
Farny Stiftung, PROMOS (DAAD), Foundation fiat
panis, the Universitätsbund and the cooperation of
the Universidad de Costa Rica. UCR provided a bus
and a driver during the entire trip. The colleagues
and students of the Universidad de Costa Rica
were great hosts and Prof. Dr. Victor Jiménez had
invested a great amount of time not only during the
preparatory phase but also during the field trip itself.
Due to his scrupulous planning as well as his management in Costa Rica the entire trip progressed
very smoothly and without any glitches. Thank you
very much Victor!
Excursion group in front of Poas volcano
39
MSc programmes and Costa Rica Excursion
Contributing to development-oriented training and promoting knowledge
transfer is one of the main objectives of TROZ.
CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT
Capacity Development
40
capacity development
Worker in banana plantation in Costa Rica
Foundation Sabab Lou
The four research topics covered were soil science,
crop production systems, socio-economic and livelihood impact and value chain management. The aim
was to work in an interdisciplinary team throughout the research project and at the end produce a
summary of results for the NGO to put forward new
policy implementations, as well as to lay down the
foundation for another team of students to undertake research on the same project in 2014.
Another research opportunity offered by the ToThrough this experience the students are expected
penzentrum in 2013 was through the cooperation
to enrich their qualifications for a possible future
with the Foundation Sabab Lou. The foundation
career in developmental cooperation or international
supports projects on sustainable agriculture in the
agricultural research.
Chereponi district in Northeastern Ghana, where
mainly maize and soybean are cultivated. The requirements for nutri- “For my master thesis I had the privilege of
ents and water are relatively high conducting a multi-disciplinary research project in
in these crops, and under low input Chereponi, North-east Ghana alongside three fellow
condition the risk of mining the soil students, with the aim to increase sustainability and
for nutrients and organic matter is
productivity for women farmers. The four month
high. Crop rotations, adapted cropduration of the project was challenging but also a reping calendars, and improved crop
management may help conserving warding and valuable experience in regards to both my
professional work and personal growth.“ Danielle Haddad
soil fertility and stabilise yields at
acceptable levels.
Funding for this project is provided by the Sabab
Danielle Haddad one of the four students with a local woman
Lou Foundation, the Foundation fiat panis, the Ausgleichsstiftung Landwirtschaft und Umwelt and the
of the University of Hohenheim.
Summer Schools
The Center organised and hosted a summer school
in 2012 and another in 2013 with the financial support of the German Academic Exchange Service
(DAAD).
Both summer schools were targeting German university alumni from developing countries (according
to DAC-list). The summer schools facilitated the
exchange between the participants in the specific
41
Research opportunities
The Foundation fiat panis provides the opportunity
to highly qualified students to conduct their Master,
Bachelor or Diploma research work in developing
countries, on the condition that the subject of the
thesis contributes to reducing hunger and rural
poverty in the world. The research work, carried out
in close cooperation with national and international
partner institutions, ensures a practical training for
future involvement in development cooperation.
This programme has been running since 1982 and
is administered by TROZ. As of December 2013,
around 530 students have completed their theses
within the grant scheme. In the years 2012 and
2013, altogether 24 grants were given with a total
volume of € 39.754 (details see Annex).
The aim of the project is to develop concepts for
sustainable agricultural production that are adapted
to the local soil and climatic conditions of Northeastern Ghana. Four students of the International
Master Study Courses of Hohenheim University
were given the opportunity to research on-site in an
interdisciplinary team, focussed on development
issues and participatory approaches. The four master students went to North East Ghana (Chereponi),
each with individual topics for four months between
July-October to conduct the field research.
Thesis Research Grants
Summer schools and PhD Programme
topics and contributed to strengthen the network
among the professionals and to promote international scientific cooperation, joint research, technology development and knowledge transfer.
The summer schools did not only provide insights
into current research activities of Hohenheim, a
significant part of the programme was enriched by
the participants themselves when presenting the
potentials and problems of agricultural production
systems in their home countries and identifying
future joint research opportunities.
Tropical agrobiodiversity as a guarantor for
sustainable food security
This summer school was held from September 11
to 18, 2012 in Hohenheim, and was followed by the
participation in the Tropentag 2012 “Resilience of
agricultural systems against crisis”, September 19
to 21 at the University of Göttingen.
The main topics of the summer school were:
Effects of Biodiversity
Agrobiodiversity and food security in the area of
conflict between food and fuel
Structural, functional and species diversity
Integrated land use modelling and land use planning
Securing food for a growing world population
Organic production
Transdisciplinary systems approach
The programme comprised lectures, presentations,
discussions, modelling exercises and excursions
to different sites of water use management (waste
water management), energy production and drinking water supply (Lake Constance Water Supply).
23 alumni from 18 countries participated.
PhD Programme
The Chair of “Social and Institutional Change in
Agricultural Development” is responsible for the
management of the PhD programme “Agricultural
Economics and Rural Development”, which is
funded by the German Academic Exchange Service
(DAAD) and implemented jointly with the University
of Gießen. The programme offers PhD scholarships
to outstanding candidates from Africa, Asia and
Latin America with the goal of preparing them for
leading positions in their home countries. Preference is given to agricultural economists, but related
disciplines such as agricultural production are also
considered.
The programme comprised lectures, presentations,
discussions, modelling exercises and excursions to
the Biosphere reserve Schwäbische Alb, a regional
trading company for organic products (PaxAn) and
organic farms. 25 alumni from 19 countries participated.
Since 1991, more than 80 candidates from Asia,
Latin America, Africa and the Middle East have
completed a “Dr. Sc.agr.” (PhD) under this programme. They maintain strong ties with Germany
and among each other through an extensive Alumni
network and a comprehensive re-invitation programme. Thus, the programme makes an important
contribution to human capacity development for
agricultural development.
Water for Life – Source of Food Security
GrassNet
The 2013 summer school was held from September
8 to 16, 2013 in Hohenheim and followed by the
participation in the Tropentag 2013 “Agricultural
development within the rural-urban continuum”,
September 17 to 19 at the University of Hohenheim.
The main topics of the summer school were:
Natural resource use, food security and poverty
alleviation
Water resource management
Interdependencies of water, food and energy in
the light of demographic developments
42
Crop production within the water cycle
Land use planning and modelling
Watershed management
Use of waste water
Resource efficient agricultural production
GrassNet is a cross-continental network for sustainable adaptation of grassland systems vulnerable
to climate change and was established in the year
2009 at the University of Hohenheim supported by
the German academic exchange service (DAAD).
In cooperation with the DITSL Institute (German
Institute for Tropical and Subtropical Agriculture in
Kassel-Witzenhausen) and under the direction of
Prof. Dr. Folkard Asch and Dr. Christian Hülsebusch
(DITSL) and coordinated by PD Dr. Brigitte Kaufmann and Dr. Marcus Giese, GrassNet promotes
research and education related to natural grassland
ecosystems on four continents with partners in Germany, South America, East Africa, and China.
During the last two years numerous activities have
been carried out to intensify the educational and
scientific cooperation with the international partners.
Five GrassNet MSc-students from Argentina, China
and Kenya successfully finished their international
study programmes at Hohenheim and Kassel University in 2013.
In 2012 a summer school and a work shop with in
total more than 50 participating scientists and students were held in Kassel-Witzenhausen. The summer school focussed on modelling approaches to
simulate biophysical and socio-economic processes
in grassland systems. In 2013 the GrassNet synthesis summer school was organised in Hohenheim
in parallel to the Tropentag conference. In total 28
participants discussed the climate impact on grassland ecosystem functions and the consequences for
rangeland management. Conclusions from previous
summer schools were reflected, and a common
opinion was that cross-continental comparisons of
different grassland ecosystems have an enormous
potential to increase the efficient use of resources.
GrassNet spin-off activities were among others coorganised with the Chinese Academy of Sciences in
Beijing (Institute of Botany) and Shenyang (Institute
of Applied Ecology). A symposium supported by the
Sino-German Center in Beijing focussing on “resources of marginal lands in agro-pastoral transition
zones” was held in Erguna (Inner Mongolia). During
five days in July 2013 more than 60 scientists from
Germany, the US, and China discussed the future
land use potential of marginal lands by combining
agriculture and livestock systems.
GrassNet contributed to international conferences
and peer reviewed journals with talks, presentations
and articles. Ongoing research activities of GrassNet involve topics such as the analysis of whole
plant water dynamics in response to multiple environmental stresses, high impact animal trampling as
a tool to control excessive biomass in Argentina, or
measurements for grassland restoration in Northern
China.
GrassNet cooperation partners: DITSL (Germany);
Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Corrientes
– Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria,
Corrientes (Argentina); Agricultural Research Institute (KARI); National Arid Lands Research Centre
and University of Egerton; Faculty of Agriculture in
Kenya; Institute of Grassland Science Northeast
Normal University (IGS-NENU, China)
43
GrassNet
Deposition of sand favours tree growth in the grasslands of Inner Mongolia
Awards
Awards
NatureLife Award
The NatureLife Award is endowed by NatureLife International to promote young scientists in the field of
sustainable land use systems as a basis for conservation of biodiversity in the tropics and subtropis.
Karen community forestry
in Northern Thailand
Athena Birkenberg was awarded for her work on
Forest Access and Governance, a case study on
Karen commuity forestry in Chiang Mai Province,
Northern Thailand, where she set out a very clear
conceptual framework to visualise the complex nature of social-ecological systems and their interdependencies. Accelerated loss of biodiversity particularly from species rich forest areas are of main
public, economic, environmental as well as policy
concern today. Ways to maintain or even increase
forest areas are needed, but need to take into
consideration peoples livelihoods in order to have
effective and long-term impact.
Community Forestry (CF) has been promoted as
a potential self-governance approach to provide
restricted access to forests and enhance people’s
welfare while maintaining or improving forest health.
So far, there are hardly any studies in North Thailand, evaluating such community forest projects.
Athena Birkenberg was investigating the socio-economic and cultural conditions under which this approach can be successful in fulfilling improvements
in peoples well being as well as environmental protection in a case study involving four Karen villages
Prize winner Athena Birkenberg
in Chiang Mai. Her findings underline the important
role that self-governance of natural resources plays
for both, poverty reduction and biodiversity conservation.
Athena Birkenberg has been studying Agritropics from 2009 to 2012. She is founding member of
F.R.E.S.H., a student initiative at the University of
Hohenheim, which aims to stimulate a dialogue on
the future of food. Among other activities the group
organised a student conference on the IAASTD
and the Transformation of Agricultural Research &
Education, in November 2008.
The Conference concluded on the need for more
time and space to reflect on the contents of lectures
and pointed out the missing ethical dimension as
well as the expertise for ethics in the education
and research process, which finally resulted in the
creation of a new module: The ethics of food and
nutrition security. Athena Birkenberg is currently doing her PhD with Prof. Dr. Regina Birner on linking
development and conservation: the role of Community Forestry and Carbon Neutral Coffee under
climate change in Central Costa Rica.
Land Tenure and farming practices on Leyte
island in the Philippines
Jana Schwarz was awarded for her well structured
and written master thesis on the “Influence of
insecure land tenure on upland agriculture in the
Philippines”.
In the Philippine uplands, the government started
issuing land tenure agreements to individual forest
residents and to communities in the mid 1980’s.
These land use rights are aimed at increasing land
tenure security amongst the farmers and thereby
promoting the adoption of sustainable agricultural
practices. This issue is of crucial importance in the
Philippine uplands, where deforestation and agricultural expansion have led to environmental degradation. Using primary quantitative and qualitative data
collected by herself in the provinces of Leyte and
Southern Leyte,
Jana Schwarz investigated the influence of land
tenure agreements on upland farming practices.
Furthermore, problems in land administration processes at policy level were investigated.
A plot-level econometric analysis of determinants
and constraints of tree keeping suggested that,
44
Jana Schwarz joined the Master Course of Agricultural Economics at the University of Hohenheim
from 2010-2012. She gained rich practical experience during her study stays in Argentina, Brazil,
Costa Rica, and the Philippines. Since February
2013 she is working as a PhD student at the University of Leuven where she investigates the environmental and socio-economic impacts of food export
production in Peru.
Prize winner Jana Schwarz
local population and reducing the impact of hunger
(undernutrition and malnutrition).
Dr. Vanessa Prigge was awarded for her PhD work
on “Implementation and Optimisation of the Doubled
Haploid Technology for Tropical Maize (Zea mays
L.) Breeding Programs” and Dr. Nazaire Houssou
for his work on “Operational Poverty Targeting by
Proxy Means Tests Models and Policy Simulations
for Malawi”.
Hans H. Ruthenberg-Graduate-Award
In 2012 two Hohenheim Master students were
awarded with the Hans H. Ruthenberg-GraduateAward. Athena Birkenberg for her work on “Forest
Access and Governance: A case study on Karen
community forestry in Chiang Mai Province, Northern Thailand”, and Lilli Scheiterle for her thesis on
“Opportunities and challenges in the production of
maize in Northern Ghana”, 2012.
The Ruthenberg award aims at honouring graduates who intensively deal with the development of
farming and the reduction of hunger in the world.
Josef G. Knoll European Science Award
In 2012 two young researchers from Hohenheim
were honoured with the Josef G. Knoll European
Science Award. The objective of the award is to encourage young academics whose research concentrates on solutions to mitigate hunger in food deficit
countries. The research findings must be user-oriented and suitable to contribute towards improving
the status of food and nutrition security of a certain
45
Awards
ceteris paribus, the possession of a tenure agreement nearly triples the number of trees on a plot.
Other important influencing factors are the reception
of material support and farmers’ perceived access
to extension services. The wealth level of the farming households did not show to have a significant
impact on the number of trees on a plot. In order
to proxy wealth, a poverty index was calculated by
principal component analysis. Comparing the wealth
level of households that have a tenure agreement,
to those households without any agreement showed
that significant differences between these groups
exist. Jana Schwarz showed that although the issuance of land tenure agreements shows positive
environmental effects, challenges at policy level
remain, and farmers’ knowledge about tenure rights
should be further increased.
ANNEX
Members
TROZ members
46
as of April 2014
Name
Inst.
Phone
E-Mail
520
459 23596
ahlheim(at)uni-hohenheim.de
Prof. Dr. Werner Amselgruber
460
459 22410
amselgru(at)uni-hohenheim.de
380
459 22764
fa(at)uni-hohenheim.de
Prof. Dr. Klaus Becker*
480
459 23158
kbecker(at)uni-hohenheim.de
Prof. Dr. Thomas Berger
490
459 24116
490e(at)uni-hohenheim.de
Prof. Dr. Werner Bessei
470
459 22481
bessei(at)uni-hohenheim.de
Prof. Dr. Hans K. Biesalski
140
459 23612
biesal(at)uni-hohenheim.de
Prof. Dr. Regina Birner
490
459 33517
regina.birner(at)uni-hohenheim.de
Prof. Dr. Heinz Breer
230
459 22266
physiol1(at)uni-hohenheim.de
Prof. Dr. Martina Brockmeier
490
459 23392
martina.brockmeier(at)uni-hohenheim.de
Prof. Dr. Eugen Buß
540
459 22622
soziologie(at)uni-hohenheim.de
Prof. Dr. Georg Cadisch
380
459 22438
cadisch(at)uni-hohenheim.de
Prof. Dr. Reinhold Carle
150
459 22314
carle(at)uni-hohenheim.de
Dr. Marc Cotter
380
459 23606
cotter(at)uni-hohenheim.de
Dr. Helmut Dalitz
210
459 22181
hdalitz(at)uni-hohenheim.de
480
459 23650
uta.dickhoefer(at)uni-hohenheim.de
Prof. Dr. Reiner Doluschitz
410
459 22841
agrarinf(at)uni-hohenheim.de
Prof. Dr. Werner Doppler*
490
459 22514
doppler(at)uni-hohenheim.de
Prof. Dr. Winfried Drochner
450
459 22420
drochner(at)uni-hohenheim.de
Tanja Engelbert
490
459 23130
tanja.engelbert(at)uni-hohenheim.de
Prof. Dr. Andreas Fangmeier
320
459 22189
afangm(at)uni-hohenheim.de
Prof. Dr. Albert Fischer
150
459 22288
fi-ft150(at)uni-hohenheim.de
PD Dr. Anette Fomin
320
459 23533
fomin(at)uni-hohenheim.de
Dr. Jan Frank
140
459 24459
jan.frank(at)uni-hohenheim.de
Prof. Dr. Oliver Frör
520
459 23901
froer(at)uni-hohenheim.de
Prof. Dr. Christian Gall*
480
Prof. Dr. Roland Gerhards
360
459 22399
gerhards(at)uni-hohenheim.de
Dr. Maria Gerster-Bentaya
430
459 22649
gersterb(at)uni-hohenheim.de
Dr. Marcus Giese
380
459 24189
m.giese(at)uni-hohenheim.de
Prof. Dr. Harald Grethe
420
459 22631
grethe(at)uni-hohenheim.de
PD Dr. Hartmut Grimm
440
459 22462
grimm(at)uni-hohenheim.de
Prof. Dr. Klaus Haas
210
459 22195
haaskls(at)uni-hohenheim.de
Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Hanke
230
459 22800
hanke(at)uni-hohenheim.de
Dr. Martin Hegele
340
459 22355
hegele(at)uni-hohenheim.de
Prof. Dr. Franz Heidhues*
490
459 22581
heidhues(at)uni-hohenheim.de
Dr. Ludger Herrmann
310
459 22324
herrmann(at)uni-hohenheim.de
Dr. Thomas Hilger
380
459 22722
t-hilger(at)uni-hohenheim.de
PD Dr. Petra Högy
320
459 23819
Petra.Hoegy(at)uni-hohenheim.de
Prof. Dr. Ludwig E. Hölzle
460
459 22427
ludwig.hoelzle(at)uni-hohenheim.de
Dr. Andrea Jost
791
459 24451
andrea.jost(at)uni-hohenheim.de
Prof. Dr. Thomas Jungbluth
440
459 22835
jungblut(at)uni-hohenheim.de
Prof. Dr. Ellen Kandeler
310
459 24220
kandeler(at)uni-hohenheim.de
PD Dr. Brigitte Kaufmann
480
459 23171
b.kaufmann(at)ditsl.org
Prof. Dr. Stefan Kirn
530
459 24025
wi2office(at)uni-hohenheim.de
PD Dr. Andreas Klumpp
320
459 23043
aklumpp(at)uni-hohenheim.de
Prof. Dr. Karlheinz Köller
440
459 23139
koeller(at)ats.uni-hohenheim.de
gall(at)uni-hohenheim.de
Phone
E-Mail
Prof. Dr. Michael Kruse
350
459 22706
mkruse(at)uni-hohenheim.de
Prof. Dr. Manfred Küppers
210
459 22194
kuppers(at)uni-hohenheim.de
Dr. Marc Lamers
310
459 22466
Marc.Lamers(at)uni-hohenheim.de
Dr. Stefanie Lemke
310
459 22647
stefanie.lemke(at)uni-hohenheim.de
Prof. Dr. Iris Lewandowski
340
459 22221
iris.lewandowski(at)uni-hohenheim.de
Prof. Dr. Christian Lippert
410
459 22560
clippert(at)uni-hohenheim.de
Prof. Dr. Ute Mackenstedt
220
459 22275
mackenst(at)uni-hohenheim.de
Dr. André Markemann
480
459 23171
andre.markemann(at)uni-hohenheim.de
Dr. Carsten Marohn
380
459 24137
carsten.marohn(at)uni-hohenheim.de
apl. Prof. Dr. Konrad Martin
380
459 23605
martin-k(at)uni-hohenheim.de
Dr. Klaus Meissner
440
459 22491
meissner(at)uni-hohenheim.de
Prof. Dr. Albrecht E. Melchinger
350
459 22322
melchinger(at)uni-hohenheim.de
Prof. Dr. Werner Mühlbauer*
440
495
459 22490
joachim.mueller(at)uni-hohenheim.de
Prof. Dr. Torsten Müller
330
459 22345
torsten.Mueller(at)uni-hohenheim.de
Dr. Marcus Nagle
440
459 23119
marcus.nagle(at)uni-hohenheim.de
Dr. Sybille Neidhart
150
459 22317
neidhasy(at)uni-hohenheim.de
Prof. Dr. Donatus Nohr
140
459 23691
nohr(at)uni-hohenheim.de
Dr. Thea Nielsen
490
459 23711
thea.nielse(at)uni-hohenheim.de
Dr. Babara Ramsperger
790
459 23742
b.ramsperger(at)uni-hohenheim.de
Dr. Frank Rasche
380
459 24137
frank.rasche(at)uni-hohenheim.de
Sabine Remmele
210
459 22185
remmeles(at)uni-hohenheim.de
Prof. Dr. Thilo Rennert
310
459 22325
t.rennert(at)uni-hohenheim.de
Dr. Peter Rosenkranz
730
459 22661
bienero(at)uni-hohenheim.de
Prof. Dr. Joachim Sauerborn
380
459 22385
sauerbn(at)uni-hohenheim.de
Prof. Dr. Andreas Schaller
260
459 22197
schaller(at)uni-hohenheim.de
Dr. Veronika Scherbaum
140
459 22285
scherbau(at)uni-hohenheim.de
Prof. Dr. Karl Schmid
350
45923487
karl.schmid(at)uni-hohenheim.de
Prof. Dr. Alfonso Sousa-Poza
530
459 22863
alfonso.sousa-poza(at)uni-hohenheim.de
Prof. Dr. Karl Stahr
310
459 23980
kstahr(at)uni-hohenheim.de
Dr. Herbert Steingaß
450
459 22419
steingas(at)uni-hohenheim.de
Prof. Dr. Thilo Streck
310
459 22796
tstreck(at)uni-hohenheim.de
Sabine Stürz
380
459 23603
sabine.stuerz(at)uni-hohenheim.de
Prof. Dr. Hanspeter Thöni
110
459 22861
Prof.Hanspeter.Thoeni(at)uni-hohenheim.de
Jana Tinz
140
459 22291
jana.tinz(at)uni-hohenheim.de
PD Dr. Anna Treydte
380
459 23601
anna.treydte(at)uni-hohenheim.de
Kirsten Urban
490
459 22600
kirsten.urban(at)uni-hohenheim.de
Prof. Dr. Anne Valle Zárate
480
459 24210
valle(at)uni-hohenheim.de
Prof. Dr. Ralf T. Vögele
360
459 22387
ralf.voegele(at)uni-hohenheim.de
Dr. Patrick Winterhagen
340
459 22354
p.winterhagen(at)uni-hohenheim.de
Prof. Dr. Volker Wulfmeyer
120
459 22150
volker.wulfmeyer(at)uni-hohenheim.de
Prof. Dr. Jens Wünsche
370
459 22368
jnwuensche(at)uni-hohenheim.de
Prof. Dr. Claus P.W. Zebitz
360
459 22400
zebitz(at)uni-hohenheim.de
Prof. Dr. Manfred Zeller
490
459 22175
manfred.zeller(at)uni-hohenheim.de
Dr. Sabine Zikeli
340
459 23248
zikeli(at)uni-hohenheim.de
Dr. Reiner Zimmermann
210
459 24239
rzimmermann(at)uni-hohenheim.de
wernermuehlbauer(at)yahoo.de
* retired core professor
47
Members
Inst.
ANNEX
Name
ANNEX
TROZ boards
TROZ boards
Management Board Term 2012/2013
The board is the decision-making body between the members’ assembly which is held once a year. It determines the center’s immediate activities and the allocation of research funds and students grants. The board consists of eleven professors,
three research assistants, one student and the executive managers (without vote) of both centers. To facilitate administrative efficiency and synergy the management and advisory board TROZ share these boards with the Food Security Center
(FSC).
Director from 10/2012, until 10/2012 deputy director
Director until 9/2012
Prof. Dr. Regina Birner
Deputy director from 10/2012
Professorial representatives
Prof. Dr. Werner Bessei
Prof. Dr. med. H.-K. Biesalski
from 10/2012
Prof. Dr. Reiner Doluschitz
Prof. Dr. Harald Grethe
Prof. Dr. Anne Valle-Zárate
until 9/2012
Prof. Dr. Jens Wünsche
Dr. Maria Gerster-Bentaya
Academic staff representatives
Dr. Ludger Herrmann
Dr. Klaus Meissner
Jonatan Müller (2012), Maximilian Berger (2013)
Student representatives
Advisory Board
The Advisory Board is comprised of representatives from industry, science and public organisations. It is a selection of
distinguished experts who have agreed to give meaningful support and advice in many different areas, including organisational development, policy and outreach. Through their own networks, they also promote the work of the Center to the
wider public.
48
Dr. Christoph Beier
Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ)
Dr. Michael Brüntrup
Deutsches Institut für Entwicklungspolitik (DIE)
Dr. Uschi Eid until 7/2012
Parlamentarische Staatssekretärin a.D.
Dr. Hanns-Christoph Eiden from 11/2012
Bundesanstalt für Landwirtschaft und Ernährung
Dr. Andrea Fadani
Stiftung fiat panis
Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Franz Heidhues from 7/2012
Claus-Peter Hutter
Umweltakademie Baden-Württemberg
Dr. Wolfram Münch
EnBW Energie Baden-Württemberg
Miriam Überall until 6/2012
Unilever
Dr. Bernhard Walter
Diakonisches Werk der EKD, Brot für die Welt
Ingrid Walz
Deutsche Stiftung Weltbevölkerung (DSW)
Dr. Ingrid Wünning Tschol
Robert Bosch Stiftung GmbH
Supervisor
Topic
Country
Exam
Biegert
Stahr/Herrmann
Asch
Gerster-Bentaya
Participatory evaluation of the seed ball technology for subsistance oriented pearl millet production
systems under Sahelian conditions in Senegal
Senegal
B.Sc.
Biller
Birner
The effects of risk on smallholder participation in
high value agricultural markets - a case study in the
Caraga Region, Philippines
Philippines
M.Sc.
Brandt
Sauerborn
Knowledge and utilization of non-timber forest
products and their contribution to mid-hill farming
systems of the Shivapuri Massif, Nepal
Nepal
M.Sc.
Hempel
Carle
Characterization of morphological and chemical
traits of Bactris gasipaes fruits with special reference to their carotenoid composition
Costa Rica
M.Sc.
Intani
Müller, J.
Non-destructive mango quality assessment using
image processing: a nowel, low-cost technology for
the fruit handling industry in Thailand
Thailand
M.Sc.
Kofler
Wünsche
Possibility of increasing the abundance of inflorescences and fruit retention of the north-western
Vietnamese mango variety ‘Hôi’ by choosing the
most appropriate cropping system
Vietnam
B.Sc.
Laeis
Bellows
Local food systems and responsible tourism: a
strategy to strengthen rural livelihoods? - A case
study from South Africa
South Africa
M.Sc.
Mühlena
Stahr/Herrmann
Asch
Seed ball technology development for application in pearl millet production systems in semi-arid
Senegal
Senegal
M.Sc.
Müller
Cadisch
Assessing the salience, credibility and legitimacy of
a land use model in the NMR of Vietnam
Vietnam
M.Sc.
Munder
Müller, J.
Improving thermal conversion properties of rice
straw by brigetting and pelleting
Philippines
M.Sc.
Ndoping
Bellows
South Africa
An assessment of institutional and governance
structures to achieve a socially and financially sustainable model for smallholder farming cooperatives
- Case study from South Africa
Raible
Müller, J.
Expansion of the food supply in Paraguay through
better utilization of Acrocomia aculeata, by optimizing the drying process of the pulp
Paraguay
M.Sc.
Sandalj
Sauerborn/
Treydte
Quantifying wild meat demand and availability in
Hue, Thua Thien Hue Province, Vietnam
Vietnam
M.Sc.
Schilly
Vögele
Screening Musa wild species for indigenous
microorganisms to manage Fusrium oxysporum f.
Sp cubense, the causal agent of fusarium wilt of
banana
Costa Rica
M.Sc.
Straube
Müller, J.
Development of turning devices for drying of paddy
rice in the Philippines
Philippines
M.Sc.
Wittmann
Rosenkranz
Analysis of chemical, physical and botanical proper- Chile
ties of Quillaja honey in order to support fair trade
honey production in southern Chile
M.Sc.
M.Sc.
49
Dr. Herrmann Eiselen Research Grants
Name
ANNEX
Dr. Hermann Eiselen Research Grant 2012
ANNEX
Dr. Herrmann Eiselen Research Grants
Dr. Hermann Eiselen Research Grant 2013
50
Name
Supervisor
Topic
Country
Exam
Agbahey
Grethe
Price transmission and supply chain analysis of fertilizer in
Ethiopia
Ethiopia
M.Sc.
Brobbey
Lemke
Scoping sustainable diets in rural South African communities
- socio-cultural perceptions of food security and local food
systems
South Africa
M.Sc.
Dolch
Cadisch/
Hilger
Characterisation of of growth behaviour and conditions of
Acrocomia aculeata
Paraguay
M.Sc.
Gebhardt
Rennert
Participative terrain mapping as basis for scientific field studies for food security in Tanzania, Ilolo
Tanzania
B.Sc.
Lienert
Doluschitz
Acceptance of local farmers towards resource efficient
production methods at the Itaparica reservoir in North-East
Brazil
Brazil
B.Sc.
Loveless
Birner
Clear as Day, Black as Night or Something in Between? Examining Transparency of Village-Level Revenue Flows from
Wildlife in Tanzania’s Wildlife Management Areas
Tanzania
M.Sc.
Schweizer
Zikeli
Cadisch
Evaluation of soil physical properties under longterm organic
and conventional agricultural systems in Central India
India
M.Sc.
Windisch
Asch
Effects in repeated bunch grazing on fodder quality and species composition of Argentinian pastures
Argentina
M.Sc.
2012
2013
130 000.-
130 000.-
6 317-
3 671.-
136 317.-
133 671.-
DFG funds allocated to SFB 564
1 043 000.-
301 700.-
BMBF Surumer
1 012 665.-
687 566.-
BMBF INNOVATE
217 452.-
170 928.-
BMBF CarBioCial
27 930.-
137 042.-
381 000.-
357 000.-
Revenues from the University
University of Hohenheim budget funds TROZ
University of Hohenheim reward for third party incomes
Total contribution of the University
Funding from third parties
BMBF SuMaRio
BMBF Trans-SEC
196 660.-
DAAD Summerschools
50 528.-
Different sources Costa Rica excursion 2012
19 165.-
DAAD AgEcon Tutorials and overheads of scholarship programme
20 640.-
23 160.-
DAAD Wochenendseminare für Fach-und Führungskräfte Typ I, II und III
28 406.-
12 000.-
Foundation fiat panis Theses research grants
26 465.-
13 762.-
DAAD Qualitätsnetzwerk Biodiversität
BMBF/DLR Exploratory mission Paraguay/Argentina
49 999.-
9 891.23 400.-
Foundation fiat panis 30 years TROZ symposium
6 580.-
Office of International Affairs (AA), Universitätsbund
30 years TROZ symposium
3 000.-
DFG Tropentag 2013
6 194.-
Giz/BEAF Tropentag
15 000.-
Total contribution of third parties
2 870 122.-
1 971 011.-
51
Financial resources
Financial resources (€)
ANNEX
Financial Resources 2012 and 2013
ANNEX
Revenues and expenditures
TROZ revenues and expenditures 2012
Revenues from University
Core funding
Reward for third party funds
Sum of revenue
Expenditures
130,000 €
6,317 €
136,317 €
Staff
66,823 €
Assistants
5,088 €
Running costs of management unit
2,108 €
Public relations / events
13,959€
Education
2,834 €
Tropenexcursion 2012
1,480€
Travel costs
1,641 €
Allocated funds for core
institutes (10x3.000 €)
30,000 €
Requested funding
11,300 € Stahr (310): 4,000 €; Asch
(380): 7.300 €
Sum of expenditures
135,233 €
TROZ revenues and expenditures 2013
Revenues from University
Core funding
Reward for third party funds
Expenditures
130,000 €
3,671 €
Staff
Assistants
2,226 €
Running costs of management unit
2,377 €
Public relations / events
8,677€
Education
Travel costs
Allocated funds for core
institutes (10x3,000 €)
Requested funding
Sum of revenue
52
136,317 €
61,848 €
Sum of expenditures
17,000 €
2,416 €
30,000 €
11,000€ Stahr (310): 4,000 €;
Cadisch (380): 7,000 €;
135,544 €
Project
Country
Duration
Total volume
Institute of Plant Production and Agroecology in the Tropics and Subtropics (380)
Plant Production in the Tropics and Subtropics (380a)
Prof. Dr. Georg Cadisch
DFG
Uplands Program - Special Research Program
(SFB 564): Impact of intensification on land use
dynamics and environmental services of tropical
mountainous watersheds
Thailand, Vietnam
2009 - 2012
399,378 €
DFG
(SFB 564): Modelling impacts of land use change
on environmental services – from research to
implementation (T6)
Thailand, Vietnam
2011 - 2014
288,000 €
International
Atomic Energy
Agency (IAEA),
Wien
Technical contract-implementation of compoundspecific stable-insotope analysis to trace carbon
sink-and-source relationships between areas of
critical land degradation and deposition aeas in
regional catchments
2008 - 2014
35,000 €
EnBW Regenwald-Stiftung
Fostering rural development and environmental
sustainability through integrated soil and waterconservation systems in the uplands of Northern
Vietnam
Vietnam
2007 -2 013
219,228 €
IITA, Nigeria
Achieving sustainable striga control for poor farmers in Africa’. Biocontrol using Fusarium oxysporum sp strigaea
Africa
2011-2014
116,373 €
BMZ, CIAT
Addressing the challenges of smallholder farming
communities: Restoring degraded agroecosystems
Colombia
2013-2016
215,000 €
CIAT
Climate-smart crop-livestock systems for smallholders in the tropics: Integration of new forage hybrids to intensify agriculture and to mitigate climate
change through regulation of nitrification in soil
Colombia
2012-2015
189,605 €
DAAD
Research based mobility scheme: Dissolved organic carbon in sandy soils of Northeast Thailand
Thailand
2012-2014
12,425 €
BMBF
SURUMER - Sustainable Rubber Cultivation in the
Mekong Region: Development of an integrative
2011 - 2016
1,632,386 €
2010 - 2012
60,000 €
2010 - 2013
365,334 €
Agroecology in the Tropics and Subtropics (380b)
Prof. Dr. Joachim Sauerborn
BMZ
Potential distribution of Striga / Understanding the
present distribution of parasitic weeds of the genus
Striga and predicting its potential future geographic
distribution in the light of climate and land use
change
DFG
Investigations on the induction of hormesis in
plants by herbicidal compounds - mechanisms,
interactions, practical implications
Africa
53
Third party funding
Funding
sources
ANNEX
Third party research project funding in core institutes
ANNEX
Third party funding
Funding
sources
Project
Country
Duration
Total volume
BMBF
INNOVATE - Interplay among multiple users of water reservoirs via innovative coupling of substance
cycles in aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems
Brazil
2012-2016
267,126 €
BMBF
China
2011 - 2016
949,524 €
Crop Water Stress Management in the Tropics and Subtropics (380c)
54
DAAD für AA
GrassNet - Cross-continental network for sustainable adaptation of grassland systems vulnerable to
climate change
China, Argentina, Kenya
2009-2013
747,712 €
BMZ
LiveCarbon - Livelihood diversifying potential of
livestock based carbon sequestration options in
pastoral and agro pastoral systems in Africa
Africa, Ethiopia,
Burkina Faso
2011 - 2014
195,660 €
BMZ
Grassland restoration in Northern China from a
whole plant perspective (GrassRest)
China, Kenya
2011 - 2013
22,100 €
BMBF
Future-oriented research pathways for food security in East Africa - FuoRe
East Africa
2012
74,631 €
BMZ
Improved potato varieties and water mangement
technologies to enhance WUE, resilience cost effectiveness and productivity of smallholder farms in
stress-prone Central Asian Environment (PotatoTech)
Peru
2012 - 2015
248,000 €
Anton und
Petra Ehrmann
Stiftung
Water - People - Agriculture, Research training
group
Germany
2013-2025
3,000,000 €
BMBF
GlobE: Trans-SEC - Innovating strategies to safeguard food security using technology and knowledge transfer: a people-centred approach
Africa, Ethiopia
2013-2016
195,455 €
BLE
Smallholder farmer strategies to cope with climate
change - SMACC
Africa, Ethiopia,
Kenya
2013-2016
36,286 €
Conservation
Food & Health
Foundation
INC.
Intercropping systems Botswana
Botswana
2012-2013
19,334 €
Foundation
Fiat panis and
Foundation for
Sustainability
Support of the field research work of four MSc
Students within the project” Sustainable agriculture
in Ghana”
Ghana
2013
9.000 €
Foundation fiat
panis
PhD Grant 2011, Global Food Security
Argentina
2011-2014
5,000 €
FSC
Research grant for a PhD student
Germany
2011-2013
9,416 €
BMBF
China
2011 - 2016
267,240 €
Country
Duration
Total volume
Institute of Agricultural Engineering (440)
Agricultural Engineering in the Tropics and Subtropics (440e)
DFG
(SFB 564): Development of automated control
systems for water saving irrigation of fruit orchards
(T1)
Thailand
2006 - 2012
195,278 €
DFG
(SFB 564): Development of energy-efficient systems for high-quality fruit drying (T2)
Thailand
2006 - 2012
177,340 €
DFG
(SFB 564): Multi-sensor inline system for non-invasive mango quality assessment during postharvest
processing by fruit export industries in Thailand
(T4)
Thailand
2011-2014
332,400 €
DFG
IRTG Precision irrigation and fertigation technology for improving water- and fertilizer-efficiency of
North China Plain production systems
China
2008-2013
240,000 €
BMBF
Sustainable Land Management of River Oases
along the Tarim River China (SuMaRio), WP 3
China
2011 - 2016
363,522 €
BMZ
Unravelling the potential of neglected crop diversity
for high-value product differentiation and income
generation for the poor: the case of chili pepper in
its place of origin.
Boliven, Peru
2010 - 2012
85,800 €
KIT
Intelligent humidity sensor
2010 - 2012
74,800 €
Foundation fiat
panis
Development of a solar greenhouse dryer concept
for rice
Philippines
2011 - 2012
12,540 €
BMBF
GlobE: Trans-SEC- Innovating Strategies to safeguard food security using technology and knowledge transfer: a people-centred approach
Africa, Ethiopia
2013 - 2016
204,702 €
IRRI/Manila
Development and optimisation of a solar greenhouse dryer for drying rice
Philippines
2012 -2013
34,861 €
IRRI/Manila
Rice straw for energy baseline study
Philipines
2012 - 2013
15,116 €
BMBF
Integrated de-hulling, de-shelling, and de-oiling
process of Jatropha curcas for the efficient production of high-quality designer-protein feed and
vegetable oil
2012 - 2014
230,339 €
BMBF
Improving cultivation and processing of medicinal
and herbal plants in Northern Thailand
Thailand
2012 - 2013
25,728 €
Carl Zeiss
Stiftung
PhD grant
Philippines
2012 - 2013
36,000 €
CIMMYT
Mexico
Precision phenotyping for improving drought stress
tolerant maize in Southern Asia and Eastern Africa
Southern Asia,
Eastern Africa
2009 - 2011
113,550 €
BMBF
GlobE - BiomassWeb - Improving food security in
Africa through increased system productivity of
biomass-based value webs
Afrika
2013 - 2016
233,469 €
Fa. Glatfelter
Abaca cultivation in the Philippines - assessment of
constraints and new perspectives
Philippines
2013
4,450 €
55
Third party funding
Project
ANNEX
Funding
sources
ANNEX
Third party funding
Funding
sources
Project
Country
Duration
Total volume
Institute of Animal Production in the Tropics and Subtropics (480)
Animal Breeding and Husbandry in the Tropics and Subtropics
Prof. Dr. Anne Valle-Zárate (480a)
DFG
(SFB 564): Community driven breeding and management programmes building on local resources,
local knowledge and organisation opportunities at
village, regional and national level (D2)
Vietnam
2009 - 2012
304,838 €
DFG
Sheep production in Bedouin sheep flocks in the
Negev of Israel
Israel
2011 - 2012
13,200 €
BMZ-ILRI
Safe food, fair food: Building capacity to improve
the safety of animal source foods and ensure
continued access for poor farmers in sub- Saharan
Africa
Africa, SubSahara
2008 - 2012
13,300 €
BMBF
Participatory risk analysis for safe food of animal
origin in informal markets, RSA
Africa, SubSahara
2009 - 2012
6,251 €
DFG, MWK,
Rektorat
Preparation of a SFB in Israel; “From drought
to increasing use of treated water in agriculture:
Impact on the safety and quality of food from crops
and livestock”
Israel
2009 - 2012
229,182 €
DFG, TZ
(SFB 564): Transfer of a community-based breeding Ppogramme incorporating local breeds into
sustainable practice in Son La Province, Northwest
Vietnam (T7)
Vietnam
2011 - 2014
374,300 €
DFG
Lifetime performance of dairy goats on organic
and conventional farms in Israel – reasons and
economic impacts of short stayability
Israel
2011 - 2012
2,986 €
BMBF, DLR
INNOVATE - Interplay among multiple users of water reservoirs via innovative coupling of substance
cycles in aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems
Brazil
2012-2016
256,485 €
Institute of Agricultural Economics and Social Sciences in the Tropics and Subtropics (490)
Rural Development Theory and Policy (490a)
56
DFG
Sustainable Resource Use in North China
China
2004 - 2013
300,033 €
DFG
(SFB 564): Impact valuation of land allocation and
rural finance policies (F2.3)
Vietnam
2009 - 2012
285,961 €
IWMI
Water Management in South Asia
South Asia
2011 - 2013
42,000 €
IFPRI
Policies and institutions for achieving the virtuous
food-energy-water nexus in Sub-Sahara Africa
Malawi, Mozambique
2013-2016
203,000 €
Africa Rice
Assessing the impact of improved rice-based
technology adoption on household food security in
The Gambia
Ghana, The
Gambia
2012-2015
67,000 €
DFG
Coping with increasing volatility in smallholder
farming systems: ways out of risk-induced poverty
traps
Ethiopia
2013-2016
180,000 €
Stiftung Energieforschung
Socio-economic influences of a Jatropha plantation
on rural households and their communities
Madagascar
2013 - 2015
67,000 €
Country
Duration
Total volume
International Agricultural Trade and Food Security (490b)
DFG
Structural Change in Agriculture: How should
model linkages be designed to analyse the effects
of global agricultural trade liberalisation at the farm
level?
2011 - 2014
158,180 €
Edmund
RehwinkelStiftung
Veredlungsstandort Deutschland - Herausforderungen von Gesellschaft, Politik und Märkten
2011 - 2012
20,000 €
Social and Institutional Change in Agricultural Development
Prof. Dr. Regina Birner (490c)
IFPRI, BMZ
Promoting participatory and evidence- based agricultural policy processes in Africa
USA, Germany,
Senegal, Ghana
2012- 2015
75,004.95 €
IFPRI, BMZ
Enhancing women´s assets to manage risk under
climate change: Potential for group Based approaches
USA, Germany,
Kenya
2012 - 2013
9,000 €
Glatfelter
Gernsbach
GmbH & Co.
KG
Abaca cultivation in the Philippines - assessment of
constraints and new perspectives (ABACA)
Germany,
Philippines
2013 - 2014
4,450 €
GIZ
Woody encroachment in the Afar Region, Ethiopia: Impact assessment of Prosopis invasion and
participative management approaches
Germany,
Ethiopia
2013 - 2014
83,700 €
BMBF
GlobE - BiomassWeb - Improving food security in
Africa through increased system productivity of
biomass-based value webs
Germany,
Ghana, Ethiopia, Nigeria
2013-2016
209,000 €
Land Use Economics in the Tropics and Subtropics (490d)
Prof. Dr. Thomas Berger
IFPRI, BMZ
Working together for market access: Strengthening
rural producer organisations in Sub-Saharan Africa
(IFPRI-BMZ)
Africa, SubSahara
2009 - 2012
72,878 €
DFG
(SFB 564): Assessment of Innovations and Sustainability Strategies (G1)
Thailand
2006 - 2012
618,001 €
DFG
Regional Climate Change: Human-environment
interactions, (DFG-PAK, DFG-FOR)
2008 - 2015
214,140 €
DFG
Regional Climate Change: Integration of model
components (DFG-PAK, DFG-FOR)
2008 - 2015
309,424 €
Edith-Karla
Eiselen
Project commemorating the 85th birthday of Dr.
Hermann Eiselen
2011 - 2014
36,000 €
BMBF
Carbon sequestration, biodiversity and social structures in Southern Amazonia (CarBioCial)
2011 - 2016
403,837 €
Brazil
57
Third party funding
Project
ANNEX
Funding
sources
Table of contents
Preface
1
About us
2
Imprint
Research
5
SFB 564 5
Map of TROZ cooperations
7
Multifunctional grasslands 8
Global food security Coping with climate change
15
Sustainable resource management and bioenergy production 26
Multifunctionality and biodiversity in agricultural production
30
21
Capacity development
34
39
Annex46
Published by
Tropenzentrum (790) I Universität Hohenheim
Garbenstr. 13
70599 Stuttgart
Phone: + 49-711 459 23543
Fax: + 49-711 459 23315
[email protected]
www.troz.de
Edited by
Bärbel Sagi, Dr. Barbara Ramsperger, Juzha Zillich
Layout
Bärbel Sagi
May 2014
Photographs: © Vinzenz Bauer pp. 19, 26; © Sonja Braisch p. 15; © Corel&Unger pp. 3, 7, 35; © Oskar Eyb
back cover, pp. 1, 36; © Maria Gerster-Bentaya p. 25; © Marcus Giese front cover, pp. 8, 9, 12, 13, 14, 43;
© Juliana Dias Bernandes Gil p. 15; © Franziska Harich p. 32; © Martin Hegele p. 39; © Ludger Herrmann
p. 21; © Falk Kullen p. 16; © Liu Jingxin pp. 26, 30; © André Markemann p. 11; © Carsten Marohn p. 23; ©
Jochen Menz p. 30; © Sven Reichardt p. 30; © Joachim E. Roettgers, GRAFFITI pp. 4, 21; © Nadja Reinhardt pp. 4, 21; © Rafael Schäfer p. 40;
Printed on paper made from 100% recycled materials
Printed by
Offizin Scheufele, Stuttgart
Contact
Tropenzentrum | TROZ
Garbenstraße 13
70599 Stuttgart | Germany
Tel. +49 711 459 23543 | Fax +49 711 459 23315
Tropenzentrum I TROZ
[email protected] | www.troz.de
Report 2012/2013
Report 2012/2013

Annual Report 2012/2013

Transcription

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