newsletter

Edition 1/2025, 12 March 2025

News in this edition: IAMO Forum 2025 +++ IAMO and CERR signed Memorandum of Understanding +++ Database on agricultural land use in the EU published +++ Ukraine-Analysen on challenges and opportunities for Ukrainian agriculture +++ and much more.
Photo: Animaflora PicsStock © AdobeStock

Events

IAMO Forum 2025 │ Photo: Bits and Splits © AdobeStock

The IAMO Forum 2025 entitled “Rural Roots and Routes: Navigating Complexities of Quality of Life, Immobility, and Migration” will take place in Halle (Saale), Germany, from 18 to 20 June 2025. Registration for the conference will open on 24 March 2025. // read more //

Dr. Antje Jantsch
Tel.: +49 345 2928-125
jantsch(at)iamo.de

 
Panelists at the GFFA in Berlin │ Photo: Lars Hübner © IAMO/GAA

As part of the Global Forum for Food and Agriculture (GFFA), IAMO organised two expert panels in Berlin, Germany, on 17 January 2025.

International guests from politics, business and science exchanged views at the panel discussion on “Bioeconomy and global food security - Challenges from an international perspective” organised by the German Agribusiness Alliance (GAA) and IAMO. // read more //

Prof. Dr. Alfons Balmann
Tel.: +49 345 2928-300
balmann(at)iamo.de

Experts from China and Germany discussed the topic “Innovative Biomass Energy Technologies and their policy implications” at the expert panel organised by the Sino-German Agricultural Centre (DCZ) and IAMO. // read more //

Dr. Lena Kuhn
Tel.: +49 345 2928-323
kuhn(at)iamo.de
Participants in the training course in Tirana, Albania © IAMO

From 3 to 7 February 2025, IAMO and the Agricultural University of Tirana organized a training course in the frame of the project “Establishing a Geoinformation Centre for the Western Balkans” (GEO-WB6). // read more //

Max Hofmann
Tel.: +49 345 2928-256
hofmann(at)iamo.de

Prof. Dr. Daniel Müller
Tel.: +49 345 2928-328
mueller(at)iamo.de

International cooperations

On 27 January 2025, IAMO and the Center for Economic Research and Reform (CERR) under the administration of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan signed a Memorandum of Understanding, which formalizes collaboration, emphasizing research, capacity building and knowledge sharing. // read more //

Prof. Dr. Thomas Herzfeld
Tel.: +49 345 2928-100
herzfeld(at)iamo.de

Dr. Nodir Djanibekov
Tel.: +49 345 2928-128
djanibekov(at)iamo.de

Discussion between the Uzbek delegation and IAMO │ Photo: Robert Blumenau © IAMO

As part of the Global Forum for Food and Agriculture (GFFA), IAMO researchers came together with the Uzbek Deputy Minister of Agriculture on 17 January 2025 at the International Green Week in Berlin, Germany. // read more //

Dr. Ihtiyor Bobojonov
Tel.: +49 345 2928-247
bobojonov(at)iamo.de

Dr. Lena Kuhn
Tel.: +49 345 2928-323
kuhn(at)iamo.de

Projects news

IAMO researchers Nodir Djanibekov, Barchynai Kimsanova and Atabek Umirbekov (from left to right) │ Photos: Markus Scholz © IAMO

A research group has been established at IAMO entitled “Navigating shocks and transformations in rural communities: An evolutionary resilience perspective from Central Asia” (CARe). The group is led by Nodir Djanibekov, with Barchynai Kimsanova and Atabek Umirbekov as key researchers. // read more //

Dr. Nodir Djanibekov
Tel.: +49 345 2928-128
djanibekov(at)iamo.de

Dr. Barchynai Kimsanova
Tel.: +49 345 2928-216
kimsanova(at)iamo.de

Atabek Umirbekov
Tel.: +49 345 2928-338
umirbekov(at)iamo.de

Land used for agriculture │ Photo: ZoomTeam © AdobeStock

IAMO researchers from the Europe-LAND project, together with the University of Copenhagen, provided a harmonized database with field and farm-level data on agricultural land use in the European Union. // read more //

Clemens Jänicke
Tel.: +49 30 2093-4889
jaenicke(at)iamo.de

Prof. Dr. Daniel Müller
Tel.: +49 345 2928-328
mueller(at)iamo.de

Website of the International Research group Ukraine © IAMO

IAMO's International Research Group Ukraine has established its own website in March 2025. On the website you can find information on projects, publications, activities and research results of the research group. // read more //

Dr. Oleksandr Perekhozuk
Tel.: +49 345 2928-236
perekhozhuk(at)iamo.de

Dr. Taras Gagalyuk
Tel.: +49 345 2928-326
gagalyuk(at)iamo.de
Using digital technologies to research consumer behavior │ Photo: AI-generated with Leonardo.ai

New projects started at IAMO:

“Enhancing Agricultural Value Chains through Digital and Immersive Technologies: Understanding Consumer Behavior” (AGRIIMMERSE) // read more //

Dr. Ivan Duric
Tel.: +49 345 2928-241
duric(at)iamo.de

“Navigating shocks and transformations in rural communities: An evolutionary resilience perspective from Central Asia” (CARe) // read more //

Dr. Nodir Djanibekov
Tel.: +49 345 2928-128
djanibekov(at)iamo.de


“Digital Transformation for Sustainable Development: German-Ukrainian Perspectives for Future Agricultural and Food Systems in Europe” (DigiAgrar_UA) // read more //

Dr. Oleksandr Perekhozhuk
Tel.: +49 345 2928-236
perekhozhuk(at)iamo.de


“The agricultural policy trilemma in post-soviet countries: Cultivating growth amidst complexity” (TRILEMMA) // read more //

Prof. Dr. Thomas Herzfeld
Tel.: +49 345 2928-100
herzfeld(at)iamo.de

Honors

Chanxing Dong (l.) and Atabek Umirbekov (r.) │ Photos: Markus Scholz © IAMO

IAMO researchers Chanxing Dong and Atabek Umirbekov won 5th place in the “Explainability and Communication Bonus Track” category of a data science competition on water supply forecasting organised by DrivenData. // read more //

Dr. Changxing Dong
Tel.: +49 345 2928-315
dong(at)iamo.de

Atabek Umirbekov
Tel.: +49 345 2928-338
umirbekov(at)iamo.de

Publications

IAMO researchers edited a new issue of Ukraine-Analysen entitled “Challenges for Ukrainian Agriculture”. It discusses the state of Ukrainian agriculture, its labour market as well as the prospect of EU accession. // read more //

Dr. Franziska Hauff
Tel.: +49 345 2928-229
hauff(at)iamo.de

Dr. Taras Gagalyuk
Tel.: +49 345 2928-326
gagalyuk(at)iamo.de

News from IAMO institute

Social networks │ Photo: Rafael Henrique © AdobeStock

The institute is discontinuing its activities on the social media platform X. We are thus following the path of the Leibniz Association and other scientific institutions that have recently ended their activities on X. // read more //

Daniela Schimming
Tel.: +49 345 2928-330
schimming(at)iamo.de

Personalia

As part of his dissertation on regional inequality in the former Yugoslavia, IAMO researcher Magnus Neubert is spending a research semester at the Department of Economic History at the London School of Economics (LSE), UK. At the invitation of Max-Stephan Schulze, Professor of Economic History at the LSE, Magnus Neubert is continuing his work there and presenting his current research. The stay from January to April 2025 is funded by the Hans Böckler Foundation. +++ IAMO researchers Zhanli Sun and Kathleen Hermans were elected by the researchers to be the ombudspersons of the institute. The ombudspersons are the point of contact for discrepancies, suspicions and matters of dispute, who investigates allegations of scientific misconduct based on the IAMO guidelines of Good Scientific Practice. The role is taken on for a period of four years.
Staff of the institute │ Photo: Markus Scholz © IAMO

The position of Head of Personnel Administration (f/m/d) is to be filled at IAMO by 1 October 2025 (1 January 2026 at the latest). The application deadline is 31 March 2025. // read more //

Interested candidates can apply for three-month research fellowships and submit contributions for the workshop “Digital transformation in agriculture” in November 2025. Submission of applications is possible until 16 March 2025. // read more //

Selected publications

; ; (2025) Deep Reinforcement Learning in agent-based model AgriPoliS to simulate strategic land market interactions. Electronic Communications of the EASST (ECEASST) 83

; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; (2024) Conceptualizing sustainability and resilience in value chains in times of multiple crises: Notes on agri-food chains. Die Erde : Journal of the Geographical Society of Berlin 155 (1): 29-48.

; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; (2024) Future research directions for understanding the interconnections between climate change, water scarcity, and mobility in rural Central Asia. Climate and Development

; ; ; ; (2025) The stability of the global wheat trade in the post-Soviet space: A trade duration approach. German Journal of Agricultural Economics 73 (3)

; (2025) A reconsideration of the relationship between town size and well-being in Latin America. Applied Research in Quality of Life

; ; ; (2025) Optimizing machine learning models for wheat yield estimation using a comprehensive UAV dataset. Modeling Earth Systems and Environment 11 (1)

; ; (2025) Land property rights and investment incentives in movable farm assets: Evidence from post-Soviet Central Asia. Comparative Economic Studies

; ; ; (2025) Consumer preferences for sugar-sweetened beverages: Evidence rom online surveys and laboratory eye-tracking choice experiments. Food Policy 130

; ; (2025) The online portrayal of urban farmers: Professionals' perspectives on their influence on constructing farming-career paths. Journal of Rural Studies 115

(2024) Advancing a system-level perspective in stakeholder theory: Insights from the institutional economics of John R. Commons. Social Science Information 63 (4): 443-467.

// List of publications //

Published by:

Leibniz Institute of Agricultural Development in Transition Economies (IAMO)
Theodor-Lieser-Straße 2, 06120 Halle (Saale), Germany
www.iamo.de/en

Editors:

Public Relations
Email: presse(at)iamo.de

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