newsletter

Edition 1/2018, 29 March 2018

The IAMO Forum 2018 entitled “Large-scale agriculture – for profit and society?” takes place in Halle (Saale), Germany, from 27 to 29 June 2018. At the conference, experts from science, politics, civil society and agribusiness will discuss the drives, perspectives and challenges of large-scale farming and the increasing role of stakeholder interests. The geographical focus is on the transition countries of Eastern Europe, the Former Soviet Union, and East Asia as well as developed and emerging markets economies in Europe, America and Australia. Internationally recognized keynote speakers and discussants have been engaged, e.g.: Jörn Göbert, LFD Holding, Germany, Ruud Huirne, Rabobank, Netherlands, Mila Kletsky, Picking Alpha, Belgium, Alex Lissitsa, IMC SA, Ukraine, Aurélio Pavinato, SLC Agrícola SA, Brazil, Philipp Schreck, University of Halle-Wittenberg, Germany, Eugenia Serova, FAO Liaison Office, Russian Federation, Richard J. Sexton, University of California, USA, Oane Visser, Institute of Social Studies, Netherlands, Anna Catharina Voges, Saat-Gut Plaussig Voges KG, Germany, or Taras Vysotskyi, UCAB, Ukraine. The event is jointly organized by the department of Structural Development of Farms and Rural Areas of IAMO, DLG e.V. and the Ukrainian Agribusiness Club (UCAB), and is funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG) and the Leibniz ScienceCampus “Eastern Europe - Global Area” (EEGA).

Early bird tickets at reduced rates of 270 euros (regular 345 euros) will be available until 11 May 2018. Bachelor and master students get special rates. Please find registration details and further conference information here.

IAMO Forum 2018
Large-scale agriculture – for profit and society?
27 – 29 June 2018 | IAMO, Halle (Saale) | Germany
www.iamo.de/forum/2018
#iamoForum18

Contact:
Franziska Schaft
Tel.: +49 345 2928-229
forum2018(at)iamo.de

In co-operation with the Institute of Scientific Research on Economic Reforms (ISRER), IAMO is organizing a conference under the topic “Agriculture trade and foreign investments for sustainable regional integration in Caucasus and Central Asia“ from 6 to 7 September 2018 in Baku, Azerbaijan. The event serves as a platform where researchers, representatives of ministries as well as local and German companies can discuss possibilities for regional integration in the Caucasus and Central Asia and the opportunity to increase agricultural exports from these countries. In addition, prospects for increasing the investment options of European companies in the agricultural and food sectors will also be discussed. The workshop will be conducted in English as well as in Russian in order to provide opportunity to employees of government agencies and company representatives to present their opinions. The BAKU Conference receives financial support from the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD).

Extended abstracts may be submitted until 11 May 2018. Further information on the conference and the call for submissions can be found here.

BAKU Conference
“Agriculture trade and foreign investments for sustainable regional integration in Caucasus and Central Asia“
6 – 7 September 2018 ǀ Baku, Azerbaijan
www.iamo.de/en/baku.conference

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

 

IAMO and IAK Agrar Consulting GmbH have been commissioned with the implementation of the second project phase of the German-Sino Agricultural Center (DCZ). Since 2015 the DCZ has been the key contact and information point for cooperation between Germany and China in the agricultural and food sector. From April 2018 onwards the second phase will expand the existing co-operation via its three main components, policy, economic and scientific dialogue. Targeted public relations, networking activities, workshops and conferences will support these activities. The measures will be realised on the part of the IAMO by director Thomas Glauben and the head of the China Group, Lena Kuhn. The IAMO China International Research Group has been investigating the process of transformation in the Chinese agricultural and food sector since 2008. The DCZ is a joint initiative of the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL) and the Chinese Ministry of Agriculture (MoA). Further information can be found here.

Contact:
Thomas Glauben
Tel.: +49 345 2928 -210
glauben(at)iamo.de

 

In April 2018 a three-year project on “Sustainability of research software AgriPoliS“ (AgriPoliS2020) will commence at IAMO. In the past 20 years the software AgriPoliS has contributed to the findings of numerous research projects and is currently applied in the EU H2020 project SURE-Farm and DFG Research Unit FORLand, in which the resilience of EU farming systems and agricultural land markets are analyzed. The existing AgriPoliS versions are now to be unified to form a standard version, which can be expanded in modular form and adapted flexibly to future research projects and users. The objective of the project is to establish an information infrastructure for AgriPoliS, expand the circle of users, facilitate use, standardise its code, improve the accessibility of model results as well as to ensure transparency and reproducibility of research findings. The new standard version of AgriPoliS in combination with the information structure sustainably improves quality, thereby facilitating future applications and extensions. The project is supported by the German Research Foundation (DFG).

Contact:
Franziska Appel
Tel.: +49 345 2928 -117
appel(at)iamo.de

 

Titled “Commercialization of smallholder farms in Kosovo”, November 2017 saw the launch of a research project investigating the situation of small and family-run farming operations in Kosovo. As a result of unfavourable market conditions and the strong fragmentation of agricultural land, the majority of smallholder farms find it difficult to modernise or grow. The study will shed light on the driving forces and obstacles to commercialisation of small farms as well as willingness of farmers to co-operate and integrate into the market. In addition, IAMO researchers will also investigate whether policy decisions within the country can promote farm commercialisation and improve farm incomes. The project is scheduled to last one year and is funded by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).

Contact:
Judith Möllers
Tel.: +49 345 2928 -245
moellers(at)iamo.de
 

In preparation for the research project “Increasing climate resilience via agricultural insurance – Innovation transfer for sustainable rural development in Central Asia” (KlimALEZ), the project members visited the Republic of Kyrgyzstan in January 2018. In co-operation with German and local insurance companies, the project aims at carrying out the piloting of index-based agricultural insurance in the countries Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. The project supports the respective national governments and co-operating insurance companies in the implementation of a sustainable, nationwide insurance programme. Researchers Ihtiyor Bobojonov and Lena Kuhn met with the Deputy Minister for Agriculture of the Republic of Kyrgyzstan, Janybek Kerimaliev, to exchange experiences. As the country’s government is currently planning a reform of the insurance sector, it displayed great interest in the initiative to IAMO. The project is planned for duration of three years and receives funding from the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF).

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

 

The DAAD founded project ”Global trade reversal – Trade barriers between East and West: Impact analysis on Serbian agri-food trade” (GTRS) was successfully finished after two years of intensive collaboration between IAMO and the Faculty of Agriculture from Belgrade, Serbia. The main aim of the project was to facilitate the exchange of knowledge between IAMO researchers and students (bachelor and master) from the Faculty of Agriculture. The main research focus was on assessing the impact of trade barriers on domestic and international markets of agri-food products. In order to observe the agricultural trade between Serbia and Russia more closely, a database was established for the prices and trading data of various agricultural products in Serbia. In the scope of this analysis several young Serbian researchers visited IAMO. The findings that they obtained were published in several Serbian trade journals. As a continuation of joined activities between IAMO and the Faculty of Agriculture, a workshop on the subject “Food 4.0 and globalization: Chances and challenges for Western Balkan - Consumers’ role in changing global food supply chains” will be organized in Belgrade on 26 and 27 April 2018.

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

 

In the scope of the International Green Week in Berlin, Germany, researchers from IAMO met representatives of the governments of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Republic of Uzbekistan for talks on 19 January 2018. IAMO director Thomas Glauben spoke to the Azerbaijan Deputy Minister for Agriculture, Seyfaddin Talibov, and the Ambassador of the Republic of Azerbaijan, H.E. Ramin Hasanov, about the expansion of bilateral research co-operation and increased collaboration in agricultural training, in particular with the State Agrarian University.
During a meeting with the Deputy Minister for Agriculture and Water Resources of the Republic of Uzbekistan, Otabek Mustafayev, the IAMO delegation led by director Thomas Glauben and deputy head of department Agricultural Policy, Martin Petrick, discussed the planning and implementation of research projects as well as the future support by the Uzbek government.

Contact:
Thomas Glauben
Tel.: +49 345 2928 -210
glauben(at)iamo.de

 

IAMO places particular emphasis on sustainable development in the fields of research, environment, society and personnel. The “Sustainability management in extra-university research organisations” (LeNa) handout addresses relevant areas of action at IAMO, integrating measures derived into the research and operational processes of the institute. Since 2016 the challenges associated with this have been addressed by the Sustainability working group, comprising researchers and administration staff. Last year saw the working group conduct several information events at the institute, focusing on research management and personnel law. Since the beginning of the year IAMO has exclusively used green electricity, an environmentally-friendly and sustainable source of energy. In 2018 there will be a particular focus on questions concerning research ethics, data security, sustainable procurement and the avoidance and separation of waste. Offers planned for employees include a continuation of the “Career Perspectives for Post-Docs” event and health management initiatives.

Contact:
Stephanie Garling
Tel.: +49 345 2928 -410
garling(at)iamo.de
 

The institute is optimising its (internal) communication with the introduction of the IAMO Wiki, the IAMO Cloud and the tea@2 event.

The IAMO Wiki is the new digital information centre for employees at the institute. It is established in bilingual form in English and German and is maintained and expanded continuously and jointly by administration and research staff. Information, forms and templates are centrally available for various focal points, such as representation of interests, services and rules. The most important information regarding arrival at IAMO and in the city of Halle (Saale), Germany, is received by new employees, together with the newly-designed welcome guide.

The new IAMO Cloud offers IAMO employees a secure means of saving and managing data as well as interacting with colleagues at the institute and external partners. The automatic synchronisation of multiple local devices also enables central access to a data stock that is consistently up to date. For employees this means greater data security, flexibility and mobility.

The tea@2 event has been held at IAMO at 14-day intervals since the beginning of the year. Here contributors can inform their colleagues about the numerous offers and new developments at the institute in the form of a short presentation. Over tea and coffee employees can discuss various subjects, including library services, scientific work, open access, IT and technology.

Contact:
Tim Illner
Tel.: +49 345 2928 -420
illner(at)iamo.de

 

Researcher Lijuan Miao received approval for an EU Marie Curie Fellowship in January 2018. Here she will carry out research on the subject “CROSSGRASS: Cross-border analysis of grassland greenness in Asia: Climate variations, grazing pressure, and land policy change“ in the department Structural Change at IAMO, with three months at the Geographical Institute of the Humboldt Universität zu Berlin. +++ Catalina Munteanu also received an EU Marie Curie Fellowship in February 2018. The project is entitled “EcoSpy: Leveraging the potential of historical spy satellite photography for ecology and conservation“ and will be carried out in co-operation with the Humboldt Universität zu Berlin. +++ Lena Kuhn was awarded the Luther Certificate in February 2018 by the University of Halle-Wittenberg for her outstanding research work. The researcher completed her dissertation on the subject “The Brink of Poverty - Efficiency and effectiveness of targeted social assistance for poverty reduction in rural China“ with the maximum grade of “summa cum laude” in summer 2017. +++ In March 2018 Katharina Loos successfully completed her part-time studies in “Library Management” at Potsdam University of Applied Sciences. She has been head of the library at IAMO since October 2017. +++ In the scope of the annual conference on equal opportunities Franziska Appel was appointed to the Speakers’ Council of Equal Opportunities Officers of the Leibniz Association on 8 March 2018. Together with Sylke Stutzriemer of the Leibniz Institute of Ecological Urban and Regional Development (IÖR), she represents section B “Economics, Social Sciences, Spatial Research”. +++ IAMO welcomes Sina Lehmann to press and public relations, Katja Bose to media design and proofreading, the researcher Osama Ahmed to the department Agricultural Markets and the PhD students Annamaria Hajdu, Xin Gao and Brian Beadle to the department Structural Change as new employees at the institute.

 

IAMO is looking for a student/research assistant (m/f) to work in the library, to commence as soon as possible. Closing date for applications is 31 March 2018. In addition, an internship is to be awarded for the practical semester in the technical department of IAMO, in the field of Business Informatics. Detailed information regarding the job advertisements can be found here.

 

all publications

IAMO Annual 2017

Download English | Download German

IAMO Discussion Paper

Oshakbayev, D., Taitukova, R., Petrick, M., Djanibekov, N. (2018): Kazakhstan's cotton sector reforms since independence. IAMO Discussion Paper No. 172, Halle (Saale). Download

Perekhozhuk, O., Glauben, T. (2017): Russian Food and Agricultural Import Ban: The Impact on the Domestic Market for Cattle, Pork and Poultry. IAMO Discussion Paper No. 170, Halle (Saale). Download

IAMO Studies on the Agricultural and Food Sector

Kloss, M. (2017): Factor productivity in EU agriculture: A microeconometric perspective. Studies on the Agricultural and Food Sector in Transition Economies, Vol. 89, Halle (Saale): IAMO. Download

Vantomme, K. (2017): Labour rationing of different farm types in Kazakhstan: A shadow price analysis. Studies on the Agricultural and Food Sector in Transition Economies, Vol. 88, Halle (Saale): IAMO. Download

Baisakova, N. (2017): Trade policy impacts on net wheat importers in the CIS: Three essays. Studies on the Agricultural and Food Sector in Transition Economies, Vol. 87, Halle (Saale): IAMO. Download

Burggraf, C. (2017): Russian demand for dietary quality: Nutrition transition, diet quality measurement, and health investment theory. Studies on the Agricultural and Food Sector in Transition Economies, Vol. 86, Halle (Saale): IAMO. Download

Further selected publications

Akramkhanov, A., Djanibekov, U., Nishanov, N., Djanibekov, N., Kassam, S. N. (2018): Barriers to sustainable land management in Greater Central Asia: With special reference to five former Soviet republics, in: Squires, V. R., Qi, L. (eds.): Sustainable Land Management in Greater Central Asia: An Integrated and Regional Perspective.

Bavorova, M., Unay Gailhard, I., Lehberger, M. (2017): Kunden kennen: Wer kauft beim Direktvermarkter und warum?, Hof direkt : Zeitschrift für Direktvermarkter, Jg. 27, Nr. 6, S. 56-57. Download

Bekchanov, M., Djanibekov, N., Lamers, J. P. (2018): Water in Greater Central Asia: A cross-cutting management issue, in: Squires, V. R., Qi, L. (eds.): Sustainable Land Management in Greater Central Asia: An Integrated and Regional Perspective.

Bobojonov, I. (Hrsg: German – Mongolian Cooperation Project Sustainable Agriculture) (2017): Development of index based crop insurance market in Mongolia. Download

Djanibekov, U., Van Assche, K., Boezeman, D., Villamor, G. B., Djanibekov, N. (2018): A coevolutionary perspective on the adoption of sustainable land use practices: The case of afforestation on degraded croplands in Uzbekistan, Journal of Rural Studies, Vol. 59, pp. 1-9. Download

Gagalyuk, T. (2017): Project Review: International Competence Center on Large Scale Agriculture at the Leibniz Institute of Agricultural Development in Transition Economies, Journal of Applied Management and Investments, Vol. 6, No. 2, pp. 147-150. Download

Gagalyuk, T. (2017): Strategic Role of Corporate Transparency: The Case of Ukrainian Agroholdings, International Food and Agribusiness Management Review, Vol. 20, No. 2, pp. 257-277. Download

Graubner, M., Ostapchuk, I. (2018): Efficiency and Profitability of Ukrainian Crop Production, Agriculture Policy Report, German-Ukrainian Agricultural Policy Dialogue No. 01/2018, Kiew. Download

Götz, L., Duric, I. (2018): Do export restrictions reduce domestic price volatility? Evidence from the wheat export controls in Kazakhstan, Russia and Ukraine, in: Pfaffenzeller, S. (ed.): Global Commodity Markets and Development Economics, Routledge Studies in Development Economics, S. 115-128.

Grau, A., Hockmann, H. (2018): Market Power in the German Dairy Value Chain, Agribusiness: An International Journal, Vol. 34, No. 1, pp. 93–111. Download

Hermans, F., Chaddad, F., Gagalyuk, T., Senesi, S., Balmann, A. (2017): The Emergence and Proliferation of Agroholdings and Mega Farms in a Global Context, International Food and Agribusiness Management Review, Vol. 20, No. 2, pp. 175-185. Download

Löw, F., Prishchepov, A.V., Waldner, F., Dubovyk, O., Akramkhanov, A., Biradar, C., Lamers, J.P.A. (2018): Mapping Cropland Abandonment in the Aral Sea Basin with MODIS Time Series. Remote Sens. Volume 10, Issue 2, 159. Download

Mertz, O., Grogan, K., Pflugmacher, D., Lestrelin, G., Castella, J.-C., Vongvisouk, T., Hett, C., Fensholt, R., Sun, Z., Berry, N., & Müller, D. (2017): Uncertainty in establishing forest reference levels and predicting future forest-based carbon stocks for REDD+. Journal of Land Use Science. Download

Miao, L., Müller, D., Cui, X., Ma, M. (2017): Changes in vegetation phenology on the Mongolian Plateau and their climatic determinants, PLOS ONE, Vol. 12, No. 12, pp. 1-13. Download

Möllers, J., Traikova, D., Bîrhalã, B. A.-M., Wolz, A. (2018): Why (not) cooperate? A cognitive model of farmers' intention to join producer groups in Romania, Post-Communist Economies, Vol. 30, No. 1, pp. 56-77. Download

Mukhamedova, N., Wegerich, K. (2018): The feminization of agriculture in post-Soviet Tajikistan, Journal of Rural Studies, Vol. 57, pp. 128–139. Download

Pe’er, G., Lakner, S., Müller, R., Passoni, G., Bontzorlos, V., Clough, D., Moreira, F., Azam, C., Berger, J., Bezák, P., Bonn, A., Hansjürgens, B., Hartmann, L., Lomba, A., Sahrbacher, A., Kleemann, J., Schindler, S., Schleyer, C., Schmidt, J., Schüler, S., Sirami, C., von Meyer-Höfer, M., Zinngrebe, Y. (Hrsg: German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv)) (2017): Is the CAP fit for purpose? : An evidence-based fitness-check assessment. Download

Piras, S., Vittuari, M., Möllers, J., Herzfeld, T. (2018): Remittance inflow and smallholder farming practices : The case of Moldova, Land Use Policy, Vol. 2018, No. 70, pp. 654-665. Download

Rungsuriyawiboon, S., Zhang, Y. (2018): Examining the Economic Performance of Chinese Farms: A Dynamic Efficiency and Adjustment Cost Approach, Economic Analysis and Policy, Vol. 57, pp. 74-87. Download

Sahrbacher, A., Hristov, J., Brady, M. (2017): A combined approach to assess the impacts of Ecological Focus Areas on regional structural development and agricultural land use, Review of Agricultural, Food and Environmental Studies, Vol. 98, No. 3, pp. 111-144. Download

Thompson, S., Valentinov, V. (2017): The neglect of society in the theory of the firm: a systems theory perspective. Cambridge Journal of Economics 41 (4): 1061-1085. Download

Uhl, K. M., Perekhozhuk, O., Glauben, T. (2018): Russian market power in international wheat exports: Evidence from a residual demand elasticity analysis, Journal of Agricultural & Food Industrial Organization, No. online. Download

Wang, X., Bai, Y., Zhang, L., Rozelle, S. (2017): Migration, schooling choice and student outcomes in China, Population and Development Review, Vol. 43, No. 4, pp. 625–643. Download

 

Current reports from IAMO can be found in the next edition of the IAMO newsletter in June 2018, on our website www.iamo.de/en as well as on facebook and twitter.
 

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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