newsletter

Edition 2/2018, 28 June 2018

The conference on the subject of “Large-scale agriculture – for profit and society” takes place in Halle (Saale) from 27 to 29 June 2018. The IAMO Forum 2018 provides insights into the underlying conditions, prospects and challenges facing large-scale agriculture, also addressing the increasing significance of social expectations in this respect. The title for the first day of the event is “The (re-) emergence of large-scale agriculture: drivers and determinants”. The sessions on the second day deal with the question “Can large-scale agriculture address stakeholder interests?”. On the final day of the conference CEOs of large agricultural enterprises from Eastern Europe and South America respond to the issue “Fit for the future: perspectives and challenges of large-scale agriculture”. In the concluding panel discussion experts from the fields of business and science/academia will discuss the economic and social aspects of large-scale agriculture. The conference programme can be viewed here.

The IAMO Forum 2018 is organised by the Department of Structural Development of Farms and Rural Areas at the IAMO in co-operation with DLG e.V. and the Ukrainian Agribusiness Club (UCAB). The conference receives financial support from the German Research Foundation (DFG), the state of Saxony-Anhalt, Rentenbank, Leibniz ScienceCampus “Eastern Europe – Global Area” (EEGA) and the city of Halle (Saale).

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) the IAMO is hosting a conference on “Agriculture Trade and Foreign Investments for Sustainable Regional Integration in Caucasus and Central Asia” in Baku, Azerbaijan, from 6 to 7 September 2018.  
The conference serves as a platform for researchers, representatives of ministries as well as local and German companies to interact with regard to opportunities for regional integration in the Caucasus and Central Asia. In addition, prospects for increasing the investment opportunities of European companies in the agricultural and food sector as well as the question of increasing agricultural exports from these countries are also to be discussed. Speakers from over 15 countries will present their research findings in six sessions. The conference will be held in both English and Russian and receive financial support from the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD).

Those interested in taking part can register their participation until 23 July 2018. Further information on the conference and the call for submissions: www.iamo.de/en/baku.conference

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

31 May saw the opening of the 2nd phase of the German-Sino Agricultural Center (DCZ) at the German Embassy in Beijing. The event, which was attended by around 90 representatives from the fields of science, politics and business, saw the signing of an implementation agreement between the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS) and the IAK-IAMO working group. Prior to this, in an initial meeting of the steering group activities until mid-2019 were planned.

The German-Sino Agricultural Center (DCZ) was founded in 2015 and is a joint initiative by the German Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL) and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of the People’s Republic of China (MARA) which aims at intensifying the political and economic relationship as well as promoting scientific cooperation and exchange of experts. The DCZ’s second project phase will be implemented by a consortium consisting of IAK Agrar Consulting GmbH and IAMO.

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

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

 

In the scope of a new doctoral programme on sustainable agricultural development in Central Asia (SUSADICA) 10 positions have been advertised for PhD students in the fields of Agricultural Economics, Development Studies, Environmental Science, Geography and related areas. In May the IAMO joined with Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg (MLU), the Tashkent Institute of Irrigation and Agricultural Mechanization Engineers (TIIAME) and the Regional Environmental Centre for Central Asia (CAREC, Kazakhstan) to announce the project, which is to begin in October 2018.
The programme is intended to serve as a model for higher standards of PhD training, international networking and academic yields for other disciplines and universities throughout Central Asia. The project is funded by the Volkswagen Foundation in Germany and the Ministry for Innovative Development as well as the Ministry of Agriculture of the Republic of Uzbekistan.

You can find further information about the job advertisements in the download section of the project site.

Contacts:
Martin Petrick
Tel.: +49 345 2928 -120
petrick(at)iamo.de

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

 

Since May research has been underway at the IAMO into preventing the banana disease Banana Xanthomonas Wilt, which causes damage valued at half a billion US dollars each year in Central and East Africa due to lost harvests. Plants stricken by the bacteria Xanthomonas wilt, their fruits ripen too quickly before subsequently rotting. At IAMO researcher Michel Kabirigi is working in the scope of his dissertation on methods of gaining data and generating knowledge, combining elements of information and communications technology (ICT) as well as citizen science in order to develop effective instruments to prevent and control BXW. The Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) is sponsoring the three-year project, which is being conducted primarily in Rwanda by the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA-Rwanda), with the support of the Rwanda Agriculture Board (RAB).

The cultivation and trading of bananas represents an indispensable source of income for more than 400 million people in developing countries. 

Contacts:
Zhanli Sun
Tel.: +49 345 2928-331
sun(at)iamo.de

Michel Kabirigi
Tel.: +49 345 2928-234
kabirigi(at)iamo.de 

 

A strong and future-capable agricultural sector is a key objective of the EU Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). In the scope of the SURE-Farm project a group of European scientists and academics, including a team from IAMO, is researching how agricultural systems can maintain their social functions in a sustainable and resilient manner in the face of uncertain and shifting underlying conditions. In a position paper that has now been published the project partners criticise the fact that the CAP is focused too much on attempting to strengthen agriculture with measures that are only effective in the short term. A more comprehensive view of the ability of the agricultural sector to ensure its social obligations in the long term should also promote the adaptability and transformability of the individual agricultural enterprises as well as the agricultural system as a whole, the current policy brief states.

SURE-Farm is a research project funded in the scope of the EU Horizon 2020 programme. It comprises 16 universities and research institutes from 11 European countries and is co-ordinated by Wageningen University & Research.

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

Alfons Balmann
Tel.: +49 345 2928-310
balmannl(at)iamo.de

 

From 17 - 21 September 2018 students are invited to attend a summer school in Bucharest, Romania, with the focus on “Institutional Economics and Agricultural Development”. The summer school is part of the ENHANCE project, which aims to reinforce the agronomic expertise of the University of Agronomic Sciences and Veterinary Medicine Bucharest (USAMV). This also includes research and consolidation courses for lecturers, stays of several months for the realisation of joint research projects and the exchange of research and publication strategies. The goal is to raise the educational level of the USAMV to international standards, thereby promoting the sustainable development of agriculture and rural areas in Romania. The research project is funded with over 1 million euros from the European Commission.

You can find more information on this year’s summer school here.

Contacts:
Axel Wolz
Tel.: +49 345 2928 -114
wolz(at)iamo.de

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

 

In spring, a delegation from IAMO travelled to Moscow for bilateral talks, with the goal of expanding co-operation with recognised research establishments and organisations. In the scope of the visit, which lasted several days, IAMO Director Thomas Glauben and IAMO researchers Ihtiyor Bobojonov, Ivan Duric and Oleksandr Perekhozhuk met with the heads of the German House for Research and Innovation Moscow (DWIH), the director of the Moscow office of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the president of the National Union of Food Exporters, the staff of the German Embassy in Moscow, the heads of the Russian Academy of Sciences and other acclaimed research establishments, to discuss options for research and further development of the agricultural sector in Europe and Asia. This saw the first considerations raised concerning the establishment of a sustainable joint platform for regular interaction and the staging of events as well as the joint addressing of research issues and projects.

Further information about the visit can be found here.

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

IAMO is supporting the establishment of an insurance laboratory (Insurance Lab) at Tashkent State Economic University (TSEU) in Uzbekistan. The Insurance Lab will function as an innovation hub for creating science-based empirical recommendations for policy makers and business partners. Increasing severity of climate risks in the region, fast dynamics of reforms as well as high speed of digitalization in the sector make identifying suitable insurance products based on empirical surveys difficult.
The Insurance Lab is a co-operation between the GROSS Insurance Company and the TSEU. IAMO provides scientific and technical support.

Closely related to the insurance laboratory is the IAMO project KlimAlez.

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

 

More than 80 administrative heads of Leibniz establishments met in spring for the 59th meeting of the administrative committee in Halle (Saale). IAMO joined with the Leibniz Institute of Plant Biochemistry (IPB) in welcoming the members to the city on the Saale. The administrative committee of the Leibniz Association serves to promote the exchange of experience amongst member institutions as well as joint policy formation in administrative matters. It draws up statements and recommendations for the board and steering committee and forms working groups to address issues concerning commercial, administrative, legal and financial matters. Topics of discussion in Halle included current developments in European research policy and opportunities to fund research via the EU as well as the evaluation process of the Leibniz Association and the effects of the Academic Freedom Act. Guests at the meeting at IAMO included the Secretary General of the Leibniz Association, Bettina Böhm and the head of the Europe office, Claudia Labisch.

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

In the scope of the workshop “Russia’s agricultural sector - between import substitution and export offensive”, on 19 June 2018 the IAMO presented research findings from two projects sponsored by the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture. Findings from the projects “Global food security and the cereal markets of Russia, Ukraine and Kazakhstan” (GERUKA) and “Analysis of the strategy of the Russian Federation to expand agricultural production” (STARLAP) were presented.
The focus lay upon current developments in agriculture in the Russian Federation and its integration into the global trade system. The analysis showed that Russian pork production has benefited greatly from being protected against cheap imports, as well as comprehensive subsidies. It is expected that Russian and German pork exporters will soon be competing against one another on the world markets. A less dynamic development can be seen in the Russian production of dairy and beef, as high macroeconomic and political instability play a major role here. In contrast, the success of the cereal sector is expected to culminate in the rise of Russia to become the world’s largest exporter of wheat.

Contacts:
Linde Götz
Tel.: +49 345 2928-327
goetz(at)iamo.de

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

In April 2018, the “Food 4.0 and Globalization: Opportunities and Challenges for the Western Balkans” workshop took place in Belgrade, Serbia. The objective of the workshop was to discuss the significance and current status of digitalisation in agricultural production, marketing and the sale of agricultural produce in the Western Balkans. The digital revolution has already brought enormous changes to the agricultural and food industry worldwide. Those involved in value chains in this sector need to adapt to technical progress if they are to remain competitive and enable innovation. The speakers agreed that the new information technology should ideally be incorporated into the processes of production, distribution and sale of agricultural and food products. The possible applications range from digital field mapping, GPS-guided agricultural machinery, precise weather forecasts and on to freely-available image databases and social media for optimised marketing and greater customer retention.

IAMO organised the event in collaboration with the Faculty of Agriculture of the University of Belgrade and the Leibniz ScienceCampus “Eastern Europe - Global Area” (EEGA).

The full report of the workshop can be found here.

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

Insurance companies, political decision makers and scientists from Germany and Central Asia met to discuss how the resistance of the Central Asian agricultural sector on climate risks, particularly drought, can be increased through innovation in the agricultural insurance market. In the workshop, which took place in the scope of the KlimAlez project in April at IAMO, there was avid discussion of the opportunities for co-operation between Central Asian insurance companies and German reinsurers, as well as the role of science as a mediator. The participants from Central Asia stressed the necessity of advising political decision makers on innovations in the insurance sector.

The event received financial support from ScienceCampus “Eastern Europe – Global Area” (EEGA).

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

 

On 6 July the 17th Long Night of the Sciences takes place in Halle. Once again, IAMO invites people to attend a varied and interesting programme, addressing topics from the agricultural and food sector. This year the focus is on transformation. For example, the interactive feature “From grain to bread” looks at the long process from the sowing of the cereal to the making of homemade bread. A small exhibition contrasts historic agricultural equipment with the latest high-tech machines. A stand run by the Zentrum für Fermentation demonstrates how, with a few ingredients and a little time, raw vegetables are transformed into foods that are not just healthy and tasty, but also have a long storage life. In addition, there are also lectures, a discussion on the future of plastic, a petting zoo and regional organic catering for refreshments. All are welcome!

Long Night of the Sciences 
6 July 2018 | IAMO, Halle (Saale)
5 pm-11 pm

Contact:
Sina Lehmann
Tel.: +49 345 2928 -329
presse(at)iamo.de
 

In the scope of the Sustainability working group, a group of IAMO academic and administrative staff has gathered to garden together. This provides an opportunity for staff to test their own green fingers with the sowing and nurturing of plants. In the time from April to June tomatoes, peas, courgettes and various herbs have flourished in the two beds of the institute. In addition, nasturtiums, petunias and other flowers also delight the bees and insects.

Contact:
Anke Blankenburg
Tel.: +49 345 2928 -419
blankenburg(at)iamo.de

 

IAMO welcomes its numerous new doctoral students to the institute: Celestine Muli, Christine Pitson, Florian Heinrich and Michel Kabirigi have been active in the Structural Change department since April. The Agricultural Markets department has been reinforced with the arrival of Laura Moritz and Sarvarbek Eltazarov (both on the KlimAlez project) as well as Olga Polonska (UAFoodTrade project). +++ A warm welcome also to the researchers working at the Kyiv School of Economics (KSE) in the scope of the UAFoodTrade project, Dr. Oleg Nivievskyi (project co-ordinator at the KSE), Oleksandr Donchenko (doctoral student), Roman Neyter (doctoral student), Pavlo Martyshev (doctoral student) and Valentyna Marusiak (project assistant) +++ In the scope of her PhD course, on 25 June 2018 Iryna Kulyk successfully publicly defended her dissertation on the subject “Analysis of impediments to grain export from Russia, Ukraine and Kazakhstan: three essays”. +++ Four excellent IAMO scientists successfully applied for MLU’s mentoring program for female academics and were chosen for this year’s group! For Yuzhe Yang, Franziska Appel, Gabi Waldhof and Johanna Jauernig this now means finding a suitable mentor in academia who will give them advice and support for their academic career throughout the next year. IAMO’s FEM-Power team congratulates these four outstanding scientists, and wishes them a rewarding year ahead!
 

IAMO is looking for doctoral students, research associates and student assistants (m/f) in the projects TRAFOBIT, SUSADICA, IPReS as well as for the IAMO Forum 2019. Detailed information regarding the job advertisements can be found here.
 

All publications

IAMO Annual 2017

Download English | Download German

IAMO Annual 2018

Download German

IAMO Discussion Paper

Appel, F., Balmann, A., Dong, C., Rommel, J. (2018): FarmAgriPoliS - An agricultural business management game for behavioral experiments, teaching, and gaming, IAMO Discussion Paper No. 173, Halle (Saale). Download

Petrick, M., Kloss, M. (2018): Identifying factor productivity from micro-data: the case of EU agriculture, IAMO Discussion Paper No. 171, Halle (Saale). Download

Further publications

Ahmed, O., Sallam, W. (2018): Studying the volatility effect of agricultural exports on agriculture share of GDP: The case of Egypt, African Journal of Agricultural Research, Vol. 13, No. 8, pp. 345-352. Download

Angelova, D., Becker, C., Hockmann, H. (2018): An indicator for nature-state detection in the state-contingent framework and the case of grain production in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany, Ecological Indicators, Vol. 89, pp. 422-437. Download

Bavorova, M., Traikova, D., Doms, J. (2018): Who are the farm shop buyers? A case study in Naumburg, Germany, British Food Journal, Vol. 120, No. 2, pp. 255-268. Download

Chabassier, L., Demoustier, J., Herzfeld, T. (2018): Aspekte der Agrarpolitik 2017, German Journal of Agricultural Economics, Jg. 67, Nr. Supplement, S. 1-15. Download

Chaddad, Fabio; Valentinov, Vladislav (2017) Agency Costs and Organizational Architecture of Large Corporate Farms: Evidence from Brazil. International Food and Agribusiness Management Review 20 (2): 201-219. Download

Duric, I., Götz, L., Svanidze, M., Glauben, T. (2018): Agricultural market integration in the Commonwealth of Independent States: What are the main driving forces and challenges?, in: Gokhan Egilmez (ed.): Agricultural Value Chain, S. 139-160. Download

Graubner, M. (2018): Lost in space? The effect of direct payments on land rental prices, European Review of Agricultural Economics, Vol. 45, No. 2, pp. 143–171. Download

Graubner, M. (Hrsg.) (2018): Stützen Direktzahlungen landwirtschaftliche Einkommen oder Pachtpreise? Download

Hanf, J. H., Gagalyuk, T. (2018): Integration of small farmers into value chains: Evidence from Eastern Europe and Central Asia, in: Gokhan Egilmez (ed.): Agricultural Value Chain, S. 181-197. Download

Hermans, F. (2018): The potential contribution of transition theory to the analysis of bioclusters and their role in the transition to a bioeconomy, Biofuels, Bioproducts and Biorefining, Vol. 12, No. 2, pp. 265–276. Download

Klümper, F., Theesfeld, I., Herzfeld, T. (2018): Discrepancies between paper and practice in policy implementation: Tajikistan's property rights and customary claims to land and water, Land Use Policy, Vol. 75, pp. 327-339. Download

Lesiv, M., Schepaschenko, D., Moltchanova, E., Bun, R., Dürauer, M., Prishchepov, A., Schierhorn, F., Estel, S., Kuemmerle, T., Alcantara, C., Kussul, N., Shchepashchenko, M., Kutovaya, O., Martynenko, O., Karminov, V., Shvidenko, A., Havlik, P., Kraxner, F., See, L., Fritz, S. (2018): Spatial distribution of arable and abandoned land across former Soviet Union countries, Scientific Data, Vol. 5, pp. 1-12. Download 

Levers, C., Müller, D., Erb, K., Haberl, H., Rudbeck Jepsen, M., Metzger, M. J., Meyfroidt, P., Plieninger, T., Plutzar, C., Stürck, J., Verburg, P. H., Verkerk, P. J., Kuemmerle, T. (2018): Archetypical patterns and trajectories of land systems in Europe, Regional Environmental Change, Vol. 18, No. 3, pp. 715-732. Download

Ma, M., Wang, H., Jia, P., Liu, R., Hong, Z., Labriola, L. G., Hong, Y., Miao, L. (2018): Investigation of inducements and defenses of flash floods and urban waterlogging in Fuzhou, China, from 1950 to 2010, Natural Hazards, Vol. 91, No. 2, pp. 803-818. Download

Mukhamedova, N. (2018): Frauen als Wassermeister? Arbeitsmigration und Feminisierung der Landwirtschaft in Tadschikistan und Usbekistan, Zentralasien-Analysen, Jg. 2018, Nr. 124, S. 2-5. Download

Mukhamedova, N. (Hrsg.) (2018): The sweet and bitter truths about women in agrarian Central Asia. Download

Petrick, M., Pomfret, R. (2018): Agricultural policies in Kazakhstan, in: Meyers, W., Johnson, T. (eds.): Handbook of International Food and Agricultural Policies, Volume I: Policies for Agricultural Markets and Rural Economic Activity, S. 461-482. Download

Tang, L., Liu, Q., Yang, W., Wang, J. (2018): Do agricultural services contribute to cost saving? Evidence from chinese rice farmers, China Agricultural Economic Review, Vol. 10, No. 2, pp. 323-337. Download

Verkerk, P. J., Lindner, M., Perez-Soba, M., Paterson, J., Helming, J., Verburg, P. H., Kuemmerle, T., Lotze-Campen, H., Moiseyev, A., Müller, D., Popp, A., Schulp, C., Stürck, J., Tabeau, A., Wolfslehner, B., van der Zanden, E. H. (2018): Identifying pathways to visions of future land use in Europe, Regional Environmental Change, Vol. 18, No. 3, pp. 817-830. Download

Yu, C., Huang, X., Chen, H., Huang, G., Ni, S., Wright, J. S., Hall, J., Ciais, P., Zhang, J., Xiao, Y., Sun, Z., Wang, X., Yu, L. (2018): Assessing the impacts of extreme agricultural droughts in China under climate and socioeconomic changes, Earth’s Future. Download

 

Current reports from IAMO can be found in the next edition of the IAMO newsletter in September 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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