GFFA 2019: Expert panel on the use of technology against the drought

As part of the Global Forum for Food and Agriculture (GFFA) a panel discussion entitled "Going digital against the drought - New technologies and challenges in their implementation" will take place at the CityCube Berlin, Germany, on 18 January 2019. Drought is no longer an issue that only threatens the livelihoods of the rural population in arid and semi-arid regions. As the last summer has demonstrated, such periods of drought have now reached the temperate climate of Central Europe. Effective countermeasures by governments, business and science require the use of state-of-the-art technology in order to record and analyse exact yield data. Against this background, the expert panel will discuss previous experiences, digital solutions and implementation obstacles in various regions, especially in Ukraine, Southeast Europe, Central Asia and China. The event is organised by IAMO together with the German Agribusiness Alliance at the German Eastern Business Association. Registration is possible until 15 January 2019.

Global Forum for Food and Agriculture (GFFA) 
Going digital against the drought - New technologies and challenges in their implementation
18 January 2019 | CityCube Berlin, Germany
www.gffa-berlin.de/en 

Contact: 
Daniela Schimming
Tel.: +49 345 2928-330
[email protected]

IAMO Forum 2019: Call for Submissions

From 26 to 28 June 2019 IAMO in Halle (Saale) will once again be the venue for the IAMO Forum, which will address the issue of "Small farms in transition: how to stimulate inclusive growth?". Papers may be submitted until 10 February 2019. The focus of the conference will be upon the developments and challenges facing small agricultural enterprises in Europe, Central Asia and China. With a size of less than 2 hectares, these farms produce more than a third of global food. Nevertheless, in agricultural policy funding programmes they are favoured to a lesser degree than medium-sized and large operations. Experts from the fields of business and science discuss the role of small farms together with opportunities and challenges within the context of agricultural and state political conditions. The call for submissions and further information regarding the conference can be viewed here. 

The IAMO Forum 2019 is organised by the IAMO External Environment for Agriculture and Policy Analysis department in co-operation with the World Bank.

IAMO Forum 2019
Small farms in transition: How to stimulate inclusive growth?
26 - 28 June 2019 │ Halle (Saale) │Germany
www.iamo.de/forum/2019
#iamoForum19

Contact:
Anna Feshchenko
Tel.: +49 345 2928-121
[email protected] 

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IAMO researcher receives Max Weber Prize

On 3 December Johanna Jauernig, a research associate at IAMO, was awarded the Max Weber Prize for Economic Ethics. The prize is awarded by the German Economic Institute (IW) for outstanding work by young scientists in the field of economic and corporate ethics. In her dissertation "Using Experiments in Ethics. An Inquiry Into the Dark Side of Competition", submitted at the TUM School of Management (Technical University of Munich), she addressed the methods of economic experiments in ethics and conducted experiments on competition and anti-social behaviour. She is researching the ethics and economics of the agricultural sector at IAMO. She recently spent two months as a guest researcher atMichigan State University establishing future research co-operation in the scope of the FORLand project, which investigates the function and efficiency of agricultural land markets. 

Contact:
Johanna Jauernig
Tel.: +49 345 2928-136 
[email protected]

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PASANOA project completed successfully with workshop in Buenos Aires

The project "Pathways to sustainable land management in Northern Argentina (PASANOA)"ended with a final dissemination workshop at the National Agricultural Technology Institute (INTA) in Buenos Aires in October 2018. Numerous delegates from politics, science and non-governmental organisations from the field of nature conservation took part in the workshop to communicate project results, to discuss political consequences and to identify research gaps that warrant collaborative research projects in the future. Over the past 20 years, Argentina has developed into a major producer and exporter of agricultural products, but this has entailed considerable environmental costs. The aim of the project was to find sustainable solutions that reconcile agricultural production, biodiversity conservation and other ecosystem services. The PASANOA project was carried out by Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin in cooperation with IAMO and funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) for three years. 

The event was broadcasted on the YouTube channel of INTA and the complete recording of this broadcast can be accessed here.

Contact:
Daniel Müller
Tel.: +49 345 2928-328 
[email protected]

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Fourth Sino-German Agricultural Week in Beijing

The fourth Sino-German Agricultural Week took place in Beijing from 26 to 28 November 2018.With this year's motto "Science & Technology Leading Green Development", over forty speakers presented papers, drawn from theory and practice, on current innovations in the field of arable farming and animal husbandry. The aim of the event was to exchange experiences on the development of sustainable agriculture and to initiate a dialogue and specific co-operation between the over 120 Chinese and German participants from the fields of science, business and politics. Particular focus lay on the themes of digitalisation and agriculture 4.0. The event is an activity of the German-Sino Agricultural Centre (DCZ), an initiative of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of the People's Republic of China (MARA) and the German Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL). The German activities of the DCZ are undertaken by IAK Agrar Consulting and IAMO.

Contact: 
Lena Kuhn
Tel.: +49 345 2928-323 
[email protected] 

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EuroTier 2018: Opportunities and risks on the pork markets in Russia and China

At this year's EuroTier in Hanover, Germany, IAMO and the German Agribusiness Alliance at the German Eastern Business Association hosted an expert forum entitled "Trends in global pork markets in light of the Russian import ban" on 16 November 2018. Experts from science and business talked about the opportunities and challenges of exporting pork to Russia and China. IAMO scientist Maximilian Heigermoser gave an overview of the current situation on the Russian pork market. Olga Kylina, Temperi legal services, discussed in her presentation the best strategies for the German food industry in dealing with Russian food sanctions. In comparison, Wolfgang Etzl of Big Dutchman International, the world market leader for housing equipment for poultry and pigs, reported on the opportunities and risks involved in exporting pork to China. The event was moderated by Per Brodersen, German Agribusiness Alliance, OAOEV.

Contact:
Linde Götz
Tel.: +49 345 2928-327
[email protected] 

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Conference on sustainable agricultural development along the Silk Road

From 30 October to 1 November 2018 over 180 participants from 20 countries took part in a conference in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, to discuss the role of the economic and social sciences in sustainable agricultural development in Central Asia.The findings of a series of current research projects were revealed in around 60 presentations and a panel discussion held by the International Press Club and broadcast on television. Entitled "Social science knowledge and sustainable agricultural development along the Silk Road", the conference was jointly organised by IAMO and the Tashkent Institute of Irrigation and Agricultural Mechanization Engineers (TIIAME). The event was sponsored by the Volkswagen Foundation in the scope of the "Institutional change in land and labour relations of Central Asia's irrigated agriculture" (AGRICHANGE) project, which aims to strengthen cross-regional co-operation between social and economic scientists together with joint learning within an interdisciplinary and intercultural research team.

Contact:
Nodir Djanibekov
Tel.: +49 345 2928 -128
[email protected]  

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Workshop analysed central questions of animal husbandry in Central Asia



From 22 to 27 October 2018 an intensive workshop of Central Asian scientists took place in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. The workshop dealt with important issues for cattle and dairy farmers, e.g. how to ensure a reliable, year-round supply of animal feed, which marketing channels are suitable for farmers and in which value chains they are integrated. Numerous partners from Central Asian countries met in Bishkek to discuss their field work and analyse survey data from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan. They reported on excursions, presented results from qualitative research and experiences in conducting surveys in their home countries. A highlight of the workshop was an excursion during which various types of livestock farmers were visited and interviewed. The results of the workshop were presented the following week at a conference co-organised by IAMO entitled "Social science knowledge and sustainable agricultural development along the Silk Road" in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. 


The workshop in Bishkek took place within the framework of the IAMO project “Revitalising animal husbandry in Central Asia: a five-country analysis” (ANICANET) at the University of Central Asia in Bishkek and was financially supported by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF).


Contact:

Nozilakhon Mukhamedova 

Tel.: +49 345 2928-216 

[email protected] 

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Workshop on Agriculture Trade and European Partnership

The workshop "Agriculture Trade and European Partnership for Sustainable Development in Central Asia" took place in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, on 29 October 2018. The workshop aimed to better understand the regional development trends in Central Asian countries and discuss the business opportunities for European companies. Tremendous changes are occurring in the policy and economy of Central Asian countries during the recent years. Especially, increasing agricultural export to neighbouring countries and the world market is considered as one of the important policies in the region to diversify their economies. Although, considerable achievement are obtained in the agricultural sectors of these countries, supply chains and trade infrastructure need to be further developed that Central Asian countries could boost their agricultural exports. Therefore, Central Asian countries nowadays are inviting international investors to support them to develop export infrastructure including processing, packaging, storage and certification. Furthermore, the possible options of involving German companies in the agricultural supply chains were discussed. 

The event has been organized by IAMO in cooperation with the Tashkent State Agrarian University (TDAU) with the financial support of Leibniz ScienceCampus "Eastern Europe - Global Area" (EEGA).

Contact:
Ihtiyor Bobojonov 
Tel.: +49 345 2928 -247
[email protected]

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Opening of the German-Uzbek Chair of International Agriculture

October saw the inauguration of a joint chair of international agriculture by the Tashkent State Agrarian University (TDAU) and IAMO. The joint chair in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, was founded in the scope of the IAMO IPReS project, which aims to contribute to the modernisation of the educational and research systems in Uzbekistan. At the ceremonial inauguration IAMO researcher Lena Kuhn and Ihtiyor Bobojonov stressed the importance of the chair not only for co-operation in the scientific field but also for the conducting of empirical studies and the establishment of partnerships with German and Uzbek companies. 

Three PhD students and two research associates will work at the newly-established chair. The vacancies can be viewed here. The project is supported by the Volkswagen Foundation.

Contact:
Ihtiyor Bobojonov
Tel.: +49 345 2928 -247
[email protected]

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Project to promote agricultural research and further training in the Ukraine gets underway

In autumn 2018 the German-Ukrainian “Pilot project for the sustainable internationalization of Ukrainian research structures in the context of the globalization of the Ukrainian food sector”(UaFoodTrade) was opened at the Kyiv School of Economics (KSE) in the presence of numerous guests from the fields of politics, business and science. Sponsored by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), the project aims to link up agricultural research institutions in Ukraine internationally and increase the quality of research and training in the agricultural and food economy. Excellent knowledge and the improved transfer of findings to practice are key prerequisites for the economic development of the country. The centrepiece of the project is a team jointly comprising IAMO and KSE researchers. 

Within the scope of the project numerous summer schools and workshops are planned at the KSE, with these also open to undergraduates and PhD students from other Ukrainian research establishments. An initial workshop in October had the goal of conveying advanced knowledge in the field of analysis of food demand. The investigation of economic decisions in agricultural households is particularly significant in the case of Ukraine, as a large amount of agricultural production there is still undertaken by private households.

Contact:
Oleksandr Perekhozhuk 
Tel.: +49 345 2928-236 
[email protected]

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Team of IAMO authors drafts latest Russia analysis regarding food embargo

Against the background of the renewed extension of the Russian food embargo to the end of 2019, IAMO researchers Linde Götz, Ihtiyor Bobojonov, Maximilian Heigermoser, Tinoush Jaghdani and Alisher Tleubayev have published Russia analyses entitled “In the shadow of Russian food sanctions: trends in the Russian agricultural sector and German-Russian business relations”. The articles report the findings of the IAMO project “Analysis of the strategy of the Russian Federation to expand agricultural production” (STARLAP), which was funded by the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL) and the Federal Office for Agriculture and Food (BLE). The project aimed to investigate the effects of Russian agricultural and trade policy on the agricultural and food sector in Russia as well as its knock-on effects for the EU and Germany. The first article provides an overview of the latest developments in the markets and value chains for pork, milk and cereals in Russia. A further article presents the findings of a survey of Russian and German companies on the business and investment climate in the Russian agricultural sector, conducted in collaboration with the German Committee on Eastern European Economic Relations. 

Contact:
Linde Götz 
Tel.: +49 345 2928-327 
[email protected] 

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New text book on employment of foreign skilled workers published

IAMO researchers have published a text book on agricultural personnel management in the context of international migration. Demographic transition in the rural areas of Germany is increasingly causing problems for agricultural enterprises with regard to the supply of junior employees and skilled workers. More and more operations are therefore looking to the integration of skilled foreign workers as a possible alternative. The new text book offers the necessary background knowledge for the complex decision making process. The chapters detail the current framework conditions of the German labour market, with a particular focus on migration, also conveying a theoretical basis and practical areas of application for personnel and skills management in agriculture and investigating the potential of foreign labour using the examples of the two countries of origin Bulgaria and Russia. The text book is aimed in particular at lecturers at colleges and universities as well as further training establishments for management personnel.

The full text of the book is available free of charge from the Universitätsverlag Halle-Wittenberg (only in German).

Contact:
Martin Petrick
Tel.: +49 345 2928-120 
[email protected] 

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Personalia

Judith Möllers assumed the position of Deputy Head of the IAMO Agricultural Policy department in October 2018. +++ Director Stephanie Garling was elected Deputy Spokesperson of the Leibniz Association Administrative Committee in October. +++ The new contact for the IAMO Graduate School as of this winter semester is Franziska Schaft +++ In the scope of her PhD course, on 26 November 2018Franziska Appel successfully defended her dissertation on the subject “Between path dependence and path creation: The impact of farmers' behavior on structural change in agriculture”. +++ IAMO researcher Gulmira Gafarova also successfully defended her dissertation on the subject “Price discrimination and market power in the international wheat market: The case of Kazakhstan, Russia and Ukraine” on 8 October 2018. +++ The following individuals have been appointed to the Scientific Advisory Board of the institute: Miranda Meuwissen (Professor at the Department of Social Science Wageningen, Netherlands), Katarzyna Zawalinska (Professor at the Economic Modelling Department, Polish Academy of Sciences Warsaw, Poland) Sebastian Hess (Professor at the Institute of Agricultural Economics, Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel). The Board of Trustees also agreed to a second term of office for the Chairperson Martin Banse (Director and Professor at the Thünen Institute of Market Analysis, Braunschweig) for the period 01/10/2018 to 30/09/2022. +++ IAMO welcomes Xiaowen Dai as guest researcher in the Structural Change department, the doctoral students Janine Läpple (Agricultural Policy) and Maximilian Müller (Agricultural Markets) as well as Anna Feshchenko as co-ordinator of the IAMO Forum 2019.

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Vacancies

IAMO is looking for several PhD students (m/f) and one research assistant (m/f) for the project IPReS as well as a post-doctoral researcher (m/f) for the TRAFOBIT project at the earliest opportunity. IAMO also awards a doctoral scholarship on "Perceptions of inequality and its effects on subjective wellbeing" in the field of agricultural policy, a training place as part of a Bachelor of Science degree in computer science and an internship for the practical semester in business informatics. You can find detailed information on the job vacancies here. 

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Season's Greetings and a Happy New Year!

IAMO sends all its readers season's greetings and best wishes for a happy New Year. The latest news from IAMO will be available on our website www.iamo.de/en as well as on facebook and twitter until our next newsletter is published.

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