Under the motto "Germany and Africa working together for the future" the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) invited about 700 experts from Africa and Germany to participate in the Africa Days in Berlin held from February 16-18, 2014.

Read about ZEF's research and capacity development activities in the past year.

Our latest Annual Report offers an overview of ZEF's research and capacity development activities in the past year. It highlights research findings of our eight main research themes: Science policy, Governance, Water resources, Land use and food security, Renewable energy, Environmental and climate change, Mobility and migration and Health and sanitation.

Call for applications

The research is funded by BMZ and will focus on bioenergy, bioeconomy and food security to generate evidence-based policy advice on the nexus of energy, food, water and land at global and national levels.

ZEF initiated a new research project on bioenergy and food security. It is funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). This research project is conducting studies on bioenergy, bioeconomy and food security to generate evidence-based policy advice on the nexus of energy, food, water and land at global and national levels.

ZEF launched a new research initiative to strengthen science-based capacities for improving public health systems and risk assessment strategies in Uzbekistan. The research will be funded by the Volkswagenstiftung for a three-year period. Find more information on the project here.

ZEF's new director Christian Borgemeister co-authored an article in Current Biology 24, 1-5 on how parasites can drive their hosts such as mosquitoes to eating sugar. The article was featured in nature 505, 475, published online 22 January 2014.

With a talk on "Little enemies-unhealthy outcomes" Professor Christian Borgemeister was officially inaugurated at the University of Bonn and ZEF. The event was attended by around 100 guests from university, ministries, non-governmental and international organizations in Bonn.

Around 40 international experts met in Barcelona, Spain during December 10-12, 2013 to discuss emerging evidence on the effectiveness of forest conservation initiatives around the world. The workshop was jointly organized by ZEF and the Institute for Environmental Science and Technology (ICTA) at the Autonomous University of Barcelona. Watch videos and presentations here.

ZEF was officially inaugurated as the new secretariat of GlobalHort on January 13, 2104. On this occasion, Dr. J.D.H. Keatinge, Chair of the Board of Directors of GlobalHort and Director General of AVRDC (The World Vegetable Center), held a well-visited lecture on "The importance of horticulture for pro-poor development". Watch the video here.