Notice
Please note that our website is still under construction. Our apologies for any inconvenience.
Center for Development Research
The Center for Development Research (ZEF) is an institute of the University of Bonn, Germany. It started its research activities in 1997. ZEF researchers aim to find science-based solutions to promote sustainable development and planetary health. ZEF’s research divisions and groups conduct inter- and trans-disciplinary research in, for and with emerging economies and on global issues with its collaborating research partners around the world. ZEF educates and trains international doctoral students in its Doctoral Studies Program. ZEF is guided by an International Advisory Board.
Latest News
Counting the True Cost of Food: ZEF-workshop with stakeholders and policymakers in Entebbe, Uganda
Researchers, policymakers, and representatives from agricultural export companies and farmer associations gathered in Entebbe, Uganda on February 25-26 2026, for a workshop on “The True Cost of Food: Policies for Sustainable Production of Coffee and Other Export-Oriented Crops in East Africa.”
ZEF is deeply saddened by the passing of Professor Michael Bohnet (1937-2026)
Professor Michael Bohnet was one of the influential pioneers in the establishment of ZEF. As an Executive Director of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) he played a key role in designing the idea for ZEF in the mid-1990s.
Fariha Farjana defends doctoral thesis on Innovation adoption among smallholder farmers in Bangladesh
Fariha Farjana defended her doctoral thesis on “Innovation adoption among smallholder farmers in Bangladesh and effects on agricultural production and dietary quality”
Her doctoral degree was granted by the Faculty of Agricultural, Nutritional and Engineering Sciences of the University of Bonn
Her supervisor was Prof. Dr. Matin Qaim and her tutor Dr. Thanh-Tung Nguyen (ZEF ECON senior researcher)
Fariha about her research: “Increased farm output and production diversity do not necessarily mean improved dietary quality for smallholders. While digital access can improve farm performance and diets, certain labor-demanding farming practices, i.e. rice-aquaculture and structural barriers, such as land fragmentation, may inadvertently erode income potential and nutritional gains”.
Elza Samantha Elmira defended her doctoral thesis on The nutrition transition in low- and middle-income countries.
Elza Samantha Elmira has successfully defended her doctoral thesis on “The nutrition transition in low- and middle-income countries: The role of socioeconomic factors, culture, and the food environment”
Her doctoral degree was granted by the Faculty of Agricultural, Nutritional and Engineering Sciences at the University of Bonn
Her supervisor was Prof. Dr. Matin Qaim and her tutor: Dr. Bezawit Beyene Chichaibelu (ZEF senior researcher).
Elza about her research: “Building strong and healthy human capital goes beyond providing a plate of food. It requires understanding how socioeconomic conditions, cultural norms, and the food environment interact within households, across communities, and over time to shape health and nutrition”.
ZEF Research Projects
ZEF is running interdisciplinary research projects in Africa, Asia and Latin America.
Upcoming Events
ZEF CPC Colloquium: iakumama 2050
Hybrid: Genscherallee 3, ...
11:00 AM - 12:00 PM
This presentation will introduce “Iakumama 2050”, a new ZEF-CPC research project funded by the Volkswagen Foundation. Iakumama 2050 explores how “environmental ...
ZEF public lecture: poverty and livelihood choices
ZEF, Genscherallee 3, ...
01:30 PM - 02:30 PM
Aspirations - the forward-looking goals individuals set for their lives - have been increasingly considered as a concept for understanding poverty persistence ...
World Water Day Webinar
Online only
05:00 PM - 06:30 PM
In line with the UN’s 2026 World Water Day campaign ‘Where water flows, equality grows’, the Bonn Water Network invites you to its debate on changing roles of ...
Toward a political animism
Hybrid: Genscherallee 3, ...
01:30 PM - 02:30 PM
This lecture focuses on the struggles for water and biodiversity in a typical Andean ecosystem, the páramo. Focused specifically on the páramo of Santurbán, ...