Lecture on the use of agricultural system models for exploring technological innovations across scales in Africa

October 1, 2015 | 13:30 h - 14:30 h

We cordially invite you to our next public lecture with

Prof. Dr. Reimund P. Rötter, Natural Resources Institute Finland – Luke, jointly with Dr. Marrit van den Berg, Associate Professor, Department of Development Economics, Wageningen University,

on "The use of agricultural system models for exploring technological innovations across scales in Africa”

Date: Thursday, October 1, 2015, 1:30 – 2:30 p.m.
Venue: Zentrum für Entwicklungsforschung / Center for Development Research (ZEF), Walter-Flex-Straße 3, 53113 Bonn (see <link>map), right conference room, ground floor.

The lecture is chaired by Joachim von Braun, director at ZEF.

Abstract:

Within ZEF’s Program of Accompanying Research for Agricultural Innovation (PARI), ex ante evaluation of agro-technological innovations (ag-TIs) to support agricultural production and food security taking into account climate-induced risks, plays an important role. As a first step, PARI designed an independent collaborative study to provide an overview of existing ex ante evaluations of the effects of technological innovations on sustainable agriculture and food security indicators.

Results of this critical review are based on three systematic reviews on the use of (i) biophysical modelling (ii) bio-economic modelling at farm scale and (iii) agro-economic modelling at higher aggregation levels in studies published during 1995-2014. Emphasis was on model applications to smallholder farming systems in Africa, which turned out to be relatively scarce –especially considering integrated (bio-economic) modelling at farm scale. Coverage of African sub-regions and ag-TIs varied markedly. Most studies were found for East and West Africa, followed by Southern Africa; while hardly anything was found for Northern and middle Africa. Apart from closing data gaps and carrying out specific model improvements, the way ahead for modelling technological innovations lies in multi-scale integrated analysis with more attention and proper linkages to the farm household level.

About the speaker:

<link https: fi.linkedin.com pub>Dr. Reimund Rötter, who holds a PhD in ecology and geo-sciences, is currently a professor at the Natural Resources Institute Finland, but spent most of his professional life at Wageningen University. He has also profound work experience at African and Asian agricultural research centers. His research interests lie in understanding and finding solutions for the multi-facetted challenges of achieving food security in a changing climate under increasingly limited resource availability for the major agricultural systems of the world. He is very active in the agricultural system modelling community – among others, coordinates the crop modelling component and co-leads the European knowledge hub FACCE MACSUR (<link typo3 www.macsur.eu>www.macsur.eu), and is strongly involved in the Agricultural Model Intercomparison Project (AgMIP) (<link typo3 www.agmip.org>www.agmip.org).

<link https: www.wageningenur.nl de personen marrit-van-den-berg.htm>Dr. Marrit van den Berg is a development and agricultural economist who hold a PhD in development economics. She is currently associate professor at Wageningen University, where she spent most of her professional life. Her research focuses on the livelihood of rural households in areas with imperfect markets with special attention for food and nutrition security, (off-farm) diversification and coping with shocks. She has research experience in Central America, Asia, and Africa, and is involved in several projects assessing the impact of development interventions as project leader, project coordinator, and senior researcher.

Entrance to the lecture is free, no registration is required. We are looking forward to seeing you at ZEF on October 1!