On Saturday, November 17 the Center for Development Research will open its doors beyond office hours. From 11 am to 4 pm, we will give those interested in the research center’s activities an opportunity to look in.

We will give you as a visitor a chance to get an overview of ZEF’s research projects, among other our projects on water use in West Africa, land use in Uzbekistan and biodiversity in Ethiopia, as well as of other research foci. Besides, talks will be held on Coffee in Ethiopia and on our work in Afghanistan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan.

We will also offer some activities for the small ones, including two workshops and a painting contest.

We hope to welcome you in our building at the Walter-Flex-Strasse 3 in 53113 Bonn.

You can reach us by subway 16/63 or 66 stop “Heussallee / Museumsmeile”.

Looking forward to seeing you on November 17!

The ongoing process of deforestation of the Ethiopian rainforests seems to be a non-issue in the current debate on global environmental change. In its latest policy brief titled “The deforestation of Ethiopia’s rainforests – reasons for concern”, the Center for Development Research (ZEF) of the University of Bonn relates why it certainly is and should be an issue.

In this short paper the author, ZEF senior researcher Franz Gatzweiler, has summarized arguments for debate and action and shows us the reasons why we ought and have to be concerned about the state of affairs of the mountain rain forests in Ethiopia. “The speed with which they disappear is worrisome and has an enormous negative impact on the status of biodiversity”, Gatzweiler concludes.

ZEF highlights its main research activities of the past decade in its latest report.

Our jubilee issue includes reports on our main research projects, on selected research areas, on the international graduate program, on our cooperation partners as well as on conferences and workshops taking place at ZEF during the last 10 years.

To read the "10 years of Development Research by ZEF" report please download it here:

On the occasion of this year’s “United Nations Day”, a celebration will take place on Bonn’s Market Square on Saturday, 20 October 2007, from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m where, among many others, ZEF will have a stand to present its work to the public.

The events and activities for this year’s “United Nations Day” focus on the first of the

eight millennium development goals – the fight against starvation and poverty.

Additional information may be obtained from a brochure, which is available at all municipal offices or can be downloaded when clicking on "more".

We would kindly invite you to join us.

The project on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Wild Coffee in Ethiopia (CoCE), in which ZEF plays a major role, is organizing a workshop on landscape planning in the south west of Ethiopia. The worskshop takes place in Metu, Ethiopia, this week. The idea is to establish an official UNESCO biosphere reserve in the south west of Ethiopia to create a model region for sustainable development. The ultimate goal is to reduce poverty among the local population whereas to enable the protection and sustainable use of the natural resource coffee. For more information see the press release in German of the "Bundesamt für Naturschutz" (BfN):

On the occasion of its 10th anniversary, a two-day international conference on „Global Change and Human Development: Research and Action” is taking place at ZEF and in the Haus der Geschichte in Bonn on October 4-5. At the opening sessions on October 4 around 150 people attended the event. The rector of Bonn University and the mayor of Bonn as well as representatives of the Land NRW, the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) and the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) praised in their welcome addresses ZEF’s role in interdisciplinary research, as a capacity building institution and its profile as an international player. More information and link to picture gallery:

ZEFb Junior research and PhD student Donald Makoka from Malawi has been selected to the conference "Taking Action for the World’s Poor and Hungry People" on October 17-19, 2007, in Beijing, China to present a paper on “A Malawian national conducting research on Risk, risk management and vulnerability to poverty at the household level in Malawi".