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.” 

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 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 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”.   

Chrispinus Mutsami successfully defended his doctoral thesis on Off-farm employment, gender, and nutrition in rural Africa. Chrispinus’ doctoral degree was granted by the Faculty of Agricultural, nutritional, and engineering sciences, University of Bonn. His supervisor was Prof. Dr. Matin Qaim and his work was tutored by Dr. Martin Parlasca. Chrispinus about his doctoral research: “Off-farm jobs are not a side story in rural Africa — they are central to reducing poverty, improving nutrition, and empowering women. But policies need to be gender-sensitive to make those opportunities real and accessible.” Chrispinus draws on publicly available panel datasets and original survey data from several African countries to examine how rural households diversify their income sources and the welfare implications of off-farm employment. His research places strong emphasis on gender dynamics, particularly women’s participation in off-farm work and its effects on household income, consumption patterns, and dietary quality. The research findings show that off-farm activities constitute a substantial share of rural household income and that women’s engagement in wage and self-employment is positively associated with improved calorie and micro-nutrient intake at both household and individual levels. At the same time, the research highlights gender-differentiated labor responses to agricultural technologies and the potential for off-farm employment to increase women’s work burdens, underscoring the need for gender-sensitive rural employment and agricultural policies

Investigating and combining new and existing technologies with Indigenous knowledge systems – that is the aim of ‘iakumama 2050.’ The new research project by the Center for Development Research at the University of Bonn (ZEF) pursues the goal of developing scenarios for how humans and nature can live together in regions affected by armed conflicts and raw material extraction. The Volkswagen Foundation is funding the project, which begins in July 2026 and will then be funded for one and a half years.

Tasneem Osman, junior researcher at ZEF, won the Prize for Best Flash Talk at the Conference Women and Girls in Science at the University of Namur in Belgium. Tasneem got the highest ranking for her talk "From invasive plants to disease risk: an overlooked one health perspective", in which she managed to tell her story in four slides.

Valentine Opanga, junior researcher with ZEF’s research group on Cultural and Political Change (ZEF CPC), defended her doctoral thesis on “The Political Ecology and Governance of Green spaces in Nairobi’s Informal Settlements” successfully today. She obtained her doctoral degree from the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences at the University of Bonn. Her research was supervised by Professor Detlef Mueller-Mahn (Geography Department, Bonn University) and Professor Eva Youkhana (group leader ZEF CPC).