Agriculture, land use, climate change

Keywords
Science-Policy-Practice Interface (SPPI); Nature-based Solutions (NbS); Savannas; Africa; Climate Change; Biodiversity

Countries
Côte d’Ivoire, Kenya, Germany

Summary
Africa’s sustainable development is tremendously challenged by climate change and biodiversity loss. In particular, the vast African savanna systems have largely been converted into managed landscapes, including agricultural and settlement areas. Savannas are very rich in biodiversity and provide indispensable ecosystem services. At the same time, savannas are the “breadbasket” of the continent providing 70% of Africa's cropland, 66% of cereal production and 80% of livestock farming. One of the greatest future challenges in savanna areas will be to adapt to the ever- changing environmental conditions, to conserve their biodiversity, maintain ecosystem functionality and ecosystem service provision, and concurrently provide food for the local population.

The African Climate and Environment Centre - Future African Savannas (AFAS) which is one of the global Centres of German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) aims to build the critical mass and expertise to tackle these challenges, leveraging on working in the unique SPPI (Science Policy Practice Interface) space, adopting an inter- and transdisciplinary education and research approach with strong digital teaching, learning and research components, capacity development for the implementation of concepts and technologies as drivers of transformative change for the conservation and sustainable use of the savanna ecosystem following the Nature-based Solutions (NbS) approach. Indigenous and local knowledge combined with innovative new approaches based on research represent a great potential for sustainable development and achieving the SDGs in the region.

Methodology
AFAS aims to build capacity of young African scholars through a post-graduate program with masters and doctoral students who undertake an interdisciplinary study program with a curriculum that is co-developed together with stakeholders. The students and senior researchers undertake research on climate change adaptation and biodiversity conservation in the African Savannas. The students also engage in international exchange programs and internships. AFAS is a transdisciplinary project that works with stakeholders in the Science, Policy and Practice Interface.

Main Cooperation Partners

• The Center for Development Research (ZEF), University of Bonn, Germany
• The Institute for Climate Change and Adaptation (ICCA), University of Nairobi, Kenya
• The African Center of Excellence on Climate Change, Biodiversity and Sustainable Agriculture (CEA-CCBAD), Université Félix Houphouët-Boigny, Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire
• The Global South Studies Center (GSSC), University of Cologne, Germany

Main Funding Partners
The German Federal Foreign Office

Duration of the Project
5 years (2021-2025)

Project Homepage
https://www.afas.africa/

Team

• Prof. Dr. Christian Borgemeister (ZEF, University of Bonn)
• Prof. Dr. Michael Bollig (GSSC, University of Cologne)
• Prof. Dr. Daniel Olago (ICCA, University of Nairobi)
• Prof. Dr. Souleymane Konaté
• Assoc. Prof. Dr. N'golo A. Koné
• Dr. Juliet Wanjiku Kamau ZEF, University of Bonn)
• Dr. Jan Henning Sommer (ZEF, University of Bonn)
• Dr. Gerda Kuiper (GSSC, University of Cologne)
• Ms. Lewnorah Ayieta (ICCA, University of Nairobi)
• Ms. Bárbara Meraz

Contact
Dr. Juliet Wanjiku Kamau, Phone.: +49-228-73-1838

Keywords
Biodiversity, Land Use, Climate change, Arboviruses, Emerging Infectious Diseases

Countries
Germany and Uganda

Summary
In the ArboEmerge project we assess the current and future risk of infectious zoonotic diseases under future ecological, climate and socio-economic change in Uganda. In particular, we explore spill over infections in vector species (e.g. mosquitoes, rodents and ticks), livestock and humans to identify drivers of emerging arboviral diseases and propose preventive policies.

Methodology
Applying an inter-disciplinary approach, samples from mosquitoes, livestock, and humans in three less disturbed ecosystems (Bwindi Impenetrable, Queen Elizabeth, and Murchison National Parks) and adjacent disturbed urban areas (Kasese and Arua Cities) will undergo screening for pre-epidemic arboviruses. Identified arboviruses will undergo molecular and phenotypic characterization, and phylogenetic analysis to describe their intra- and inter-host genetic diversity. Using phylogeographic analyses, we will reconstruct the virus spatial movement and build ecological niche models that assess the influence of different socioeconomic and ecological factors on the risk of virus transmission and disease outbreaks. This will also enable modelling of virus and host distribution as well as infection risk under current and future climatic and land use scenarios. We will also apply Bayesian decision modelling approaches to assess the effectiveness of policy interventions in reducing the risk of outbreaks under current and future climatic and land use scenarios.

Main Cooperation Partners

• University of Bonn, ZEF
• Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin
• Makerere University, Uganda
• Uganda Virus Research Institute

Main Funding Partners
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG)

Duration of the Project
36 months

Team

• Jun.-Prof. Lisa Biber-Freudenberger, ZEF
• Prof. Dr. Sandra Junglen, Berlin
• Dr. Julius Lutwama, Uganda
• Dr. Anthony M. Nsubuga, Uganda
• Dr. Innocent B. Rwego, Uganda
• Erick B. Kigai, Uganda
• Peter Z. Sabakaki, Uganda
• Selina Graf, Berlin
• Teddy A. Tindyebwa, Uganda
• Maureen Nabatanzi, ZEF

Contact
Jun.-Prof. Lisa Biber-Freudenberger, Phone.: +49-228-73-1726

Keywords
Nature-based Solutions; biodiversity-climate synergies; Social dimension; participatory processes: Transdisciplinarity

Countries
Austria; Colombia; Côte d'Ivoire; Lebanon

Summary

Specific objectives of the project were:

• To undertake transdisciplinary research that will lead to the development of a guideline (the ‘Guidance Report’). The purpose of this Guidedance Report is to provide a theoretical underpinning as well as practical recommendations for considering the social dimension in NbS.
• To collaborate with four, active global NbS case studies to enrich the Guidance Report with “good practice” examples and lessons learnt through an exploration of their experiences in their application-oriented projects that address: restoring seagrasses in Colombia; urban greening in Lebanon; agroforestry practices in Côte d'Ivoire; and overforestation and pastoral restoration in the Austrian Alps.
• To foster capacity building for future collaboration and potential research that expands on the current scientific foci. 

The BioClimSocial Project was undertaken by analysing the social dimension of synergistic climate-biodiversity NbS through two interlinking research packages:

Work Package 1 involved the undertaking of data collection on the features of the social dimension as an integral part of NbS research and implementation. The data sets were drawn from those NbS researchers applying transdisciplinary research. 

A mixed methodology analysis of data via surveys and interviews produced the project's empirical data; respondents were identified from a curated BioClimSocial NbS database of geographically diverse NbS study cases. The database represented four NbS sectors: agroforestry, coastal, mountainous and urban regions with a global reach across both the Global North and Global South. The questionnaire respondents, pooled from the database, responded to the three facets: NbS social principles, process and outcome.

Work Package 2 centred around the research and practice of four selected NbS case study partner groups. The learning from their evolving NbS cases, along with their contributions to WP1, fundamentally shaped the findings of the BioClimSocial Project. The four NbS case study partners, along with our selected Project Advisory Group (PAG) of experts, were part of an iterative process of knowledge co-production through transdisciplinarity to produce two BioClimSocial Project outputs - the Guidance Report on the Social Dimension of NbS and a peer-reviewed publication.

Work Package 3 and 4 constituted capacity building and project management activities, both of which were designed to support the ongoing and potential future research activities for our case study partners.

One of the most significant capacity-building events to take place, facilitating the exchange of ideas and the opportunity for intense deliberation among attendees, was at the Vilm (Island of Vilm, Germany) Workshop in May 2024, at the BfN premises -

BioClimSocial project for fostering applied research focussing on biodiversity and climate Peer exchange workshop -

A 3-day, in-person workshop, inviting NbS experts for an interactive peer-exchange with the focus on the social dimension of NbS through the iterative process of transdisciplinarity.

Our participants included the BioClimSocial case study partners, Project Advisory Group experts, a funding specialist and members of the BfN and ZEF- Uni Bonn teams.

Objectives:

1. To understand the work to date of each of the NbS case study partners’ research and practice and exchange their findings on how to optimise transdisciplinarity;
2. To document the commonalities and divergences in the social impacts and benefits of NbS, at any point along the NbS cycle;
3. To make valuable contributions to the initial stages in the development of the NbS Guidance Report.
4. To explore further funding opportunities in advancing their case studies with the emphasis on ‘co-creation with stakeholders.

Output: The workshop findings and key recommendations were to  provide fundamental data to contribute to both the Guidance Report and a co-authored scientific paper.  

Main Cooperation Partners

• Agroforestry: Prof. N’golo A. Koné and Dr. Kolotchèlèma Simon Silué, University Félix Houphouet Boigny & University Nangui Abrogoua, African Center of Excellence (CEA-CCBAD)
• Alpine/Mountainous: Günther Schreder - researcher at the Department for Knowledge and Communication Management, and Nicole Hynek- researcher at the Department for Knowledge and Communication Management at Danube University Krems, Austria; Florian Schublach - Manager of the Ötscher-Tormäuer Nature Park
• Coastal/Marine: Prof. Ernesto Mancero - Marine Biologist, Universidad Nationale de Colombia
• Urban: Prof. Salma Talhouk - American University of Beirut; Carine Ghassibe and Nour Bassil - graduate students of Prof. Talhouk at the American University of Beirut, Lebanon

Main Funding Partners
Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (BfN), with funds of the German Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection (BMUV) 

Principal Lead at BfN

• Irina Kozban

Project Advisory Group (PAG)

• Dr. Andre Mascarenhas
• Dr. Sunita Chaudhary

Duration of the Project
Spring 2023 - November 2025

ZEF Research Areas
Global NbS in sectors of agroforestry, coastal and mountainous regions and urban greening. Stakeholder engagement and conflict resolution. Transdisciplinarity. Social Dimension of NbS 

Team at ZEF

• Jun.-Prof. Lisa Biber-Freudenberger (Implementing Academic Project Lead)
• Vanessa Haines-Matos (ZEF principal researcher)

Contact
Jun.-Prof. Lisa Biber-Freudenberger, Phone.: +49-228-73-1726

Keywords
Sustainable health, adolescents, education, nutrition

Countries
Tanzania, Kenya, Burkina Faso

Summary
Changemaker addresses the increasing epidemic of adolescent obesity in urban sub-Saharan Africa. The project aims at co-designing, implementing, and evaluating the effects and the processes of a comprehensive sustainable health intervention in three exemplary sites: Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso; Dar es Salaam, Tanzania; Kisumu, Kenya. Ina Danquah and her team are coordinating this project together with Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden, and are responsible for the impact evaluation.

Methodology
The sustainable health intervention comprises of four evidence-based strategies: 1) urban farming in schools with satellite farms and organic waste composting, 2) sustainable health modules for classrooms, 3) linking to healthcare workers through health talks using motivational interviewing techniques, and 4) WHO Best Buys: Mass media campaign. Three cluster-RCTs in secondary schools, within the framework of urban Health and Demographic Surveillance Systems, implementation and process evaluation and cost-effective evaluation.

Main Cooperation Partners

• Prof. Kristi Sydney-Annerstedt, Karolinska Institutet (KI), Stockholm, Sweden
• Dr. Ali Sié, Centre de Recherche en Santé de Nouna (CRSN), Nouna, Burkina Faso
• Dr. Abdramane Soura, Institute Supérieure des Sciences de la Population, University of Ouagadougou (ISSP), Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso
• Prof. Pilvikki Absetz, Tampere University (TAU), Tampere, Finnland
• Prof. Marleen Temmerman, Aga Khan University (AKU), Nairobi, Kenya
• Sharon Chacha, Food Security for Peace and Nutrition (FSPN), Kenya
• Susan Adhiambo, Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries (DALF), Kisumu, Kenya
• Dr. Alice Ojwang Achieng, The Technical University of Kenya (TUK), Nairobi, Kenya
• Prof. Mary Mwanyika Sando, Africa Academy for Public Health (AAPH), Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
• Prof. Bruno Sunguya, Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences (MUHAS), Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
• Prof. Wafaie Fawzi, Harvard Global Research and Support Services Inc. (Harvard), Boston, USA

Main Funding Partners

• European Commission: Horizon Europe
• HORIZON-HLTH-2023-DISEASE-03-03

Duration of the Project
4 years (01 Jan 2024 – 31 Dec 2027)

Project Homepage
https://changemaker.ki.se/

Team

• Prof. Dr. Ina Danquah
• Dr. Raissa Sorgho
• Grace Wothaya Kihagi (candidate PhD)
• Rhodah Nekesa (candidate PhD)
• Scarion Rupia (candidate PhD)

Contact
Prof. Dr. Ina Danquah, Phone.: +49-228-73-1970

Keywords
Climate change adaptation, fishing, subsistence farming, women, nutrition, health

Countries
Ghana

Summary
Individual and community-initiated climate change adaptation responses are promoted globally, but among vulnerable populations, evidence regarding their availability, implementation and impact on mediating climatic shocks in developing countries is scanty. We aim to identify the adaptation and coping mechanisms adopted by rural smallholder female farmers residing along the Ghana Volta lake and the mitigate effects on livelihoods, household food security and nutritional status. A framework showing the climate adaption strategies and the linkage with household livelihoods, food security and nutritional status will be developed and used to inform a future intervention study. An immediate step will be advocacy program to encourage policy revision and practical actions to support smallholder framers to be climate-sensitive and more climate-adaptive.

Methodology
In this triangulated sequential explanatory mixed-methods study, we shall interview 442 adult females engaged in predominant crop and fish farming in rural communities along the Volta Lake using the climate coping and adaptation strategies assessment tool. The quantitative data in the first sequel will measuring indices that quantifies actual and perceived climate risk vulnerability, adaptation strategies and the intensity of impact of climatic hazards on family income, food stocks and undernutrition. Participants found to adapt very positively or negatively to agriculture climatic stress will be interviewed in the qualitative phase to understand in-depth the triggers of the adaptive or maladaptive coping skills. The responses shall be rated using Likert-type questions and the scores weighted to derive patterns using principal component analysis and other data-tailored regression models and triangulated with the textual data to generate a linkage of the adaptive capacity. At the end of the 12-month project period, we expect to quantify and link the impacts of climate adaptation strategies on mediating the livelihoods and nutritional stocks to inform evidence-based policy and practical actions particularly for smallholder farmers and other vulnerable populations.

Main Cooperation Partners
Dr. Faith Agbozo, University of Health and Allied Sciences (UHAS), Ho, Ghana

Main Funding Partners
German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD)

Duration of the Project
2 years (01 Mar 2022 – 28 Feb 2023)

Team

• Prof. Dr. Ina Danquah
• Marian Abrafi Osei (candidate PhD)

Contact
Prof. Dr. Ina Danquah, Phone.: +49-228-73-1970

Keywords
Climate change adaptation, undernutrition, rural sub-Saharan Africa, children

Countries
Kenya, Burkina Faso

Summary
This project is part of the larger Research Unit “Climate Change and Health in sub-Saharan Africa”, for which Ina Danquah serves as the spokesperson. This subproject addresses the forecasted agricultural losses based on the current CO2 emissions until 2050 and their consequences for the nutritional status of children under-5 years of age living in two selected regions of sub-Saharan Africa. The subproject determines the potential of an integrated agriculture and nutrition program as an adaptation strategy to improve the children’s nutritional status for climate-sensitive nutrients in rural Burkina Faso and Kenya, where climate change will impact agriculture most strongly. The intervention focuses on bio-diversification of subsistence farming by home gardens, and is accompanied by nutrition and health counselling using the 7 Essential Nutrition Action messages by the World Health Organization. For sub-Saharan Africa, bio-diversification constitutes one of the most promising and practicable adaptation strategies for CO2-dependent agricultural losses, for both, the absolute amounts of crops and for the plant contents of protein, iron and zinc. As a novelty, P2 identifies the controversially discussed, potential effects of such an agriculture and nutrition program on the risk of clinical malaria in children under-5 years of age.

Methodology
In the first project phase, the adaptation program was tailored to the needs of the Kenyan region in collaboration with Siaya County Ministries of Health and Agriculture and the non-governmental organization Centre for African Bio-Entrepreneurship (CABE). We determined the horticultural crops to be cultivated and the practicability and the acceptability of the program. A cluster-randomized controlled trial with 2 x 600 households was implemented. We recruited households with children at the age of complementary feed introduction (6-24 months) and followed them up for 1 year. In phase 2 of the project, we will establish the effects of the intervention program on changes in dietary habits, the status of climate-sensitive nutrients, and the risk of clinical malaria among the children after 2 years. We will define the necessary investments to scale-up such intervention programs to the provincial, state, and national levels. Lastly, we will generate adaptation-response functions characterizing the effects of the agricultural bio-diversification and nutrition counselling program under future climate scenarios.

Main Cooperation Partners

• Dr. Erick Muok and Dr. Stephen Munga, Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI)-Kisumu, Center for Global Health Research (CGHR), Kisumu, Kenya
• Dr. Ali Sié, Centre de Recherche en Santé de Nouna (CRSN), Nouna, Burkina Faso
• Prof. Till Bärnighausen, Prof. Manuela De Allegri, Prof. Joacim Rocklöv, Dr. Sandra Barteit, Dr. Aditi Bunker, Heidelberg Institute for Global Health (HIGH), Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, Germany
• Prof. Harald Grethe, International Agricultural Trade and Development, Humboldt University Berlin (HUB), Berlin, Germany
• PD Dr. Martina Maggioni, Institute for Physiology, Charité – Universitaetsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany
• Prof. Christoph Gornott, Prof. Hermann Lotze-Campen, Dr. Katja Frieler, Dr. Fred Hattermann, Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK), Potsdam, Germany
• Prof. Penelopé Vounatsu, Swiss Tropical and Health Institute (Swiss TPH), Basel, Switzerland
• Prof. Harald Kunstmann, Karlsruhe Institute for Technology (KIT), Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany

Main Funding Partners

• German Research Foundation (DFG) – FOR2936 Climate Change and Health in sub-Saharan Africa (Kenya)
• Robert Bosch Foundation (RBS) – Robert Junior Professorship 2019 (Burkina Faso)

Further information

The project:

Full Version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dCaPuISjx4w 
Short Version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q3SQd2QQKrM

The principal investigator: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qFJJFP1RqXg

Publications

• Hansen L-S, Wothaya Kihagi G, Agure E, Muok EMO, Mank I, Danquah I, Sorgho R. Sustainable home gardens in Western Kenya: A qualitative study for co-designing nutrition-sensitive interventions. J Rural Studies. 2023 Sep 18;103:103132. doi:10.1016/j.jrurstud.2023.103132
• Beloconi A, Nyawanda BO, Bigogo G, Khagayi S, Obor D, Danquah I, Kariuki S, Munga S, Vounatsou P.
  Malaria, climate variability, and interventions: modelling transmission dynamics. Sci Rep. 2023 May 5;13(1):7367. doi: 10.1038/s41598-023-33868-8.
• Mank I, Sorgho R, Zerbo F, Kagoné M, Coulibaly B, Oguso J, Mbata M, Khagayi S, Muok EMO, Sié A, Danquah I. ALIMUS-We are feeding! Study protocol of a multi-center, cluster-randomized controlled trial on the effects of a home garden and nutrition counseling intervention to reduce child undernutrition in rural Burkina Faso and Kenya. Trials. 2022 Jun 1;23(1):449.
• Yeboah E, Kuunibe N, Mank I, Parisi D, Bonnet E, Lohmann J, Hamadou S, Picbougoum BW, Belesova K, Sauerborn R, Bärnighausen T, Danquah I, De Allegri M. Every drop matters: Combining population-based and satellite data to investigate the link between lifetime rainfall exposure and chronic undernutrition in children under five years in rural Burkina Faso. Environ Res Letters. 2022 Apr;17(5):054027
• Hansen L-S; Sorgho R; Mank I; Schwerdtle P N; Agure E, Bärnighausen T, Danquah I. Home gardening in sub-Saharan Africa: A scoping review on practices and nutrition outcomes in rural Burkina Faso and Kenya. Food and Energy Security. 2022;00:e388.
• Gottlieb-Stroh T, Souares A, Bärnighausen T, Sié A, Zabre SP, Danquah I. Seasonal and socio-demographic patterns of self-reporting major disease groups in north-west Burkina Faso: an analysis of the Nouna Health and Demographic Surveillance System (HDSS) data. BMC Public Health. 2021 Jun 9;21(1):1101.
• Mank I, Vandormael A, Traoré I, Ouédraogo WA, Sauerborn R, Danquah I. Dietary habits associated with growth development of children aged < 5 years in the Nouna Health and Demographic Surveillance System, Burkina Faso. Nutr J. 2020 Aug 9;19(1):81.
• Yeboah E, Bunker A, Dambach P, Mank I, Sorgho R, Sié A, Munga S, Bärnighausen T and Danquah I (2021). Transformative Adaptations for Health Impacts of Climate Change in Burkina Faso and Kenya. African Handbook of Climate Change Adaptation; 2485-2500.

Duration of the Project
2 phases of each 3 years (01 Jan 2020 – 31 Dec 2025)

Project Homepage
https://cch-africa.de/

Team

• Prof. Dr. Ina Danquah
• Anaïs Gonnet (project coordinator)
• Erick Agure (candidate PhD)
• Grace Wothaya Kihagi (candidate PhD)
• Sayouba Dianda (candidate PhD)
• Fanta Zerbo (candidate PhD)
• Katharina Westphal (candidate Dr. med.)

Contact
Prof. Dr. Ina Danquah, Phone.: +49-228-73-1970

Keywords
Doctoral Studies Support Program, Colombia, ZEF, DAAD, SDGs

Countries
Colombia, Germany

Summary
This bilateral doctoral studies support program on „Environmental peace building and development in Colombia“ of ZEF at the University of Bonn and the Universidad Nacional, Bogotá, Instituto de Estudios Ambientales (IDEA), will look at the nexus of natural resources, governance and conflict in Colombia. We will use innovative and integrative concepts, methods and instruments to explore interdependencies. The joint German-Colombian production of knowledge based on interdisciplinary exposure and integrative measures is the more important in a country in which the recently signed peace appraisal will be put to test by the way the society finds solutions for pressing issues related to conflictive extractive activities, environmental protection and not least the participation and inclusion of the population in decision making processes to reduce environmental conflicts.

Rights and access to natural resources
Territorial rights and access to natural resources are key elements to understand long-standing political and social conflicts in the world. In Latin America, their role is enhanced by many interconnected factors such as divergent world views on land and territory and consequential competing interests. This includes for example concepts of land and nature as livelihood with symbolic meaning vs. the notion of land and its resources as a commodity. Such factors are largely responsible for the increasing and unsustainable use of resources and exploitation of natural resources. This can be in the form of more extractive activities such as mining, agro-industries and monocultures with a destructive impact on the environment.

Colombia’s case of conflict
Colombia is a show case of a country in which territorial rights, land use and the extraction of natural resources have been deeply entrenched with diverse forms of violence. The long-lasting armed conflicts starting in the mid1960s between different guerrilla groups such as the FARC (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia, today Fuerza Alternativa Revolucionaria del Común) and ELN (Ejercito de Liberación Nacional) on the one hand and the consecutive Colombian governments on the other show the linkages between armed conflict and historically derived inequalities in terms of access to land and territorial distribution. In Colombia, this relation has not only led to the exploitation and destruction of the environment but also to the expropriation of land and displacement of rural population. In fact, Colombia is one of the earth’s five mega-biodiversity centers which makes the country the world‘s core biodiversity region and therefore a hotspot for its commodification.

“Post-conflict” opportunity
Currently, Colombia faces a unique historical challenge with the ‘post-conflict’ (posacuerdo), because the peace agreement with FARC and the peace negotiations with ELN seem to end the armed conflict. But the challenge lies in implementing strategies for a ‘sustainable peace’, which would need to address the unequal distribution of land, the legal pluralistic notions of land, respective claims for territorial rights and the sustainable use of ecosystems and natural resources rather than exploiting them arbitrarily. Nonetheless, the relations between the environment and the armed conflict in Colombia are manifold. Thus, the diverse ecosystems and natural resources may appear as the cause, the victim (deforestation, fumigation), or the beneficiary (through the protection and conservation of contested sites with high biodiversity) of these ongoing conflicts. At the same time, the environment and the way territory is distributed and used is at the core of any long lasting solution to the complex conflict.

Interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary project approach
This project needs and chose an interdisciplinary approach to deal with the complex setting. The different relations between the environment and the conflict in Colombia, the role land and access to natural resources play for the peace building process and how the environment can be protected in the long run while simultaneously balancing the different exploitation interests still need an interdisciplinary scientific exploration . Both the dimension of the destruction of the environment and the development of solutions to use and protect the environment and all the people therein (implementing an institutional set-up for land use planning, developing forms of alternative agricultural production, ecological-organic farming, tourism, etc.) need further analysis in order to fully understand human-nature relationships and the feedback mechanisms of the socio-ecological systems. Whether the commercialization of natural resources can be managed in a sustainable way depends to a large extent on the legal and institutional set-up and the way the affected population is involved in decision-making on strategies to use the common goods and develop the country. The future of peace in Colombia highly depends on sustainable, locally adapted and integrated solutions for land use and access to resources, to which highly qualified scientists can substantially contribute.

Methodology

• Development of an Interdisciplinary doctoral program addressing the SDGs
• Creation of a research agenda addressing the SDGs

Main Cooperation Partners

• Institute for Environmental Studies (IDEA) in Bogotá, Colombia
• Bonn International Center for Conversion (BICC)
• University for Development Studies (UDS) in Ghana
• UN System Staff College (UNSSC) - Knowledge Centre for Sustainable Development

Main Funding Partners
BMZ, DAAD

Duration of the Project
until December 2025

Project Homepage
https://dssp-colombia.org/

Team
at ZEF:

• Eva Youkhana (project leader)
• Dennis Aviles Irahola (coordinator)
• Christian Petersheim (financial administration)
• Carolina Tobón Ramírez (coordinator)

Project Partners:

• Carmenza Castiblanco Rozo (Project Leader IDEA)
• Fernanda Barbosa dos Santos (Coordination Team IDEA)
• Maria Fernanda Roncancio Mateus (Coordination Team IDEA)
• Henry Zarate Ceballos (Data Manager)
• Nicolás Pérez (Data Manager - SIAMI)
• Jhody Katherine Sánchez Beltrán (Data Manager - OCA)

Contact
Prof. Dr. Eva Youkhana, Phone.: +49-228-73-4909

Keywords
Dietary diversity, dietary patterns, climate change, resilience, sub-Saharan Africa

Countries
Ivory Coast, Benin, Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria, Cameroon, Uganda, Kenya

Summary
Various forms of malnutrition, including hunger, micronutrient deficiencies and non-communicable diseases caused by unbalanced nutrition, threaten food security in Africa. The project HealthyDiest4Africa is based on the central hypothesis that diversification of the food system helps to combat all forms of malnutrition while minimizing its environmental footprint. To this aim, we w  ill monitor dietary diversity in eight African countries representing different regions, and develop target group-specific metrics to measure the diversity of the food system and its health outcomes. In the HD4A project, Danquah and her team are responsible for mapping and monitoring dietary diversity across 8 countries in sub-Saharan Africa.

Methodology
A production-oriented cluster of the project will explore environmentally sustainable options to diversity food production that specifically address the nutritional requirements identified for the target populations. This includes the development of novel and biofortified crop varieties, utilization of orphan crops with high nutritional value, and diversification of cropping systems and food processing technology. We will link these efforts with a consumption-oriented cluster exploring the consumer acceptance, food safety, and nutritional health effects of diet diversification options. The best solutions that contribute to healthy diets via diversification while also promoting environmental health will be up-scaled via a network of food system stakeholders in eight African countries. HealthyDiets4Africa will also devise communication and policy strategies to maximize outreach and impact of diversified food systems. Thereby the project will help to develop safe, healthy and affordable diets by adopting a diversification strategy that will simultaneously reduce the pressure of food production on the environment.

Main Cooperation Partners

• Prof. Michael Frei, Justus-Liebig-University Gießen (JLU), Gießen, Germany
• Dr. Sali Atanga Ndindeng, AfricaRice (AR), Abidjan, Ivory Coast
• Dr. Irmgard Jordan, International Plant Genetic Resources Institute (IPGRI) and Alliance Bioversity, Nairobi, Kenya

Main Funding Partners

• European Commission, Horizon Europe
• HORIZON-CL6-2022-FARM2FORK-01

Duration of the Project
6 years (01 Jan 2023 – 31 Dec 2028)

Project Homepage
https://www.hd4a.eu

Team

• Prof. Dr. Ina Danquah
• Mahir Bhatt (candidate PhD)
• Phoebe Nabunya (candidate PhD)
• Rebecca Schindlmayr (candidate Dr. med.)

Contact
Prof. Dr. Ina Danquah, Phone.: +49-228-73-1970

Keywords
food security, adaptation to climate change, environmental protection, social learning, gender, implementation research

Countries
The project spans all countries in Sub-Saharan Africa with a focus on West Africa

Summary
INTERFACES is an accompanying project that will support four BMBF-funded regional research and development (R&D) projects in their endeavor to drive change for sustainable land management in Sub-Saharan Africa. It will do so through impact-driven support activities which build on networking for the regional projects, science communication, social learning processes and capacity development, and by complementary transfer analyses that enable or facilitate the implementation as well as improve the relevance and outreach of the regional projects' research-based findings.

Key bottlenecks for better adoption of technical solutions or ideas for better land management include that the proposed solutions may not necessarily match the constraints or meet the priorities of the stakeholders who are supposed to use them, that there is resistance to change due to power structures, value systems, norms and institutions, or that it is unclear how to achieve the desired change because context-specific behavior change management concepts are missing. To achieve changes towards sustainable land management, a fundamental reorganization is needed across technological, economic, political, institutional and social factors, including paradigms, goals and values. Changes must be gender-responsive and socially inclusive, which means that implementation pathways for sustainable land management must be based on thorough gender and power analyses and lead to outcomes that benefit both women and men of different ethnicities, ages, classes, and income levels.

The outputs from INTERFACES are expected to include scientific and non-scientific publications, the promotion of transdisciplinary research and social learning approaches in order to produce research results that are relevant to practice, the strengthening of already existing networks on land management issues and linking them up with different African and international networks to further contribute to the implementation of the R&D results in the area of land management. Finally, INTERFACES will anchor implementation-oriented research in education and training.

Approach:
INTERFACES has four work areas that together strengthen the integration, coherence and reach of the regional projects with regard to sustainable land management:

1.  Knowledge synthesis through dialogues about future visions and theories of change for sustainable land management - together with the regional projects and actors from science, policy and practice,
2. Support of innovation and implementation processes by identifying change strategies to bridge knowledge-behaviour gaps,
3. Communication, networking and knowledge management and
4. Education and capacity building, e.g. through the integration of teaching content into African and German graduate programs.
   The methods and results of the regional projects find their way into the training of project partners and students with regard to the training of future "change agents".

Main Cooperation Partners

• Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA), Ghana
• West African Science Service Centre on Climate Change & Adapted Land Use (WASCAL), Burkina Faso
• University of Business and Integrated Development Studies (UBIDS), Ghana
• University of Applied Sciences Bonn-Rhein-Sieg (H-BRS), Germany
• German Institute of Development and Sustainability (IDOS), Germany
• Horticultural Sciences, Institute of Crop Science and Resource Conservation (INRES) University of Bonn, Germany

Main Funding Partners
Federal Ministry for Research and Education (BMBF)

Duration of the Project
01.10.2022 to 30.09.2026

Project Homepage
https://sustainable-landmanagement-africa.net/en/

Team

• Dr. Tina Beuchelt
• Dr. Hannah Jaenicke
• Dr. Peter Asare-Nuamah
• Cécile Poitevin
• Theresa Weise

Contact
Dr. Tina Beuchelt, Phone.: +49-228-73-4922

Keywords
Labor markets, income diversification, gender, social welfare

Countries
Kenya, Tanzania, Namibia, Zambia

Summary
Households in rural Africa typically have diversified income sources. Beyond own farm production, many also work on other farms as agricultural laborers, have formal or informal employment in other sectors, or pursue self-employed business activities. With rapidly rising population numbers, the diversification of income and employment sources in rural Africa – also beyond the agricultural sector – will likely continue in the coming years and decades. Sufficient generation of decent employment in various rural sectors could contribute to sustainable structural transformation and development, whereas inadequate job availability could perpetuate poverty and natural resource degradation. Hence, studying employment trends and the factors that influence current and future job availability, accessibility, and quality needs to be an integral element of “future-making” research in rural Africa. This project collects and uses data from four Eastern and Southern African countries – Kenya, Tanzania, Namibia, and Zambia – to provide insights under diverse agroecological and socioeconomic conditions. The following research questions are addressed: (1) What income and employment sources do rural households and individuals have, and how are these sources associated with economic and social welfare? (2) To what extent are employment patterns associated with the use of specific agricultural technologies and innovations? (3) What role do rural infrastructure and institutions play? (4) How do labour conditions compare in relevant rural sectors? (5) What are conducive household-level and contextual conditions for sustainable job futures?

Methodology
Together with local partners we collect household- and individual-level data as well as employer data through structured personal interviews. Statistical models are developed and estimated to analyze people’s access to different types of employment, determinants of participation, labor conditions, and effects on income, food security, gender roles, and inequality. Employment trends and their drivers are analyzed with panel data.

Main Cooperation Partners

• University of Bonn
• University of Cologne
• University of Nairobi, Kenya
• Sokoine University of Agriculture, Tanzania
• University of Namibia, Namibia
• University of Zambia, Zambia 

Main Funding Partners
German Research Foundation (DFG)

Duration of the Project
2022 - 2025

Project Homepage
https://www.crc228.de/

Team

• Prof. Dr. Matin Qaim (project leader)
• Dr. Martin Parlasca
• Chrispinus Mutsami
• Jonas Guthoff
• Jackson Elias Nzira
• Jessy Amarachi Ezebuihe

Contact
 Prof. Dr. Matin Qaim, Phone.: +49-228-73-1847

Keywords
Climate change mitigation, health co-benefits, facility-based nutrition intervention, hospitals

Countries
Germany

Summary
The project 'Climate Change mitigation in Hospitals by Optimizing Supply Chains' (KliOL) aims to create a greenhouse gas calculator for hospitals with a special focus on greenhouse gas emissions from supply chains ("Scope 3" emissions) using Heidelberg University Hospital (UKHD) as an example. In parallel, exemplary climate change measures will be implemented at the UKHD and evaluated with regard to their impact on the greenhouse gas balance, financial aspects and possible health effects. Ina Danquah and her team have developed a cafeteria-based sustainable diet intervention and identified the impacts on dietary practices, physical and mental wellbeing, greenhouse gas emissions, and costs of the diet.

Methodology
In this quasi-experiment, plant-based menus and educational material on sustainable diets were provided in the largest cafeteria of a German hospital for 3 months. Regular customers (>1/week) in this cafeteria and in a cafeteria without the intervention completed a questionnaire about their socio-demographic and dietary characteristics before and after the intervention period. We also estimated greenhouse gas emissions (GHGE) from food intake by Life-Cycle Analysis (LCA) and documented the opportunity costs, staff costs, and monetary costs of the implementation. Difference-in-differences approaches were used to define the effects on sustainable dietary practice, wellbeing, GHGE, and costs.

Main Cooperation Partners

• Dr. Alina Herrmann, Heidelberg Institute for Global Health (HIGH), Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, Germany
• Dr. Bernd Franke, Institute for Energy and Environment Research (ifeu), Heidelberg, Germany  

Main Funding Partners
German Federal Ministry for Economy and Climate Protection (BMWK) – National Climate Protection Initiative (NKI)

Duration of the Project
3 years (01 Sep 2021 – 31 Aug 2024)

Project Homepage
https://www.klinikum.uni-heidelberg.de/klimaschutz-in-kliniken-durch-optimierung-der-lieferketten-kliol

Team

• Prof. Dr. Ina Danquah
• Laura Harrison (candidate Dr. med.)

Contact
Prof. Dr. Ina Danquah, Phone.: +49-228-73-1970

Keywords
Land use, conflicts, synergies, Agenda 2030, agriculture, land degradation, biodiversity loss, agriculture, gender, climate change, health, Science Policy Interface

Countries
Africa particularly East Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa: Kenya, Tanzania, Egypt, Sudan

Summary
In LANUYSNCON, we try to answer urgent questions about the efficient and sustainable use of natural resources. This requires the conceptual and practical involvement of different perspectives, actors and research fields. Using case study in sub-Sahara Africa, particularly in Kenya and Tanzania, we examine the complex trade-offs between different Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The aim is to provide results that will help to understand and consider impacts of land use decisions beyond the respective policy sector in order to promote coherent land use policies.

Methodology

• Dynamic Bayesian network analysis
• Decision modelling
• Structured interviews
• GIS analysis

Main Cooperation Partners

• Dr. David Amudavi (Biovision Africa Trust)
• Charles Meshack (Tanzania Forest Conservation Group)
• Professor Aletta Bonn (German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research /iDiv)
• Professor Dr. Jan Börner (Institute for Food and Resource Economics /ILR, the University of Bonn)
• Professor Dr. Pierre Ibisch (Center for Econics and Ecosystem Management, the University for Sustainable Development Eberswalde /HNEE)
• Dr. Thomas Dietz (Institute for Political Science /IFPOL, the University of Münster)
• Dr. Guido Schmidt-Traub (United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network /SDSN)
• Dr. Claire Brown (UNEP World Conservation Monitoring Center /WCMC)
• Dr. Cory Whitney (the University of Bonn’s Horticulture Institute)

Main Funding Partners

• The German Federal Ministry of Education and Research

Policy Briefs

• Road Development and Conservation: Infrastructure Planning in Biodiversity Hotspots
  by Philipo J. Mtweve, Pierre Ibisch & Lisa Biber-Freudenberger, ZEF Policy Brief No. 60
  Download

• Diversification opportunities in Agriculture
  by Hannah Kamau & Lisa Biber-Freudenberger, ZEF Policy Brief No. 61
  Download

• Designing cost-effective incentives for Tanzania’s ecological corridors
  by Qambemeda M. Nyanghura, Jan Börner & Lisa Biber-Freudenberger, ZEF Policy Brief No. 62
  Download

• Strengthening Science – Policy Interfaces for Coherent and Sustainable Land Use
  by Sara Velander, Lisa Biber-Freudenberger & Thomas Dietz, ZEF Policy Brief No. 63
  Download

Publications

• Velander, S. (2025). From silos to synergy: Mapping institutional collaboration across global environmental science–policy interfaces. Environmental Science & Policy, 170, 104126. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsci.2025.104126

• Biber-Freudenberger, L., Bogner, C., Bareth, G., Bollig, M., Dannenberg, P., Diez, J. R., Greiner, C., Mtweve, P. J., Klagge, B., Kramm, T., Müller-Mahn, D., Moseti, V., Nyamari, N., Ochuodho, D. O., Kuntashula, E., Theodory, T., Thorn, J. P. R., & Börner, J. (2025). Impacts of road development in sub-Saharan Africa: A call for holistic perspectives in research and policy. iScience, 28(2), 111913. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.isci.2025.111913

• Mtweve, P., Eustace, A., Nyanghura, Q., Moseti, V., Kramm, T., Ibisch, P., & Biber-Freudenberger, L. (2025). An Integrated Decision Support Framework for Sustainable Road Planning in Biodiversity Hotspots. Nature Portfolio. https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-7419361/v1 

• Nyanghura, Q. M., Biber-Freudenberger, L., & Börner, J. (2025). Designing conservation-incentives for Tanzania’s ecological corridors : cost-effectiveness and behavioral determinants. https://agris.fao.org/search/en/providers/125217/records/68514f45aab9439e79fc1971 

• Nyanghura, Q. M., Börner, J., & Biber-Freudenberger, L. (2024). Motivational drivers and the effectiveness of conservation incentives. Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems, 8. https://doi.org/10.3389/fsufs.2024.1493672 

• Biber-Freudenberger, L., Valander, S., & Mahmoud, N. A. M. (2024). Shaping sustainable futures through international agreements. Rural21 - the International Journal for Rural Development. https://www.rural21.com/english/a-closer-look-at/detail/article/shaping-sustainable-futures-through-international-agreements.html 

• Souza, P. O., Callo-Concha, D., Kamau, H., De Souza Fernandes, L. C., Zabini, C., & Biber-Freudenberger, L. (2024). Are stakeholders aware of the contributions of ecosystem services for their Well-Being? A case study of a UNESCO geopark project in Brazil. Human Ecology, 52(6), 1203–1216. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10745-024-00558-6 

• Nyanghura, Q. M., Biber-Freudenberger, L., & Börner, J. (2024). Incentives for biodiversity conservation under asymmetric land ownership. Ecological Economics, 219, 108152. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2024.108152

• Kamau, H., Roman, S., & Biber-Freudenberger, L. (2023). Nearly half of the world is suitable for diversified farming for sustainable intensification. Communications Earth & Environment, 4(1). https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-023-01062-3 

• Wagner, N., Velander, S., Biber-Freudenberger, L., & Dietz, T. (2022). Effectiveness factors and impacts on policymaking of science-policy interfaces in the environmental sustainability context. Environmental Science & Policy, 140, 56–67. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsci.2022.11.008 

• Velander, S., Martinelli, F. S., Sari, D. I., Ali, F., & Biber-Freudenberger, L. (2021). A dichotomy of domestic and academic pathways: challenges of motherhood in an international doctoral program on land science. Journal of Land Use Science, 17(1), 226–244. https://doi.org/10.1080/1747423x.2021.2015002

Duration of the Project
1 July 2020 to 30 June 2025

Team

• Jun.-Prof. Lisa Biber-Freudenberger
• Hannah Nyakio Kamau
• Philipo Jacob
• Qambemeda Masala Nyanghura
• Sara Velander
• Fatima Salaheldin Ali
• Nady Mahmoud

Contact
Jun.-Prof. Lisa Biber-Freudenberger, Phone.: +49-228-73-1726

Keywords
Landscape heritage, Environmental changes, Heritage conservation, Cultural landscape futures, Eastern Africa

Countries
Ethiopia, Kenya

Summary
Designation of cultural landscapes as UNESCO World Heritage Sites with outstanding universal values defines a globally recognized status, beyond their local values. However, cultural landscapes are not static, and many of them, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa, experience strong local dynamics with massive environmental, economic and social changes and conflicts. This study, therefore, aims to understand UNESCO World Heritage Sites as ‘living’ landscapes that are shaped and transformed through local dynamics including context-specific socio-economic, cultural, environmental and political factors. The case studies will be Konso Cultural Landscape in Ethiopia and the Sacred Mijikenda Kaya Forests in Kenya, UNESCO recognized cultural landscapes in Eastern Africa. The concept of human-environment interactions in cultural landscapes, sustainability and the concept of intersectionality (especially, for the gender dimension) guide the analysis. The analysis and understanding of UNESCO World Heritage Sites as ‘living’ and changing cultural landscapes will contribute to develop approaches to maintain their sustainable futures.

Methodology

• Intergenerational change analysis of landscape values and indigenous conservation practices
• Human-environment interactions, and land use and livelihood transition analysis
• Meta-analysis based on case studies to contribute to academic discourses and policy discussion towards sustainable development and landscape conservation
• Mixed methods approach: qualitative and quantitative data collection and analysis

Main Cooperation Partners

• Dilla University
• Kenyatta University

Main Funding Partners
The Volkswagen Foundation

Duration of the Project
2022 - 2026

Team

• Asrat Gella (project coordinator)
• Dr. Abiyot Legesse Kura
• Dr. Eric Kioko
• Dr. Asebe Regassa Debelo
• Dr. Till Stellmacher
• Dr. Muthio Nzau
• Dr. Yimer Mohammed Assen
• Dr. Yvonne Githiora
• Dr. Abebe Lemessa Saka
• Yesim Pacal

Contact
Dr. Asrat Gella, Phone.: +49-228-73-4916

Summary
The Malabo Montpellier Panel works to accelerate progress towards sustainable food systems transformation in Africa. It identifies areas of progress and positive change across the continent and assesses what successful countries have done differently. It identifies and analyses the most important policy and institutional innovations and programmatic interventions that can be replicated and scaled up by other countries.

The Malabo Montpellier Panel, co-chaired by Dr. Ousmane Badiane (Executive Chairperson, AKADEMIYA2063) and Prof. Joachim von Braun (Distinguished Professor, University of Bonn), convenes 18 leading experts in agriculture, ecology, nutrition, and food security to facilitate policy innovation by African governments to accelerate progress towards sustainable food systems transformation in Africa.

The affiliated Malabo Montpellier Forum provides a platform to promote policy innovation by using the evidence produced by the Panel to facilitate dialogue and exchange among high-level decision-makers on African food systems transformation, climate change adaptation, and mitigation. The Forum is co-chaired by H.E. Hailemariam Dessalegn, former Prime Minister of Ethiopia, and H.E. Assia Bensalah Alaoui, Ambassador at Large to His Majesty Mohamed VI, the King of Morocco.

Main Cooperation Partners
AKADEMIYA2063

Main Funding Partners

• The German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ)
• The African Development Bank (AfDB)
• The United States Agency for International Development (USAID)

Publications

• Malabo Montpellier Panel Brochure
• Malabo Montpellier Panel Factsheet

All other publications can be found on the project website.

Duration of the Project
01.01.2023 - 31.12.2026

Project Homepage
https://www.mamopanel.org/

Team
Panel Members

Contact
Prof. Dr. Joachim von Braun, Phone.: +49-228-73-1800

Keywords
Diabetes mellitus, OMICS, dietary patterns, migration, ethnicity, adults

Countries
South Africa, Ghana, The Netherlands, Sweden

Summary
The OPTIMA project constitutes a primary prevention project with a personalized approach to combat the growing global prevalence of type 2 diabetes (T2D) and impaired glucose tolerance (IGT), collectively termed dysglycaemia. Specifically, this project addresses the differences in the pathophysiology of T2D by ethnicity and sex, which so far, has not resulted in respective guidelines for the prevention of T2D. Therefore, the overarching goal of the OPTIMA project is to develop ethnic- and sex-specific clinically feasible and cost-effective algorithms for the early prediction of dysglycaemia to inform culturally acceptable preventative dietary modifications in European and SSA populations. In the OPTIMA project, Danquah and her team lead the work on the statistical analysis of proteomics data and the identification of dietary patterns related to candidate biomarkers.

Methodology
We work with prospective cohort data from two African cohorts (South African and Ghanaian) and one European cohort (Swedish adults). The study uniquely combines proteomics and metabolomics to identify known and novel ethnic- and sex-specific biomarkers that will not only provide pathophysiological insights into dysglycaemia in different populations, but also improve early prediction of dysglycaemia in European and African populations. We will also identify objective biomarkers reflecting differences in diet that relate to risk of dysglycaemia across European and African populations, which will be used to inform targeted dietary modifications for primary prevention of T2D in the different populations. The cost-effectiveness of the targeted dietary modifications, as well as the perceptions among target populations regarding these early preventative strategies will be assessed in the respective countries (South Africa, Ghana, Germany, Sweden) to inform future implementation of personalised prevention strategies.

Main Cooperation Partners

• Prof. Julia Goedecke, South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC), South Africa
• Prof. Tommy Olsson, Umeå University (UMU), Umeå, Sweden
• Prof. Rikard Landberg, Chalmers University of Science and Technology (Chalmers), Gothenburg, Sweden
• Prof. Charles Agyemang, University Medical Center Amsterdam, University of Amsterdam (AMC), Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Main Funding Partners

• German Federal Ministry for Education and Research (BMBF)
• ERAPerMed – Prevention in Personalized Medicine

Publications

• Katte JC, Sibomana L, Hapunda G, Cikomola JC, Abidha CA.Diabetes in sub-Saharan Africa: what are the next steps? Lancet Diabetes Endocrinol. 2022 Nov;10(11):766-768. doi: 10.1016/S2213-8587(22)00274-1.
• Bonsu Osei T, Mank I, Sorgho R, Nayna Schwerdtle P, Hövener C, Fischer F, Razum O, Danquah I. Aetiological research on the health of migrants living in Germany: a systematic literature review. BMJ Open. 2022 May 30;12:e058712.
• Osei TB, van Dijk AM, Dingerink S, Chilunga FP, Beune E, Meeks KAC, Bahendeka S, Schulze MB, Agyemang C, Nicolaou M, Holleboom AG, Danquah I. Reduced Rank Regression-Derived Dietary Patterns Related to the Fatty Liver Index and Associations with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus among Ghanaian Populations under Transition: The RODAM Study. Nutrients. 2021 Oct 20;13(11):3679

Duration of the Project
3 years (01 Jan 2023 – 31 Dec 2025)

Team

• Prof. Dr. Ina Danquah
• Carol Akinyi Abidha (candidate PhD)
• Dr. Maike Albers
• Tracy Bonsu Osei (candidate PhD)

Contact
Prof. Dr. Ina Danquah, Phone.: +49-228-73-1970

Keywords
Digital Farming Technologies, Robotics, Public Perceptions, Crop Farming Systems

Countries
Germany

Summary
Digital technologies are changing agricultural production systems and will characterize agriculture in the future. Autonomous machines (robots), for example, strongly deviate from traditional agricultural images and farming practices. The main interest of this project is to analyze and better understand society’s attitudes toward the increasing digitalization in agriculture. This project is part of the PhenoRob Excellence Cluster at the University of Bonn.

More specifically, this project aims at: (1) Exploring what citizens know about digitization and automation in agriculture and how they perceive current developments, (2) outlining scenarios of what agriculture, especially crop farming, could look like in the future and (3) combining these pieces of informations into an overall picture with the experiences from the practical development of machines and models in the PhenoRob project and farmers' perspectives regarding new technologies. Results may help to improve public communication around new digital farming technologies.

Methodology

• Online surveys and experiments with German citizens
• Multivariate statistical analysis methods

Main Cooperation Partners
DFG (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft through PhenoRob Cluster of Excellence)

Duration of the Project
2022 - 2025

Project Homepage
https://www.phenorob.de/cp-6-technology-adoption-and-impact/

Team

• Hendrik Zeddies
• Prof. Dr. Matin Qaim
• Prof. Dr. Gesa Busch (University of Applied Sciences Weihenstephan-Triesdorf)
• Dr. Martin C. Parlasca

Contact
Hendrik Zeddies, Phone.: +49-228-73-

Keywords
Biodiversity, transformative change, food and biomass value chains, co-produced knowledge

Countries
Austria, Brazil, Cyprus, EU, Germany, Global, Ireland, Netherlands, Norway, Peru, United Kingdom, United States

Summary
The overall objective of RAINFOREST is to contribute to enabling, upscaling and accelerating transformative change in Europe towards reducing biodiversity impacts of major food and biomass value chains. This will be done by closing knowledge gaps, demonstrating the effective co-generation and use of knowledge in stakeholder processes to formulate transformative policy options and related innovative governance arrangements, including government procurement practices and regulations.

Specifically, the aim is to i) co-develop and investigate just and viable pathways for transformative change and policies for their implementation with stakeholders, ii) enhance assessment models to allow for the quantification of biodiversity impacts at different spatial and organizational levels (e.g. company, national and global scales), iii) highlight and exemplify the application of the investigated pathways for transformative change in case studies, iv) investigate and co-generate governance and financial reforms, including public sector procurement, at all scales; v) explain, visualize and communicate the results and tools to a diverse audience.

Methodology
RAINFOREST combines different approaches and models from social and natural sciences, such as targeted literature reviews, surveys and interviews, desk-based scoping studies, integrated assessment models, life cycle assessment and multiregional input output models. In addition, we will organize multiple workshops and policy business fora to discuss with and learn from various stakeholders in co-generating viable policy options.

Main Cooperation Partners

• Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU, coordinator)
• Internationales Institut für angewandte Systemanalyse (IIASA)
• Senckenberg Gesellschaft für Naturforschung (SGN)
• Radboud University Nijmegen (RU)
• Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn (UBO)
• The Cyprus Institute (CYI)
• Unilever Innovation Centre Wageningen B.V.
• Schweiz AG
• Pontificia Universidad Catolica del Peru (PUCP)
• Bonn.realis e.V. (BR, associated partner)

Main Funding Partners
European Commission

Duration of the Project
Dec. 2022 – Dec. 2025

Project Homepage
https://rainforest-horizon.eu/index.html

Team

• Prof. Dr. Jan Börner
• Dr. Jochen Dürr
• Daniel Braun

Contact
Prof. Dr. Jan Börner, Phone.: +49-228-73-1873

Keywords
bioeconomy, sustainability, governance, biotechnology, South America

Countries
Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay

Summary
The Southern Cone of South America is one of the most important world regions for the provision of bio-based feedstock worldwide with many countries in the region currently undergoing dynamic changes in various bioeconomic sectors. Despite the region’s enormous potential for sustainable bio-based transformation, promoting environmentally responsible and equitable bioeconomic change remains a major governance challenge. This project focuses on the emergence and sustainability performance of the bioeconomies from Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay and aims to analyze bio-based initiatives from a political sciences and agricultural economics perspective.

The planned research seeks to inform governmental and non-governmental, including private, decision-makers in South America and beyond about entry points for action towards promoting climate smart bio-based innovation processes that safeguard rural employment and the equitable distribution of the benefits and costs of bio-based transformation. Through strong partnerships with Universities in the Southern Cone and engagement at the science-policy interface, the project will strengthen international collaboration and its impact in the study regions.

Methodology
(1) Impact evaluation analysis of national bioeconomy policies
(2) Value chain and value-web analysis
(3) Modeling of land use change and GHG emissions
(4) Comparative case studies
(5) Qualitative data analysis

Main Cooperation Partners

• Universität Münster
• Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (UFMG)
• Universidad Austral
• Universidad ORT Uruguay

Main Funding Partners
BMEL

Publications
See homepage

Duration of the Project
2020 - 2026

Project Homepage
https://sabio-project.org

Team

• Prof. Dr. Jan Börner
• Prof. Dr. Thomas Dietz
• Dr. Jochen Dürr
• Dr. Karen Siegel
• Carol Bardi
• Maria Eugenia Silva Carrazzone
• Daniela Gomel
• Daniel Kefeli
• Pablo Mac Clay
• Serena Olivera
• Laura Rojas
• Guilherme Stein
• Trevor Tisler

Contact
Dr. Jochen Dürr, Phone.: +49-228-73-4467

Keywords
Vegetable production and consumption, Healthy diets, Micronutrients, Food production technologies

Countries
Germany, Ghana, other countries in Africa

Summary
African countries will need to significantly increase their production and consumption of vegetables to address malnutrition and ensure access to healthy foods for the growing population. This is a major challenge, especially in the context of climate change, as heat, water scarcity, and increasing problems with plant diseases and pests make it difficult to increase productivity in the open field. Greenhouse vegetable production could be an important part of the solution for both urban and rural areas. The START project develops new greenhouse technologies ( “deep water cultivation” techniques) for efficient production of various types of vegetables. Research and testing grounds are established at the University of Bonn, considering current and future conditions in Africa.

Ghana is used as one country example. ZEF researchers collect comprehensive data from rural and urban households in Ghana to analyze the role of various types of vegetables for people’s diets and livelihoods and how production and consumption may potentially change through the new greenhouse technologies. Preferences for different local and exotic vegetables as well as the potential acceptance of new production technologies are also investigated. Based on various data sources, future scenarios in which new types of greenhouses produce more vegetables at affordable prices and with less seasonal variation are developed and analyzed in terms of their impacts on nutrition, health, socioeconomic development, and environmental sustainability.

Main Cooperation Partners

• University of Bonn, Institute of Crop Science and Resource Conservation (INRES)
• University of Ghana
• RWTH Aachen
• Bio Innovation Park Rheinland

Main Funding Partners
BMBF

Duration of the Project
04/2023 - 03/2027

Team
at ZEF:

• Prof. Dr. Matin Qaim (lead)
• Dr. Martin Parlasca
• Elisa Langella
• Benjamin Bonzo

at INRES (Sustainability Campus Klein-Altendorf):

• Prof. Dr. Ralf Pude
• Dr. Marcell Moll

at University of Ghana:

•  Prof. Dr. Felix Asante

Contact
Prof. Dr. Matin Qaim, Phone.: +49-228-73-1847

Keywords
Climate change mitigation, sustainable diets, obesity, diabetes mellitus, urban, adults

Countries
Burkina Faso

Summary
The global obesity epidemic and its adverse health effects have reached sub-Saharan Africa. In some urban settings, like Burkina Faso's capital Ouagadougou, up to 43% of the adult population are overweight or obese. At the same time, modernised food systems are responsible for 26% of global greenhouse gas emissions, 50% of land use and 70% of freshwater use. International guidelines on the treatment of overweight and obesity recommend dietary intervention programmes that promote reduced calorie intake and increased physical activity. So far, weight loss interventions rarely consider sustainable dietary concepts, including healthfulness, affordability, cultural appropriateness and environmental friendliness. Therefore, we conducted a family-based, randomised, controlled trial (RCT) for the effects of a sustainable weight loss intervention on cardiometabolic, environmental, and economic outcomes in urban Burkina Faso.

Methodology
The project consists of three phases: i) formative and co-design phase using qualitative and quantitative methods, incl. in-depth interviews about the perceptions of healthy and environmentally friendly diets as well as exploratory dietary pattern analysis to describe prevailing dietary practices, ii) implementation and impact evaluation of the RCT, comparing a 6-month sustainable dietary weight loss intervention programme (n=125) with standard weight loss information material and 5 min oral counselling (n=125) (intervention phase: 0-6 months; consolidation phase: 7-12 months), and iii) process evaluation, incl. qualitative impact mapping through focus group discussions (FGDs), cost-effectiveness and budget impact analysis.

Main Cooperation Partners

• Prof. Abdramane Soura and Dr. Roch Modeste Millogo, Institute Supérieure des Sciences de la Population, University of Ouagadougou (ISSP), Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso
• Dr. Alina Herrmann, Heidelberg Institute for Global Health (HIGH), Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, Germany

Main Funding Partners
Robert Bosch Foundation (RBS) – Robert Bosch Junior Professorship 2019

Publications

• Weil K, Coulibaly I, Fuelbert H, Herrmann A, Millogo RM, Danquah I. Dietary patterns and their socioeconomic factors of adherence among adults in urban Burkina Faso: a cross-sectional study. J Health Popul Nutr. 2023 Oct 10;42(1):107. doi: 10.1186/s41043-023-00451-w.
• Herrmann A, Gonnet A, Millogo RM, d'Arc Kabré WJ, Beremwidougou TR, Coulibaly I, Ouili I, Zoromé S, Weil K, Fuelbert H, Soura A, Danquah I. Sustainable dietary weight loss intervention and its effects on cardiometabolic parameters and greenhouse gas emissions: study protocol of a randomised controlled trial with overweight and obese adults in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. BMJ Open. 2023 Apr 4;13(4):e070524. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2022-070524.
• Herrmann A und Danquah I (2022). Klimawandel und Gesundheit aus Globaler Perspektive. DIVI Jahresbuch 2022/2023. MMV Medizinisch Wissenschaftliche Verlagsgesellschaft.

Duration of the Project
5 years (01 Jul 2019 – 30 Jun 2025)

Team

• Prof. Dr. Ina Danquah
• Anaïs Gonnet (project coordinator)
• Konstantin Weil (candidate Dr. med.)
• Hannah Fülbert (candidate Dr. med.)
• Dorothee Liu (candidate Dr. med.)

Contact
Prof. Dr. Ina Danquah, Phone.: +49-228-73-1970