Untitled 1©SLE

WHO IS WHO: Boniface Mabanza Bambu

Trainer für Entwicklungspolitik und Antirassismus

Das Wichtigste zuerst: Wie findest Du Freude im Alltag?

Ich begreife das Leben als Geschenk und aus der Bejahung dieses Geschenkes leite ich die positive Grundeinstellung ab, die ich trotz aller Widrigkeiten bewahre. In allen Situationen habe ich den festen Glauben, dass es weitergeht, und zwar gut.

 
04 Village potato farmers Mt Elgon region Uganda <br /><br />Flavia Marà
Village Potato Farmers at Mt. Elgon Region, Uganda

Photo by Flavia Marà

Why is KFC Kenya running out of fries, and why do we need to talk about it ?

What the 'potato-gate' scandal and our research on the potato value chain in Uganda tell us about local food value chains


Normally, potatoes aren’t really a big thing in the media – until January this year. We were just about finalizing our report on the Irish potato value chain in eastern Uganda, when suddenly, the potato became a “hot” topic in international media: American fast-food-company KFC had run out of fries in Kenya due to supply chain disruptions, causing furore in the potato- producing country where potatoes can be found at every street corner. How is it possible that KFC Kenya was running out of chips despite a local oversupply of potatoes?

kurbis

May/June 2020: An Indonesian farmers group destroys cabbage rotting in the field. Due to Covid19-containment measures and related travel restrictions, local markets broke down, and farmers were not able to sell their produce. As a result, vegetables were rotting in the fields in Indonesia and South Africa, while consumers suffered from price spikes. Picture source: Petani kubis indonesia

The Power of co-research to enhancing food resilience

In April 2020, at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, fault lines in the global food system became apparent. IPES-Food identified three destabilising factors causing disruptions in the global food system while the world enforced COVID-19 containment measures: industrial agriculture and monocultures causing losses of healthy agro-ecosystems, the power imbalances in global food supply chains, and the 800 million people worldwide who still suffer from hunger and malnutrition.

Mirjam©SLE

Who is who: Team leader Dr. Mirjam Steglich

Dr. Mirjam Steglich, who are you and why did you choose to become a teamleader for SLE?

I work in international agricultural research and development, and lived in different parts of Africa for over 15 years. In 2019 I returned to Berlin, my original hometown. Here, I studied International Agricultural Economics and did my PhD at Humboldt University. I know the SLE since my university days as an important reference institution for international development in my area of work. I thus liked the idea to become part of SLE as a team leader, especially for the project I became part of that invited young African researchers to support development research carried out in Europe.

nomonde pic lores©Nomonde Buthelezi
 

Interview with South African food activist and researcher Nomonde Buthelezi

Awakening curiosity – Interview with South African food activist and farmer researcher Nomonde Buthelezi on academic research and the transformational impact of co- research. Read the SLE study on agency in South Africas food system, co- authored by Nomonde Buthelezi.

  1. Who is who: Team leader Dr. Mejed Heni