On September 29 and 30, 2022, a two-day symposium on "Interventions and instruments to enhance sustainable farming practices - Lessons from Indonesia and beyond" was held at the Chair of Development Economics of Prof. Dr. Michael Grimm - with the support of PICAIS. Participants came from Indonesia and other German universities, and numerous young researchers from the University of Passau also took part.
The workshop was based on two research projects that are currently being conducted at the chair of Professor Grimm with funding from the German Research Foundation (DFG) and the German Federal Environmental Foundation (DBU). Discussions in a total of five different sessions included training measures targeted at smallholder farmers as well as the potential of digital tools and smart technologies to promote sustainable farming practices, the use of affordable soil testing for the sustainable use of fertilizers, various methods of field research in the context of sustainable agriculture, and the role of digital platforms.
As part of the symposium, Prof. Dr. Matin Qaim, Director at the Center for Development Research (ZEF) at the University of Bonn, gave a public lecture on "How (un)sustainable is palm oil production?" Based on the great social interest in the topic of palm oil and its sustainability, Prof. Dr. Matin Qaim was also interviewed by the Passauer Neue Presse.
At the end of the workshop, the participants discussed further possibilities for cooperation in research and teaching in the field of sustainability research.
We thank you for the active participation!