Agrifood-Chain Management Group participated in the 32nd International Conference of Agricultural Economists, held in Delhi (August 2-7, 2024)
The 32nd International Conference of Agricultural Economists (ICAE 2024), was held at the NASC Complex in New Delhi from August 2–7, 2024, and was attended by Prof. Dr. Dagmar Mithöfer, Dr. Ayobami Adetoyinbo, Aditya Korekalu Srinivasa, and Joseph Alulu from the Agrifood Chain Management Group of Humboldt Univeristät zu Berlin. The conference had 380 papers, 222 posters, 57 organized symposia, 23 invited panels, 22 plenary lectures, and six pre-conference workshops attended by over a thousand participants representing more than 75 countries. The theme of the conference was the “sustainable transition of the agri-food systems”. Sustainability concerns of the present agri-food systems stem from concerns about human health (malnutrition, hunger, food and nutritional insecurities, obesity, etc.) and issues related to climate change, biodiversity loss, and natural resource degradation. The ICAE 2024 had discussions around how to make agri-food systems more sustainable, with a particular focus on the important role of agricultural economists in facing these interdisciplinary challenges. The broad topics included healthy and sustainable diets, technological and institutional innovations, agroecology, gender roles and social equity in agri-food systems, environmental and social externalities of value chains, the true cost of food, and bioeconomy, among others.
During the conference, Aditya made a presentation on the paper ‘Understanding Farmers' Policy Preferences for Solar-Powered Irrigation Systems in Karnataka, India: A Choice Experiment Approach’, co-authored with Dagmar Mithöfer. He also co-organized an invited symposium on ‘Technology and Policies for Groundwater Management in South Asia'.
Joseph made a presentation on ‘Seed Innovations and Performance of African Indigenous Vegetables Producers: Evidence from Kenya’. Co-authored with Kavoi Muendo, Robert Mbeche, Ayobami Adetoyinbo, and Dagmar Mithöfer.
Ayobami presented two papers on ‘Business aspirations among smallholders in rural Zambia: Drivers and effects on business decisions’; and ‘Entrepreneurship, crop diversification, and commercialization: Evidence from small-scale farmers in Zambia’, both papers coauthored with Dagmar Mithöfer.
Overall, it was a great opportunity to listen to research advances in different research domains of agricultural economics. It was also an opportunity to network with peers sharing common research interests and to initiate collaborations.
