Study Project Germany, April-July 2022
As we are approaching the start of the new semester here at Humboldt University, it is time to look back at the last one and give an overview of how our EAGER study project on “Exploring Urban Agriculture in Global North and South” went. From April to July the seminar took place weekly with 17 participants with various master's degree backgrounds. Eight of the EAGER exchange students actively participated in the study project. This year's study project was built on weekly seminars with Prof. Sabine Fuss and Maria Velte and was rounded off by the final workshop and a joint excursion to “Roof-Water-Farm Berlin” together with the four staff members from Ardhi, KARU, and Chuka who were visiting Berlin from July 10th to 17th.
The e-talks from three of our network staff members made a huge and valuable contribution to the success of the study project and made us gain respected new information on the topic. A big thanks, therefore, goes to:
- Albert Nyiti (Ardhi University, Institute of Human Settlement Studies) and his case study on “Urban planning vs. urban farming and lessons from small-holder farmers in Dar es Salaam”
- Rebecca Karaya-Kigwa (KARU) and her case study on “Urban agriculture and food security in urban slums in Nairobi”
- Agatha Nthenge (Chuka University) and her case study on “Dynamics of urban agriculture post-Covid-19 pandemic in Kenya”
Students formed small groups and conducted their research project on various topics within the focus theme over the summer. A few days ago, the groups submitted their final reports. One group focused on human-wildlife conflict in urban gardens in Berlin. Another group conducted a comparative case study of Berlin, Shanghai, and Dar es Salaam, examining the influences of urban planning tools, regulations, and practices on the typology of urban agriculture sites. One student conducted a qualitative study of Berlin gardeners and their strategies for dealing with climate change.
