From the very beginning in the morning session, there was a large audience seated in the auditorium and the energy level was high. Students from different development disciplines were present and there was a large number of researchers, professors and PhDs from different department. The event was opened by Magnus Jirström, professor at Human Geography with a longstanding research experience in agriculture across Africa and Asia.
The key note speakers came from different development sectors (and in fact different continents) and were all keen to present their take on agricultural development and food security and possible solutions. Camilla Lundberg Ney from the Swedish We Effect showed what a day of hard work on a farm in Uganda looks like and what the NGO is doing to improve farmers’ lives there with a special focus on gender issues. Srilata Sircar, a PhD candidate from Lund University with a broad research experience in Indian rural development, presented the policy side of this challenging development question. She highlighted the need to focus more on questions of caste and redistributive justice in agricultural policy. Next in line was Joseph Karugia from ReSAKSS, who is responsible for coordination of capacity building in the agricultural sector in the East and Central African region. He presented facts and figures on the state of nutrition and agricultural development and what the countries are doing to promote development.
The three interesting presentation from the key note speakers sparked a lot questions from the engaged audience. This led to a lively debate. Also, the Hydén Award for the best thesis on democratisation and development was awarded. The winner Hyeon-Soo Jeon (LUMID) could unfortunately not be present but the Honoray Mention Emma Brunberg (Economics) received her prize. Soon it was time to wrap up and have a well-deserved lunch break in the sun outside while the city was filled with snowflakes.
In the afternoon, it was time for Lund University students and researchers to shine and showcase their research. In total there were 21 engaging presentations on a broad variety of development topics, ranging from public health to chicken politics. The schedule can be found here. The sessions were led by a number of visiting researchers from the global South (University of Ghana, University of Nairobi, Chuka University) and led to a lively debate between scholars from different development disciplines and exchange of ideas, exactly what the Development Research Day is meant for. All in all, it was a very successful and inspiring edition of an important date in the Lund University calendar.
The presentations of the key note speakers are available below and the pictures of the event can be found on the Facebook webpage of the Department of Human Geography (click on the links below to access the presentations).
Introduction to Development Research Day 2016, Magnus Jirström, Lund University
Reducing Poverty Through Agriculture – challenges and possibilities, Camilla Lundberg Ney, We Effect
Where is the Farmer in Indian Agricultural Policy? Srilata Sircar, Lund University
What is Africa doing about Sustainable Development Goal 2? Joseph Karugia, Regional Strategic Analysis and Knowledge Support System for Eastern and Central Africa (ReSAKSS)
Link to a brief history of Development Research Day at LU: back in the days how it all started…:
http://www.svet.lu.se/en/research/research-groups/politics-and-development-studies/development-research-day
Development Research Day 2016 Organizing committee:
Agnes Andersson Djurfeldt, Claudia Deijl, Magnus Jirström, Ibrahim Wahab
Picture credit: Claudia Deijl, Ibrahim Wahab, Youy Chootipongchaivat