This website no longer supports Internet Explorer 11. Please use a more up-to-date browser such as Firefox, Chrome for better viewing and usability.
  • Instagramm
  • Linkedin
  • Youtube

International prize for FiBL program: award ceremony and workshop with researchers from India and Kenya

The 10 participants during the award ceremony.

Participants during the award ceremony: Edward Karanja, Edwin Nderitu, David Bautze, Eva Goldmann, Bhupendra Sisodia, Akanksha Singh, Laura Armengot, Ivonne Kampermann, Ishwar Patidar, and Noah Adamtey (l.-r.). (Photo: Agropolis Foundation)

Two men sitting on a table and discussing some papers.

Exchange on the topic of scientific presentations. (Photo: FiBL, David Bautze)

Woman standing in front of a flip chart and a man sitting there and listening to her.

Discussion of the results of the workshop. (Photo: FiBL, David Bautze)

FiBL Switzerland's SysCom program won the international SHIFT Prize 2021. At the award ceremony in mid-November, FiBL researchers and partners from India and Kenya travelled to Montpellier and Barcelona. This was followed by a workshop at FiBL in Frick for a mutual exchange of experiences.

The SHIFT prize of 20,000 Swiss francs, awarded for the first time this year by the two foundations, Biovision and Agropolis, went to FiBL Switzerland's SysCom program. The program aims to close gaps in knowledge about organic agriculture in the tropics. To this end, FiBL has been comparing organic and conventional farming systems for almost 15 years together with partners in Kenya, India, and Bolivia. The independent jury of the SHIFT Prize awarded the SysCom program because it promotes sustainable development and contributes to the transformation of food systems.

Because of the award ceremony, FiBL researchers from Switzerland first travelled to Montpellier (France), the headquarters of the Agropolis Foundation. They met with other award winners and researchers from the French network for development cooperation. The award ceremony took place during the "Agroecology Europe Forum 2021" held in Barcelona (Spain) from 17th to 19th November. This was also attended by SysCom researchers from Kenya and India, working for the International Center for Insect Physiology and Ecology Icipe in Kenya and the bioRe association in India. Both are long-standing partner organisations of FiBL Switzerland. Unfortunately, researchers from the Bolivian SysCom project were unable to attend because a workshop was being held in Bolivia at the same time.

Deepening cooperation

Following the award ceremony, a joint workshop of the SysCom program partners was held in Frick from 22nd to 27th November, with four participants from Kenya and three from India. The workshop aimed to train the participants in scientific methodology. For this purpose, different topics such as experimental design, data management, statistics, or presentation techniques were discussed during the week. In addition, the exchange between the participants was promoted. The workshop helped gather new ideas for future activities in the SysCom program and improve individual scientific skills. Next year further workshops to deepen the collaboration among the program partners are planned.

Further information

Contact

  • Beate Huber, SysCom program coordinator
  • David Bautze, SysCom coordinator assistant and researcher in SysCom Kenya
  • Eva Goldmann, Researcher in SysCom India

Links