The world is very big, but is it as big as we think?

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This blog post is written by Einar Nordgren, Vice Chair of the Joint Committee of Student Unions of the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU).

Drinking my morning coffee on the terrace of the headquarters of the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nation’s (FAO). Photo: Jens Mårtensson

It was with an ounce of confusion that I stepped into the FAO headquarters in Rome at the start of the World Food Forum, what will happen, is there anyone here that I know and what will I be able to contribute?

One of these questions was cleared up quite quickly when I entered the entrance and met representatives from SLU and Alnarp Agroecology Farm, but the other questions were still unsolved.

During the various sessions organised, I came to the realisation quite quickly that I could contribute and bring home thoughts and reflections. Much of what was discussed was linked to the involvement of young people in decision-making. Something that I, in my role as Vice President of Sluss (The Joint Committee of Student Unions of SLU), work with daily and that I also realised that in Sweden we are good at involving young people in decision-making.

A session on the opportunities and challenges of agriculture and forestry from the perspective of young people.
Photo: Einar Nordgren

But I also came to another realisation, and that is that the word sustainability has different meanings depending on where in the world we are. When I think about sustainable food production from a Swedish perspective, it’s about being economical, reducing climate impact through emissions and economising on the resources we have. I looked at the Swedish Board of Agriculture’s website to see how they have defined sustainability and in summary, their definition is about economic and environmental sustainability, but also social sustainability to fulfil human rights. During the World Food Forum, sustainable food production was discussed from a completely different perspective, namely ensuring the long-term ability to put nutritious food on the table.

The fact that sustainable food production can be defined in two such different ways was something I hadn’t realised before, but is very important to keep in mind.

Having the opportunity to participate in events like these is a privilege and something that should not be taken for granted. Students from all over the world participated in the World Food Forum, but there was one thing that separated the two groups. Namely, the conditions to participate, both when it came to getting a visa to travel to Rome, but also the financial aspect. While the majority of the students had received financial support to participate, the common factor for those who had paid for their own participation was that these were people who came from countries that do not have a stable and secure food supply.

As I sat down and listened to the different speakers and had a look around the room on the first day, I realised how big the world is!

The conference hall at the FAO headquarters. Photo: Einar Nordgren

But a few days later it turns out that it may not be as big as I think. During my second year as a student at SLU, I went on a study trip to Slovenia to see how their forestry works and I had the opportunity to meet and talk to the forestry students there. In a corridor at FAO in Rome I met one of these students again. I have heard the saying ‘The forest is not as big as you think’ during my education, but I never thought when I stepped into the World Food Forum that I would say the world is not as big as you think.

Back at campus Ultuna, I will now try to summarise a couple of extremely interesting and instructive days in Rome. Linking back to the title of this blog post, I have realised how big the world is when one word can mean so many different things, but at the same time so small, especially when you have decided which direction to take, both professionally and academically.

With regards from Einar

 

About the World Food Forum

The World Food Forum (WFF) was launched in 2021 by the Youth Committee of the the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), as an independent network of partners. Hosted within FAO, it serves as the premier global platform to actively shape agrifood systems for a better food future, accelerating the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Through youth action, science and innovation, and investment, the WFF forges new paths of action and multi-sector partnerships for agrifood impact at the local, regional and global levels to achieve a more sustainable, resilient, inclusive and hunger-free food future for all.

The 2024 Dag Hammarskjöld Lecture: My reflections on global peace, leadership, and sustainable food systems

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This blog post is written by Mary Theodorah Ajal, Master’s student at SLU.

From left: Peter Wallensteen, Mary Theodorah Ajal, Jan Egeland, Reina Lee, Linnea Törnlund and Janithrika Jayasundara. Photo: Dag Hammarskjöld Foundation

On 16 September 2024, I had the honor of representing the Swedish University of Agricultural Science as one of the panelists during the Dag Hammarskjöld annual lecture, organised by the Dag Hammarskjöld Foundation.

Before the invitation to participate as one of the panelists, I did not know who Dag Hammarskjöld was nor anything about Dag Hammarskjöld Foundation. Luckily, I was brought to speed with different materials and information about Dag Hammarskjöld and the previous Dag Hammarskjöld annual lectures. I must say I was so overwhelmed when I learned about the high-profile individuals, who in the previous year’s gave lectures, and the speakers I would be meeting. I am grateful for the guidance offered by Prof. Peter Wallensteen; it did calm me down to give my best.

Dag Hammarskjöld served as the UN Secretary-General from 1953 till his death in 1961. He lost his life in the pursuit of peace, on a mission to mediate the Congo crisis in the 1960s. I am humbled to have participated in an event that celebrates and honors the life and service of Dag Hammarskjöld.

I had the honor of sharing the stage with several distinguished guests including Rena Lee, Ambassador for International Law and Chief Executive of the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore, Secretary General for the Norwegian Refugee Council, Jan Egeland, Prof. Peter Wallensteen, Senior Professor of Peace and Conflict Research at Uppsala University, and my fellow panelists Janithrika Jayasundara, Pax et Bellum and Linnea Törnlund, the Vice President Uppsala Association of Foreign Affairs.

I was privileged to meet the Vice Chancellor of Uppsala University, Professor Anders Hagfeldt, Chairperson Dag Hammarskjöld Foundation Board of Trustees, Hans Wallmark, and many other distinguished guests.

In one sentence the event was surreal.

I learned from Secretary General Jan Egeland that peace can’t be pursued passively. Conflict resolution isn’t possible with hypocrisy or selective application of laws.

Despite all, there’s hope as long as there is someone making the bold steps to restore peace. As long as there is someone speaking up and acting on it, there is hope for peace.

Ambassador Rena Lee is a woman crowned in grace, wisdom, and humility. She’s a testament that anything is possible. As a young woman looking forward to making the world a better place, she fueled my will and zeal.

I had the great opportunity to ask her questions about

the Agreement under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Marine Biological Diversity of Areas beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ Agreement) or “High Seas Treaty” in the areas of deep-sea exploration and plastic management in the oceans.

I thank SLU for the opportunity to participate in the Dag Hammarskjöld annual lecture. I am also privileged to receive funding from SLU Global through the Minor Field Study (MFS) grant to facilitate my master’s thesis research abroad in the Karamoja region, North Eastern Uganda. My study will focus on the Characterization and productivity of kitchen gardens and their contribution to food security and livelihoods in the Karamoja region. I am excited about my research because it will be able to inform policy and shape how kitchen gardens can be implemented in agropastoral and pastoral regions to enhance food security and livelihoods.

Kitchen gardens in Moroto, North Eastern Uganda, where I am doing my research for my Masters thesis.
Photos: Mary Theodorah Ajal

I am eager to gain an understanding of kitchen gardens in an agropastoral and pastoral region. “Is it the same as my understanding of kitchen gardens in Sweden, or in my small hometown in Tororo, Eastern Uganda or is it something new and beautifully different?”

About my future plans, I am looking forward to pursuing a PhD when an opportunity opens but I am also open to working with organizations that are supporting local/indigenous food systems to become more sustainable and resilient.

To learn about Dag Hammarskjöld visit: https://www.daghammarskjold.se/

Watch the recording of the Dag Hammarskjöld lecture 2024 here: https://www.daghammarskjold.se/dag-hammarskjold-lecture/the-dag-hammarskjold-lecture-2023-2024/

Yours truly, Mary Theodorah

United in science: SLU’s role in unraveling genetic mechanisms of antimicrobial resistance in Escherichia coli amid Morocco’s climate change crisis

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This blog is written by Ikhlass El Berbri, associate professor of animal infectious diseases at the Agronomy and Veterinary Institute Hassan II, Morocco.

Ikhlass El Berbri and Erik Bongcam-Rudloff in Rabat, Morocco.

The world is currently facing an anthropogenic climate crisis that is already impacting human health and is likely to do so in increasingly severe ways. Climate change effects on human health include heat-related mortality, a variety of health issues from natural disasters like flooding and droughts, food insecurity due to reduced crop yields, and a heightened risk for the transmission of infectious diseases and the spread of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Furthermore, climate-induced changes in temperature and rainfall, along with extreme weather events, promote the proliferation of resistant bacterial strains and increase the need for antibiotics, compounding the problem of antibiotic resistance.

The emergence of multiple drug-resistant bacteria is indeed rising to dangerously high levels globally, severely undermining the effectiveness of available antibiotics. As a result, even minor injuries and routine medical procedures now pose serious risks due to antibiotic-resistant infections.

Escherichia coli is a common pathogen found consistently in the digestive tracts of animals and humans, as well as in the environment. Multidrug resistance in Escherichia coli has become a concerning issue, increasingly observed in both humans and veterinary medicine worldwide. E. coli is intrinsically susceptible to almost all clinically relevant antimicrobial agents, but this bacterial species has a great capacity to accumulate resistance genes, mostly through horizontal gene transfer. In recent years, E. coli has become one of the common bacterial sources to antimicrobial resistance genes, which has been prevalent and exhibited an increasing trend. One of the most important factors favouring this spread is ecosystems and climate deregulation, which cause human and animal populations to migrate and create novel transmission pathways for pathogens, including E. coli.

In this context, and to assess the role of the environment in the transmission and spread of resistant bacteria, our project aims to determine the genetic relatedness of multidrug-resistant Escherichia coli isolated from animals and their environment.

With this regard, and to ensure that the results are thoroughly and effectively explored to understand the genetic mechanisms underlying this phenomenon, and in order to improve my skills in term of genomic sequencing and bioinformatics analysis, I have opted for a collaboration with a team with international renown researchers from the Department of Animal Sciences, Bioinformatics Section, led by Professor Erik Bongcam-Rudloff, at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU). The team’s innovative work and collaborative environment offer a unique chance to explore the complexities of my research, using their expertise to improve my understanding of the outcomes of my results.

      A photo capturing the essence of teamwork at the lab at SLU. Photo: Udeshika Sewwandi

During my stay at SLU, I gained a wealth of valuable knowledge and experience. I had the privilege of engaging with renowned experts in the field and built a strong network of contacts. These connections are very important for my academic journey and are also instrumental in facilitating future collaborations. Professor Erik Bongcam-Rudloff also visited the Veterinary Institute Hassan II in Morocco, where he delivered lectures and tutorials on bioinformatics for students and researchers. Following these productive exchanges of researchers between Sweden and Morocco, we are now prepared to launch new projects that leverage our combined expertise to address significant global health challenges.

 

A journey back in time – Reflections from IUFRO 2024

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This blog post is written by Anna-Klara Lindeborg, research advisor at SLU Global, in conjunction to IUFRO 2024.

Rubber plantation in Laos. Photo: Anna-Klara Lindeborg

As IUFRO 2024 – Forest and Society towards 2050 is coming to an end, I am reflecting on some of the sessions at the conference in conjunction to my own career path and research. The focus is to put attention to the research within the forestry sector and gender, a topic that has been part of my life for almost twenty years and an evident topic at IUFRO 2024.

Taking part in the session Local ecological knowledge of non-wood forest products for sustainable forest management and human well-being in diverse contexts, brings me back to 2006, when I was carrying out a Minor Field Study in Laos about gendered labour and the collection of fuel wood, which later became the reason why I wanted to apply for a PhD position.

When I was admitted as a PhD student in Social and Economic Geography at Uppsala University one year later, I signed up for a PhD course in Forest Governance at SLU. Part of the course was to participate in a pre-conference training workshop in Umeå with the title Adaptation of Forests to Climate Change: Working effectively at the Interface of Forest Science and Forest Policy, jointly organised by IUFRO’s Special Programme for Developing Countries (IUFRO-SPDC) and SLU. A special session was set up focusing on gender relations – Asking the right questions of society-forest adaptation – How can a gender perspective help? Gun Lidestav, associate professor in forest management at SLU, was the main driver of the session. She has been heavily engaged in IUFRO in several ways and in the field of gender and forestry. In IUFRO 2024 she was moderating the poster session In practice of a gender equal and inclusive forestry sector. One of the presentations focused on the project Gender dimensions to climate resilience of cocoa farming systems in West Africa, involving SLU professor Francisco Aguilar.

Another researcher at SLU contributing to the field of gender and forestry is Professor Seema Arora-Jonsson, who was teaching at the Forest Governance PhD course in 2008 that I was undertaking and was now participating in IUFRO 2024 in the session Integration of gender and diversity perspectives in knowledge production, amongst other things.

At the rubber plantation. Photo: Anna-Klara Lindeborg

Inspired by Lidestav’s and Arora-Jonsson’s work, I continued writing on my PhD thesis, which I defended in 2012 with the title Where Gendered Spaces Bend – the rubber phenomenon in Northern Laos. Associate professor Ann Grubbström, researcher in Environmental Communication at SLU, was in addition important for my research, as her comments and input meant a lot for my PhD thesis. She also participated at IUFRO 2024 in the poster session Smart Forestry – Transforming Forestry and the Future Forest Workforce and has hence contributed a lot to the research field of gender and forestry.

After different turns and career paths, I started as a research advisor at SLU Global in 2021. One of the tasks I have been engaged with recently is the MOOC for Gender Equality and Diversity in Forestry, coordinated by Ida Wallin, researcher at the Southern Swedish Forest Research Centre, SLU. The MOOC is supposed to achieve gender equality and diversity in forest-related sectors as well as bridging the education–practice gap. In addition, the course is one of the outputs for Gender Equality Taskforce within IUFRO, an important and relevant contribution from SLU Global and contributes to the implementation of the policy for SLU’s global contribution to Agenda 2030.

So to conclude it seems that several things are coming together attending IUFRO 2024. Almost 20 years have passed since I started to engage in the gender and forestry sector, but it is still a very vibrant and visible theme that is needed, even though it has developed a lot along the way. Many researchers at SLU are also involved within this broad research field, just a few of them mentioned here. I am pleased to say that I have contributed a little bit to this, however additional research is still needed on the topic which I hope to see at IUFRO 2029 in Kenya.

Beyond university gates: How research makes big impact to society in Rwanda

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This blog post is written by Alin Kadfak, researcher at the Department of Rural and Urban Development (SLU), in connection with a visit to Sweden by researchers from the University of Rwanda. The blog post was first published at SIANI’s website.

Dr. Jennifer Batamuliza talking about how the University of Rwanda contributes to gender equality in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM). Photo: SLU Global

Obliged to focus on teaching and engaging with busy research work, researchers often fail to think beyond academic results. Dr. Jennifer Batamuliza and Professor Alfred Bizoza from the University of Rwanda (UR) informed us about techniques for transferring university knowledge to real-world impacts. 

What bring you to Sweden?

We are here to continue planning our courses as part of our collaboration between SLU and the UR in one of the fifteen sub-programmes of Sida-funded bilateral capacity-building programmes. The Engendering Rural Transformation and Sustainable Development (ENTRUST) sub-programme has four PhD students, three of whom are studying at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences.  Since 2017, we have closely collaborated with the Department of Rural and Urban Development and the Department of Economics at SLU. While visiting Sweden, we are collaborating developing two doctoral courses to be integrated at the University of Rwanda. The first PhD course “Farming, food consumption and health”, is being co-designed with Associate Professor Linley Chiwona Karltun of SLU. This is a collaborative undertaking with Dr Franklin Amuakwa Mensah at Luleå University of Technology, where our fourth PhD candidate is based. The second course focuses on “Information Communication Technology, Gender and Rural Transformation”, and we are partnering closely with Associate Professor Caroline Wamala Larsson, based at SPIDER at Stockholm University. Both courses are planned to be run as pilots in May-June 2025 and will be open to PhD students globally, focusing on the African context.

 

Such true collaboration brings up many lessons from both partners. We have learnt great stories from your works that create real impact on society. Can you share some of those examples with us?

One concern is that gender inequality remains high in the higher learning education in Rwanda. As shown in figure 1, the number of teachers, both male and female, has dropped drastically after primary education. One-fourth of the lecturers at university level are female. There are a serious concern that many of the girls and women do not make it to the top to pursue a professional career.

Figure 1: Male and Female Teachers/ Lecturers at all levels of education in Rwanda (Statistical Year Book , MINEDUC,2023) 

Women and girls make up half of the world’s population and hold half of the world’s human potential. When their lives are improved, the benefits reverberate across society. Access to decent work and regular income in the hands of women, for example, contributes not only to poverty reduction (SDG 1) but also supports better education, health and nutrition outcomes for women and girls and those who depend on them (SDGs 2, 3 and 4).

Mainstreamed diversity and gender perspectives in law and established programmes on gender studies lead to structural changes in institutions to make equality possible. At UR, we have a unique programme that supports girls and women in pursuing their education in science to build a more inclusive and equitable career path in science and technology. This is because we believe that science-related fields play a crucial role in sustainable development and women’s potential for creation and innovation cannot be left behind. Professional education for women is one of the solutions.

Source: Dr. Jennifer Batamuliza

Source: Dr. Jennifer Batamuliza

So, it is time to rethink gender relations to science! What is the role of science, technology, engineering and mathematics in countering this challenge?

Yes! STEM is a learning approach that integrates the areas of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM), and we hope to encourage more girls and women to participate in this programme at our university. As many of us know, STEM is a male-dominated space, and we are trying hard to stop the leaky pipeline of women within the STEM field and create more inclusive workplaces and ecosystems to retain and support women in their STEM career advancement. Gender inequality in STEM is a result of stereotypes, bias and inequality that limits girls’ expectations and professional goals.

In Rwanda, as in many parts of the world, women and girls continue to be subject to social and cultural restrictions. Limited access to education and unfavourable treatments in working environments may hamper women’s advancement. At present, only 32% of young women are entering STEM programmes in Rwanda due to issues such as social and cultural restrictions and societal structure, which need to be changed.

 

How to address gender inequality through STEM?

There are many things you can do, but here are some points where we have started to see changes.

  • Creating role models: at the University of Rwanda, there is the Association of Women in Science and Engineering (RAWISE). This group is self-initiated by many female faculty members who come together and mentor to other female students. Having such a platform creates more than a role model, where the students can see their near future potential, and it provides open and safe spaces to share opportunities and challenges.
  • Networking: we started a virtual regional platform that serves as a networking space for women in STEM and helps them share and make available training courses and digital materials. Our university celebrates the International Day of Women and Girls in Science every year.

Can you tell us more about your other outreach activities beyond university gate?

Through the ENTRUST programme, we initiated a Societal University Village Initiative (SUVI) model in 2019, piloted and tested by the UR in 2018. We select “SUVI champions”, graduate students paired with people in the communities, and develop project ideas focusing on rural development, poverty alleviation and food security to implement at village level. Our SUVI champions work with local people to solve the real problems concerning their livelihoods, using the students’ science and technology skills. Results and stories from implementing the model tell us that this model is scalable and impactful.

There are several success stories from SUVI champions. The prominent one is their ability to create their own business plans to address the challenges facing their communities. For instance, SUVI champions are helping small farmers establish kitchen gardens to address issues of malnutrition. Similarly, others have initiated their small businesses, such as livestock rearing (cows, goats, sheep, pig, rabbits) and farming-related activities, such as farming mushrooms and other crops, in collaboration with communities where they are deployed. The SUVI model helps students to create their own jobs after their service through SUVI instead of waiting three to five years before getting employed. This model makes the skills and competencies available for rural transformation and ensures the equity in knowledge distribution across the country rather than being concentrated in the cities.

Source : SUVI, 2023

Source: SUVI, 2019

Source: SUVI, 2019

Dr. Jennifer Batamuliza is a lecturer at the University of Rwanda and a head of Data Driven Incubation Hub and Short Professional Courses at African Center of Excellence in Data Science, University of Rwanda. She is also a founder of RWA TECH HUB an organization that trains and mentors girls in ICT.  

Prof. Alfred R. BIZOZA is a Professor of Agricultural Economics from the University of Rwanda (UR) with extensive academic and policy research experience in areas of Agricultural Economics, Institutional Economics of Soil and Water Conservation, Economics of Land, Economics of Climate Change Adaptation, and Economic perspectives of Gender. 

Associate Professor Linley Chiwona Karltun is a researcher at the Department of Urban & Rural Development, Rural Development division at SLU, and a co-lead investigator for the Sida-funded bilateral capacity building programmes Engendering Rural Transformation and Sustainable Development (ENTRUST) sub-programme.