Kedar Nepal

Having studied, read, and listened to many things about Africa, I was very much thrilled to visit there. In my current job as Sustainability Manager, I got a chance to visit East Africa i.e., Tanzania on behalf of the Project that I was leading. I brought back lots of sweet memories of food, culture, coffee fields, loving people, natural landscapes, and lots of green bananas. Tanzania has much to offer in terms of diversity of foods, culture, agriculture as one of the major sources of income, and most importantly very friendly and relaxed people. My travel in the second week of September (10-21) 2022 remains a medieval and vivid experience in terms of projects and people. With this experience, I am eager to learn, travel, and dive deep into other African countries in the future. Finally,  this time for Africa … remains an unforgettable memory and a must-visit country on the list. #Tanzania #coffee #EastAfrica

The two years of Master of Science in International Horticulture (Economics) at Leibniz Universität Hannover with DAAD scholarship has finally come to an end with excellent grades. During this two years study (2019 - 2021), I did a Master's research on Voluntary Sustainability Standards in Coffee and their impacts on smallholder farmers. The year 2019 started normally unlike previous years but was seen with unprecedented Covid -19 affecting daily lives, studies, and social life. However, with all the hardships and adapting to new conditions and rules, the academic journey of a Master's degree has been accomplished by me in Germany.

It is a pleasure to participate in a virtual conference of Tropentag 2021 with the theme of Towards shifting paradigms in agriculture for a healthy and sustainable future . With the diversity of professionals from varying backgrounds with bottom-up and interdisciplinary approaches, as a young researcher, it is a great opportunity to broaden the knowledge in this sector and contribute my own research in the form of poster presentations. The annual interdisciplinary conference on research in tropical and subtropical agriculture, natural resource management and rural development (TROPENTAG) is organised as a virtual conference by the University of Hohenheim, Stuttgart, Germany and ATSAF e.V., Germany with a few live sessions directly from Hohenheim and Prague, Czech Republic.  

After gaining some years of experience in the development and humanitarian sector in Nepal, I was in search of a degree that could match my interests, notions and justify my academic accolades. With months of dedication, I was offered a German Academic Service Exchange (DAAD) scholarship to pursue a Master’s in Germany with a major in development economics. It was really a game-changer for me to escalate my skills, communicate with the international community and broaden my knowledge in the desired field. And the journey to Germany was set with my beloved wife who left an attractive job to be with me during my studies. Accordingly, with all the hardships, we began to embark on our exploration of Europe. Though I had already explored some European countries in the past, being with my better half was heart soothing support to me. After some months of habitual activities in Germany, as mature husbands and wives, we also decided to become parents without thinking a second about caring for ...

The word sustainable has been used extensively in all the development and research works after the embarkment of Millenium Development Goals (MDGs) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Sustainable means using resources or actions that do not have deleterious impacts for the present and can equally be exercised by future generations. Having worked with different development and emergency projects, using of word sustainable was a kind of fashion. But the major challenge was how to pursue sustainability, how to perceive it, and how to make cities sustainable? Recently, with the inquisitive session of United People Global on Sustainability Leader, I was nominated for the class of 2021 and engaged in workshops, training, seminar, group discussions, and activities that I have been pursuing in my field. Now, I can proudly say I am a Sustainability Leader. Now the gate is open for other sustainability exercises in my projects and vicinity that I work.

The global impact of Coronavirus (COVID-19) that originated in Wuhan, Hubei Province of China has spread all around the world with prominent effect in every aspect of the economy. Health conditions of people around the world are highly impeded. Also, due to unprecedented lockdown and restrictions of human movement to combat the pandemic, the economy of different countries is severely affected.  The most noticeable impact of coronavirus is on the agriculture sector affecting agricultural operations and supply chain in agriculture ( Sahoo, 2020 ). Farmers face problems of reduced prices of crops, disruption in transportation due to lockdown and difficulty in harvesting as well. The market prices of the commodity are rising but the prices received by farmers are low resulting in a huge gap in prices. Different incentive and relief packages on behalf of the farmers are also found less effective. Shortage of labour force for agriculture value chain is also another problem affec...