In many of its programmes, the DAAD focuses on joint knowledge creation: international university teams work together with local partners to develop solutions to complex challenges. Three examples from Africa show how this approach combines research and practice—and thus promotes climate-resilient agriculture, sustainable energy supply and stable food systems.

Dust swirls as the group enters the small experimental field in the middle of the hilly landscape of Hula. At an altitude of 2,600 meters in southern Ethiopia, Tadele Geremu Etefa, a doctoral student at Hawassa University, guides farmers, researchers, and project coordinators from Ethiopia and Germany through the densely planted faba bean plots. One question is on everyone's mind in particular: How can yields be secured in a region that is increasingly suffering from drought? “In my dissertation, I am investigating how soil fertility can be improved with the help of special soil bacteria known as rhizobia,” explains Etefa. He and his team are testing locally adapted bacterial strains that can thrive even in acidic soils and convert nitrogen from the air into plant nutrients. “In the best-case scenario, we will need significantly less artificial fertilizer—which saves costs and protects the environment.” 

Such encounters between research and practice are part of CLIFOOD (Climate Change Effects on Food Security), a bilateral graduate school run by the University of Hohenheim and Hawassa University. Since 2016, it has been promoting research on climate-resilient agricultural and food systems in East Africa—with a focus on local knowledge. Funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) as part of the DAAD programme SDG Graduate Schools, the initiative enables interdisciplinary university education. In addition to climate-smart farming systems, livestock farming, soil and water management, and climate models, the programme also focuses on social aspects, supported by the modernization of university laboratories, the establishment of a data centre, and knowledge exchange with over 17 partner institutions. 

Exchange in the local language

The “field day” in Hula is a prime example of how knowledge transfer can work in practice. Participants examine test plants, compare them with their own fields, and contribute their experiences and suggestions—for example, on cultivation techniques or crop rotation. The research team presents soil tests, explains pH values, and describes the targeted use of rhizobia strains. “Many farmers are interested in using this method themselves,” says Etefa. “We are currently working on making the preparations more widely available.” All discussions take place in the local language: a crucial factor for open exchange. “The field days not only impart knowledge but also provide the impetus for concrete change—an important step towards the wider application of climate-resilient, evidence-based agriculture, that CLIFOOD strives for.” 

Context-sensitive handling of knowledge

The example of the SDG Graduate Schools clearly shows that projects based on equal partnership and shared responsibility create space for solutions to regional and global challenges. Simply transferring knowledge from A to B is not enough. “The term ‘knowledge transfer’ suggests a linear process,” says Dr Ruth Fuchs, Senior Desk Officer at the DAAD. “This does not reflect the reality of complex learning and innovation processes, which often take place in a dialogical and circular manner.” What is needed is a cooperative, context-sensitive approach to knowledge: not only across disciplinary and national boundaries, but also between science, practice, civil society, and politics. Joint knowledge creation—the collaborative development of insights—is considered key. This is because the knowledge necessary for social change lies not only within universities, but also in the experiences of local people. “However, this local knowledge has not yet been systematically recorded or used,” says Fuchs. “Practice-oriented research should identify, apply, and further develop all relevant and available sources of knowledge.”

Climate-friendly power supply in the Global South

An example from Kenya also shows how this idea can be implemented. The landscape is vast, and the power grid does not reach this far. Olderkesi, a remote community in the south of the country, is home to one of the living labs of the SEED project (Sustainable Energies, Entrepreneurship and Development). University teams and community members worked together to build a solar-powered mini-grid—an independent power supply that also facilitates research, teaching, and entrepreneurial ideas. DAAD alumnus Tobias Belle, who spent several years promoting the project at Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT), recalls having engaged conversations with the local people. “The implementation of the project was a participatory process,” he says. “We learned how power and leadership structures work and what priorities are set in terms of energy access and entrepreneurship.”

Olderkesi is one of eight Living Labs within the SEED programme, alongside locations in Ethiopia, Ghana, India, Indonesia, Namibia, Peru, and Uganda. The project, which is funded by the DAAD as part of the exceed programme with funds from the BMZ, is coordinated by the Technical University of Munich (TUM). The aim is to work with ten partner universities in Africa, Asia, and Latin America to develop solutions for sustainable energy systems—adapted to local conditions and in collaboration with local people.

Learning together

In Olderkesi, this process began with a needs assessment. Workshops and training courses followed. Step by step, community members and teams from the participating universities developed a model for the long-term use and management of the facility. This resulted in the Olderkesi SEED Cooperative Society Limited—an officially registered cooperative that is now responsible for the operation, maintenance, and further development of the system. At the same time, SEED has created a place where students, researchers, and local people can learn together: postgraduates from Nairobi and Munich, for example, use the Living Lab for data collection and research on the effects of decentralized energy supply on education, health, and economic development. In the current second funding phase, the focus is also on sustainable operating structures, stronger integration into university teaching, and digital development.

For Tobias Belle, participating in the SEED project was a decisive milestone—both professionally and academically. Today, he is responsible for communications at the Kenya Climate Innovation Center, which supports entrepreneurs in developing innovative climate protection solutions. “My current work is strongly influenced by my previous experiences – and the SEED project has played a significant role in this,” says Belle. “I have learned that a good solution alone is not enough if it does not focus on people.”

Resilient food systems in Southern Africa

In South Africa and Malawi, too, a new project is focusing on local solutions—and on combining science, practice, and shared responsibility. Launched in early 2025, the UKUDLA initiative (African-German Centre for Sustainable and Resilient Food Systems and Applied Agricultural and Food Data Science), which is funded by the DAAD as part of the African Excellence – Centers of Excellence Africa programme, brings together researchers from the Universities of Hohenheim, Mpumalanga, Pretoria, the University of the Western Cape, and Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources (LUANAR). They collaborate with additional partner universities in sub-Saharan Africa to better understand local food systems and to further develop them together with the local communities.

As a pilot project, UKUDLA creates synergies resulting from the joint commitment of three German federal ministries: the Federal Foreign Office (AA), the Federal Ministry of Research, Technology, and Space (BMFTR), and the Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Food, and Regional Identity (BMLEH). In South Africa, the Department of Science, Technology, and Innovation (DSTI) and the National Research Foundation (NRF) are also involved. “We talk to representatives of communities and private companies about the challenges they face in agriculture and combine their knowledge with our research,” explains Professor Ndomelele Ndiko Ludidi, Dean of the Faculty of Agricultural and Natural Sciences at the University of Mpumalanga. “This leads to joint solutions.”

Integrating local knowledge

Initial studies are already underway: a doctoral student is looking at sweet potatoes and how post-harvest losses can be reduced—for example, through better storage, linking value chain partners, logistics, or regional processing. Marketing also plays a key role: many rural regions in South Africa lack functioning value chains. Smallholder farmers cannot find buyers, even though there is demand – their products spoil or generate little income. The project team is therefore investigating how market access can be improved and how digital tools can help make pricing more transparent and transport chains more efficient. The first master's programme in South Africa has already started; and summer schools, seminars on data analysis, and micro-certificates are planned to complement it—on topics such as soil sensors, drone technology, and app use for small businesses. Local knowledge is not only sought out but also consistently and sustainably integrated into the research process. “This forms the basis for long-term change on-site,” says Ludidi.

Christina Pfänder (9 September 2025)