Friedensau delegation took part in ECAS Conference 2023 in Cologne

From 31 May to 3 June 2023, the Ninth European Conference on African Studies took place in Cologne. The theme was "African Futures" and it was hosted by the University of Cologne. Lecturers and students from the Development Studies programme at Friedensau Adventist University took part.

More than 1,900 delegates from 80 countries came to the conference and took part in 245 round table discussions and panel debates. Some 1,400 contributions formed the basis for discussion and debate on Europe's academic "engagement with Africa's past, present and future".

Friedensau lecturers gave various presentations at the conference, such as Dr Jill Blau, who spoke on "Thinking Development" from the perspective of local development workers in Niger; Dr Kwaku Arhin-Sam spoke on "Surviving Climate Change in Aquaculture: Gender and Climate Change Adaptation Strategies in Northern Zambia"; Dr Annette Witherspoon on "Land and Climate Change". Annette Witherspoon on Land, Labour and the Able-body Bias of Customary Land Tenure in North-Eastern Madagascar; and Prof. Ulrike Schultz on "Negotiating Belongings and Citizenship: Refugees in Kakuma Refugee Camp and their Encounters with the Kenyan State".

Student Agape Okemiri returned from the conference impressed and sums up: "It was an insightful and enlightening experience for all of us. We participated in panel discussions that discussed development issues in detail and were particularly inspired by the statements of our lecturers. Dr Annette Witherspoon and Dr Kwaku Arhin-Sam, who attended the ECAS conference eleven years ago during their studies and now as delegates, shared little episodes of their past experiences."

Text: Andrea Cramer after an report by Agape Okemiri