CRC-TRR 228 Future Rural Africa

"Decolonizing Gaming": Thomas Widlok Awarded GALA Best Paper Award 2025 - Collaborative Research Center TRR 228 For his article Decolonizing Gaming, Thomas Widlok (Project C05 "Framing Futures") received the Best Paper Award at the 2025 Games and Learning Alliance

For “Decolonizing Gaming”, Thomas Widlok @unicologne.bsky.social received the Best Paper Award at GALA 2025.

He critiques colonial assumptions in mainstream game design & calls for alternative narratives, shared practices, and marginalized play traditions.

More:
crc-trr228.de/decolonizing...

Beyond Displacement: How Tanzania’s SGR Is Reshaping Maasai Pastoral Life - Collaborative Research Center TRR 228 In this article, Makulangwa Jeremiah Chambo (Mzumbe University) and Lucy Willy Massoi (Project B03 "Violent Futures") examine how the Standard Gauge Railway

New Publication:

Tanzania’s Standard Gauge Railway isn’t simply displacing Ilparakuyo Maasai pastoralists — it’s reshaping livelihoods and authority through adaptation.

More ➡️ crc-trr228.de/beyond-displ...

When Airports Become Ghosts: New Study Examines Failed Mega-Projects in Africa and Europe - Collaborative Research Center TRR 228 In this new study, researchers Detlef Müller-Mahn (Project C03 "Green Futures"), Evelyne Atieno Owino (Project B03 "Violent Futures") and Theobald Frank

New Publication:

From Kenya to Tanzania and Germany, Detlef Müller-Mahn @giubresearch.bsky.social, Evelyne Owino @bicc.de &Theobald Theodory examine how airports become “ghost projects” — stalled infrastructures that keep shaping regions long after plans unravel.

➡️ crc-trr228.de/when-airport...

Protecting Dryland Rangelands: Grazing Management and Biodiversity Conservation Key to Preventing Plant Invasions - Collaborative Research Center TRR 228 This study with participation from Future Rural Africa researchers Liana Kindermann and Anja Linstädter (Project A01 "Future Carbon Storage") focuses on

When and why do non-native plants succeed in dryland rangelands worldwide?

New study with participation of our sub-project A01 "Future Carbon Storage" suggests high grazing pressure + high resource availability create the perfect window for invasion.

Full study:➡️ crc-trr228.de/protecting-d...

@zefbonn.bsky.social

Women's Off-Farm Employment Leads to Increased Dietary Quality in Rural Africa - Collaborative Research Center TRR 228 Chrispinus Mutsami, Martin C. Parlasca and Matin Qaim form sub-project C08 "Job Futures" examined whether women’s off-farm employment in rural Tanzania and

New Publication:

Women’s off-farm employment in rural Tanzania and Zambia is associated with improved dietary quality, can help increase household income & reduce widespread gender gaps.

Read the full article by Chrispinus Mutsami, Martin C. Parlasca and Matin Qaim:

crc-trr228.de/womens-off-f...

OnlineFirst - "The wilderness fetish: The mystification of nature conservation in the age of capital" by Clemens Greiner and Manuel Standop:

@unicologne.bsky.social
@unibonn.bsky.social
@plaasuwc.bsky.social
@crctrr228.bsky.social

journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10....

@unibonn.bsky.social @unicologne.bsky.social @giubresearch.bsky.social

Power, Land, and Informality: How Cartels Shape Governance and Urban Life in Nairobi’s Informal Settlements - Collaborative Research Center TRR 228 Valentine Opanga and Detlef Müller-Mahn (Project C03 "Green Futures") examine how land cartels operate as powerful, embedded actors in Nairobi’s informal

New Publication:

Valentine Opanga & Detlef Müller-Mahn reframe land cartels in Nairobi not as anomalies, but as structurally embedded actors in the city’s urban metabolism.

Their research calls for moving beyond legality/illegality binaries.

➡️ crc-trr228.de/power-land-a...

New Publication: The Politics of Suspended Infrastructure in Kenya - Collaborative Research Center TRR 228 Uroš Kovač (Project B04 "Framing Futures") examines stalled construction projects in Kenya—focusing on the suspended renovation of Kamariny Stadium—to show

New Publication:
Uroš Kovač examines stalled construction projects in Kenya—focusing on the suspended renovation of Kamariny Stadium—to show how “suspension” functions as a political and social process rather than mere failure.

Read it here ➡️ crc-trr228.de/new-publicat...

Beyond Farming: New Evidence Reveals Poor Pay and Precarious Work in Rural Africa - Collaborative Research Center TRR 228 In this article, Jackson Elias Nzira, Martin C. Parlasca and Matin Qaim (Project C08 "Job Futures") examine labour conditions across different rural economic

Wage jobs remain scarce in rural Africa—and most pay below minimum wages.
Based on new survey evidence from 4 countries, our study with @zefbonn.bsky.social highlights poor working conditions outside the public sector & urgent need to improve rural labor markets.

➡️ crc-trr228.de/beyond-farmi...

Cologne International Forum Grants: Innovative Tandem Collaborations - Collaborative Research Center TRR 228 The University of Cologne will be awarding five project grants (€ 15,000 each) annually for project-related innovative tandem collaborations between

The Cologne International Forum @unicologne.bsky.social will be awarding five project grants (€ 15,000 each) for project-related innovative tandem collaborations between University of Cologne-based academics and international junior researchers.

More info ➡️ crc-trr228.de/cologne-inte...

Available Positions for Third Funding Phase - Collaborative Research Center TRR 228 We are pleased that our research project has received funding for a third project phase (2026-2029).

Apply now!

➡️ crc-trr228.de/available-po...

New Study Reveals How Urban Greening Fuels Displacement and Inequality in Nairobi’s Informal Settlements - Collaborative Research Center TRR 228 In this study, Valentine Opanga (associate researcher Project C03 "Green Futures") and Prince Guma (Cambridge University) analyse how struggles over green and

New publication:

Valentine Opanga @zefbonn.bsky.social & Prince Guma @cam.ac.uk show how “greening” in informal settlements in Nairobi isn’t always green—it's often tied to power, displacement, and deepening inequality.

More: crc-trr228.de/new-study-re...

We are thrilled to announce that @dfg.de has awarded us funding for another four years!

The third and final project phase will begin in 2026 and last until the end of 2029.

More: crc-trr228.de/crc-trr-228-...

New Study Reveals How Tanzanian Farmers Navigate Conflicting Sustainability Worlds - Collaborative Research Center TRR 228 Saymore Ngonidzashe Kativu (Project B05 "Science Futures") argues that smallholder farmers in Mbeya, Tanzania navigate conflicting market-based and

New Publication:

Saymore Ngonidzashe Kativu @idos-research.bsky.social explores how smallholder farmers in Mbeya, Tanzania navigate conflicting sustainability logics—market-driven vs. eco-cultural—through hybrid farming practices and everyday sensemaking.

➡️ crc-trr228.de/new-study-re...

🚨 Publication Alert! 🚨
Exciting new publication from #CRC1502 – D01 by Theresa Goebel and Wolfgang Britz! This study quantifies land use and land cover under different socio-economic scenarios up to 2050 by running an integrated Computable General Equilibrium analysis.

📝 doi.org/10.1016/j.ge...

Reviving a Ghost Dam: The Politics and Promise of Tanzania’s Rufiji River Basin - Collaborative Research Center TRR 228 In this newly published article, Emma Minja and Detlef Müller-Mahn (Project C03 Green Futures) explore the century-long history and politics of the Stiegler’s

New Publication:

From colonial dreams to Magufuli’s industrial vision, the story of the Stiegler’s Gorge Dam on the Rufiji River reveals how power, politics, and conservation have shaped Tanzania’s development path.

Read it here:
crc-trr228.de/reviving-a-g...

Rethinking Foot-and-Mouth Disease: How Botswana’s History Challenges Colonial Views of Animal Health - Collaborative Research Center TRR 228 This publication examines how understandings of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) in Botswana during the 1960s–70s were shaped by colonial and postcolonial

New Publication:

How did colonial histories shape today’s global policies on foot-and-mouth disease?
@wissevanengelen.bsky.social, Andreas Weber & @estherturnhout.bsky.social
trace how veterinarians in 1960s–70s Botswana redefined FMD:

Read it here:

New Study Reveals How Roads and Education Shape Community Visions for a Nature-Positive Future - Collaborative Research Center TRR 228 This study by Judith K. Musa, Vincent Moseti and Lisa Biber-Freudenberger (Project A05 "Future Roads") investigates how road infrastructure influences local

New Publication:

Using the Nature Futures Framework, Judith Musa, Vincent Moseti & @lisabiberfreuden.bsky.social , explore how road infrastructure shapes local communities’ sense of agency in building nature-positive futures in Namibia’s KAZA region.

➡️ crc-trr228.de/new-study-re...

Enforcing the Line: An Ethnography of the Kenyan Border Regime - Collaborative Research Center TRR 228 By Katrin Sowa (University of Cologne).

Borders in Africa are lived, not just drawn. Katrin Sowa's @unicologne.bsky.social new book explores Kenya’s borderlands, colonial legacies, and One Stop Border Posts—shaping trade, migration, and inequality.

More: crc-trr228.de/enforcing-th...

New Publication: Blending Traditions - Evaluating Indigenous Agricultural Practices Among Smallholders in Turiani, Tanzania - Collaborative Research Center TRR 228 In this study, Denis Chomboko (IDOS), Theobald Theodory (Project C03 "Green Futures"), Michael Brüntrup (IDOS & Project B05 "Science Futures"), Venance

New study from Turiani, Tanzania with @idos-research.bsky.social:

Smallholder farmers blend indigenous & modern agri-tech into unique local knowledge. Findings highlight the need to validate & support indigenous practices & rethink innovation from the ground up:

crc-trr228.de/new-publicat...

Speakers Tour: Green Hydrogen from Namibia – A New Chapter of German Colonial History? - Collaborative Research Center TRR 228 Mon | October 13th, 2025 | 19:00 (CEST)

Green Hydrogen from Namibia – A New Chapter of German Colonial History?

Activists from Namibia are on a speakers tour in Cologne to discuss the tensions between “green” cooperation & old colonial patterns.

🗣️ Dr. Linus Kalvelage, Nafi Hamukoshi & Paul Thomas

Event in EN / translations to German
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New Publication Explores How Global Infrastructure Projects Reshape Territorial Governance and Sovereignty - Collaborative Research Center TRR 228 In this chapter, Erblin Berisha, Franziska Sielker and Peter Dannenberg (Project C01 "Future in Chains") examine how international infrastructure and

New publication 📖

This chapter explores how international initiatives like the Balkan Silk Road (BRI) & SAGCOT reshape territorial governance.

How do foreign-led infrastructure & private strategies affect state sovereignty? Can strong sovereignty coexist with weak governance?

More ⬇️⬇️⬇️

Global Gateway Support to Transport Corridors in Africa – Consolidated Report This report provides summary comparative assessment of 11 Global Gateway Transport corridors in Africa. The focus is on the comparative modelling results under four specific objectives: 1) Reduce carb...

EU's Global Gateway study on 11 transport corridors:

"All scenarios presume stable political and security situation. [...] No field visits have been performed, but the EU Delegations in Africa provided extremely useful local insights."

Get serious.

publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/h...

An African savannah during sunset. Text on image: Fighting climate change through reforestation: Climate Lecture on 9 September. Image source: iStock / LucynaKoch

Join the 3rd lecture of our Climate Lecture Series! 📅 9 Sept 2025 | 🕚 11:00–12:15 CEST / 09:00–10:15 UTC | Speaker: Lucy Waruingi, African Conservation Centre (Kenya) on community-based rangeland #reforestation for #sustainable livelihoods. Free & open to all: ➡️ static.daad.de/media/daad_d...
#DAAD

Urban Invisibles: Feminist perspectives on marginalization and resistance in Nairobi and Addis Ababa through the lens of embodied research practices - Urban Matters Journal This paper explores the embodied and politically charged nature of urban research through feminist and decolonial lenses, focusing on the invisibility of marginalized populations in Nairobi and Addis ...

New publication:

Annapia Debarry & Valentine Opanga explore urban research through feminist & decolonial lenses, highlighting invisibility of marginalized communities in Nairobi & Addis Ababa.

Read it here:

Vacancy: Assistant Professorship in Economic Geography and Global South (W1) with tenure track (W3) (f/m/d) at the University of Cologne - Collaborative Research Center TRR 228 The University of Cologne is currently searching for a Professorship in Economic Geography and Global South (W1) with tenure track (W3) (f/m/d).

Vacancy:

Professorship in Economic Geography and Global South (W1) with tenure track (W3) (f/m/d) @unicologne.bsky.social.

More:

Rural Livelihoods: Off-Farm Income Now Drives Majority of Household Earnings in Africa - Collaborative Research Center TRR 228 In their latest publication, Chrispinus Mutsami, Martin C. Parlasca, and Matin Qaim (Project C08 "Job Futures") examine rural livelihoods in Kenya, Namibia,

New Publication:

Chrispinus Mutsami, Martin C. Parlasca & Matin Qaim (Project C08 & @zefbonn.bsky.social) examine livelihoods in rural Africa.

Findings show:

- Poorest rely most on farming
- Self-employment dominates off-farm work
- Education & infrastructure boost access

Read full study here:

RISE Germany 2026 – Forschungspraktika - Collaborative Research Center TRR 228 Zur Unterstützung der Internationalisierung in den Natur- und Ingenieurwissenschaften sowie Informatik vermittelt der Deutsche Akademische Austauschdienst

Der @daadworldwide.bsky.social vermittelt nordamerikanische, britische und irische Bachelorstudierende in den Natur- und Ingenieurwissenschaften sowie Informatik in Forschungspraktika an deutsche Hochschulen und Forschungseinrichtungen.

Infos zur Teilnahme: ➡️ crc-trr228.de/rise-germany...