Latest News and Events
Here you can find the latest information and events of the DFG Emmy Noether Junior Research Group.
Country partner visit at the University of the Philippines Mindanao
As part of ongoing field research in the Philippines, Dr. Caroline Hambloch and PhD candidate Jorma Apelt visited the country project partner at the University of the Philippines (UP) Mindanao. During their visit, they joined the festive inauguration of the Center for the Advancement of Research in Mindanao (CARIM), a new research facility that hosts the Agri-Aqua Value Chain Laboratory led by project partner Prof. Dr. Larry Digal.
The laboratory brings together researchers working on agriculture and aquatic value chains in Mindanao. It provides exciting opportunities to extend joint research agendas on labor relations in agricultural export production and explore future collaborations between UP Mindanao and the Emmy Noether Research Group at the University of Bonn.
Visiting Experts Lecture at the University of the Philippines Mindanao: “Contract Farming in the Global South – A New Routledge Handbook and Lessons from the Philippines”
During the Visiting Experts Lecture at the University of the Philippines Mindanao, Research Group Leader Dr. Caroline Hambloch presented her extensive research on contract farming and labor relations in the Philippine oil palm sector. She introduced the forthcoming Routledge Handbook on Contract Farming and Development, which she is co-editing with Niels Fold (University of Copenhagen), Sudha Narayanan (International Food Policy Research Institute), Helena Pérez Niño (International Institute of Social Studies), and Mark Vicol (Wageningen University & Research). The handbook will be a multidisciplinary resource that brings together conceptual, methodological, and theoretical debates on contract farming in the Global South. It will contain 36 interdisciplinary chapters on economics, development studies, political economy, sociology, anthropology, geography, and business studies. Dr. Hambloch then presented two case studies from the Philippines, drawing on her previous and current work in the oil palm and export banana sectors. Dr. Hambloch demonstrated the relationship between the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) and the emergence of contract farming in the oil palm sector. First, she discussed the contentious power dynamics that shape the contractual relationship between smallholders and buying companies in the oil palm sector and the exploitative, multitiered labor regimes at play. On the other hand, she demonstrated the various forms of agency and resistance that small oil palm producers use to contest exploitative contract farming relations. Finally, the lecture provided an opportunity to share preliminary insights from ongoing field research on labor outsourcing in export banana production, conducted with Jorma Apelt.
Early-Career Workshop: (Re-)Establishing Political Economy in Development Studies
From December 4th to 5th, 2025, the project's three Ph.D. candidates, Luis Baquero, Elise Kendall, and Jorma Apelt, attended a workshop titled "(Re-)Establishing Political Economy in Development Studies." Funded by the European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI) and the Development Studies Association (DSA), organised by the PhD Political Economy Working Group and convened by Caroline Cornier (University of Manchester), Guido Maschhaupt (ISS-NL), and Pritish Behuria (University of Manchester), the event brought together early-career researchers and senior scholars to critically reengage with political economy perspectives within development studies. The workshop featured in-depth discussions of position papers on themes such as economic transformation, redistribution, and the green transition.
Center for Development Research (ZEF) Public Lecture – Control and Agency in Global Production Networks
On November 13, 2025, Dr. Caroline Hambloch and Dr. Freedom Mazwi, our group’s TWAS-DFG Visiting Fellow, gave a ZEF public lecture at the Center for Development Research (ZEF) of the University of Bonn. The lecture examined control and agency in global production networks, focusing particularly on the speakers' current research into the political economy of contract farming in Zimbabwe’s tobacco sector.
ISS African Development Roundtable – Current Social and Political Challenges across the African Continent
On November 10, 2025, Dr. Freedom Mazwi, our group’s TWAS-DFG Visiting Fellow, participated in the African Development Roundtable at the International Institute of Social Studies (ISS). Organized by Shuaib Lwasa (ISS) and Helena Pérez Niño (ISS), the event brought Dr. Mazwi into discussion with Petronilla Wandeto (ISS), Mohamed Muse (Leiden–ISS), and Ahmed Elassel (ISS). The roundtable marked the 50th anniversaries of independence for Angola, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique and São Tomé and Príncipe. It also explored contemporary social and political challenges across the continent. Each researcher presented insights from their ongoing work.
Group Excursion – Ahr Valley region
On October 16, 2025, the DFG Emmy Noether Junior Research Group took part in a team-building excursion to the Ahr Valley region. Accompanied by Dr. Rakhmat Hidayat, a visiting fellow in the Department of Southeast Asian Studies, PhD student Ignasius Jaques Juru, and Prof. Dr. Kristina Großmann (the department's head), the group learned about life in the Eiffel region, as well as current trends in land use and forest transformation in rural Germany. They also observed the (limited) progress of ongoing recovery efforts nearly five years after the devastating 2021 flood disaster.
During the visit, the group enjoyed activities such as apple picking and hiking through the vineyards of the Ahr Valley, which provided further opportunities for discussion and reflection. The day concluded with a taste of Federweißer, a young, partially fermented wine typical of the harvest season in the region.
DGA Conference Contribution – Labor and Global Production Networks in Asia: Labor Regimes in Oil Palm Production
On September 10, 2025, Dr. Caroline Hambloch presented her research on labor regimes in oil palm production in the Philippines and Malaysia at the 5th Conference on Asian Studies (the biennial conference of the German Association for Asian Studies). The presentation was part of Panel 14: Labor and Global Production Networks in Asia, and is based on research for an upcoming article, co-authored with Dr. Helena Perez Nino and Dr. Carlo Arceo. The research analyzes how labor in Palawan's emerging oil palm sector is organized through fragmented yet stable employment systems, which are shaped by both local markets and global production pressures, challenging the assumption that frontier labor regimes rely on overt control.
EAAE Conference Contribution - Market Power and Value Chains: Labor Control and Agency in Tobacco Contract Farming in Zimbabwe
On August 28, Dr. Caroline Hambloch, leader of the DFG Emmy Noether Junior Research Group: Local labor struggles in global value chains, and Dr. Freedom Mazwi, TWAS-DFG Visiting Fellow at the University of Bonn, presented their preliminary research findings on labor control and agency in Tobacco contract farming in Zimbabwe at the 18. European Association of Agricultural Economists (EAAE) Congress in Bonn. The research builds on fieldwork conducted in Zvimba district between 2024 and 2025 and identifies forms of control embedded in contract relations, and the methods and limitations through which smallholders challenge their subordinate inclusion and exploitation in tobacco value chains.
The day prior, the Junior Research Group had their first complete in-person meeting with everyone finally gathered in Bonn. Future research avenues, ideas for cooperation, and many ideas and stories were exchanged. Beyond research and getting formalities in order, the group connected over Southeast Asian food and Colombian coffee.