Exchange to Change May 2017 20170524 EtC mei 2017-web | Page 16

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a l umni
Essa C. Mussa
DEM 2007-08 | Ethiopia
Where do you work? Since I graduated from
IOB, I have been doing my PhD at the Center for
Development Research (ZEF), University of Bonn,
Germany. I am in my final year of study.
Nivedita Varshneya
Training Gender 2004 | India
Where do you work? I am a Country Director
at Welthungerhilfe India.
How did IOB experience affect your life/
career? It gave me valuable skills on the
subject of engendering projects, programmes
and institutions. On my return, I formulated
action plans for engendering my organization
and projects and these were immensely useful
to my projects. The donors appreciated the
measures tremendously.
Apart from subject skills, the international
exposure and knowledge exchange enriched
my career and life. I made some
friends and contacts with other
countries which have lasted
for quite some time.
Research? From my work
I am looking for research
evidence on the issue of
diet diversification using
the ‘Linking Agriculture,
Nutrition and Natural
Resource Management ‘ approach
of Welthungerhife. It seeks to provide
evidence on how this approach contributes
to improvement in household, particularly
women’s, diet diversity and tackles the issue
of hidden hunger.
E xchange to change M ay 2017
How did IOB experience affect your life/
career? My study at IOB was the most useful
experience leading to my PhD work in many
ways. It was at IOB that I was exposed to the
contending views of development discourses,
introduced me to a wide range of research
resources and methods, equipped me well to
identify and conduct development and policy
relevant research, and taught
me key professional ethics
(punctuality, integrity,
caring for others, and open-
mindedness). IOB also
opened to me a wider world
of scholarship which, since
then, I have been exploring.
If you were the director
of a research fund, what is a
research question that you would agree to
finance? Child education in developing countries,
particularly in rural areas, needs more research
that guides policy. I believe that our investments
in children today will determine how we may
sustain our future development pace, create a
knowledge based economy, and fit into the fast
changing world.
I would also like to see young people being at
the center of development research both in
skills formation, job creation and employment
opportunities, and engaging them in innovation.
I strongly believe that developing countries
need to accommodate the rising number of the
young population and use this opportunity in
their economies as a change powerhouse which
otherwise would be against peace, security, and
development efforts.