For my master’s thesis in agricultural sciences, I went to Ghana to investigate the turnover of middle managers in an agrifood company exporting dried fruits and other products. The company was looking to answer why middle managers were leaving their current positions, even though export-oriented agrifood companies are, in general, known for their high standards in terms of wages, employment conditions, and/or job satisfaction. However, research suggests that higher-skilled workers might be better off than lower-skills workers.

To date, research on employee turnover/retention has mostly been conducted in established sectors such as health care, finance, and education, but not in the agriculture and food sectors. Since I had little experience in Human Resource Management so far, the project allowed me to gain an understanding of a topic that was new and exciting to me.

To gain deeper insights into the experiences and motivations of middle managers, I conducted a case study that involved in-depth interviews and observations within the company, with support from the Human Resources (HR) team. As the research unfolded, I found turnover reasons to be linked to salaries, benefits, promotions, and a lack of appreciation, as new agrifood companies offered higher salaries and better conditions. I also discovered a discrepancy in the perception of promotion fairness between upper-level management and middle managers. One interesting observation was a notable gender disparity in participation in our study, as men were more forthcoming, while women appeared less inclined to engage in open discussions.

Collaborating with the HR team not only provided valuable insights into the inner workings of the company, but also allowed me to immerse myself in Ghanaian culture. The busy HR office was a good opportunity to connect with people and to cheer the Swiss and Ghanaian teams during the football World Cup 2022.

One of my HR colleagues, Dorcas, who proved to be a wonderful travel guide, introduced me to cooking Ghanaian recipes and the culture of the Asante, a part of the Akan ethnic group in the middle of Ghana. We also visited the so-called “slave castles” and forts along the coastline, which was a very emotional experience. These forts were built by European traders during the colonial period in Ghana and were used to hold enslaved people before they were forced onto ships to be transported across the Atlantic Ocean.

I also had the chance to explore Northern Ghana, especially the Mole National Park. There, a friend, Fuseini, whom I met at the company, also proved to be a great travel guide. We could admire the Larabanga Mosque, experience the making of shea butter, and observe animals in the national park, such as elephants and antelope.

Overall, my master’s thesis journey in Ghana was a wonderful experience. Collaborating with the HR team, conducting my research, and traveling around the country gave me a deeper understanding of the rich Ghanaian culture.

by Shirley Mambadzo, student at Stellenbosch University in South Africa
& ETH Ambassador, 15 April 2021

Online platform

I was awarded a full scholarship to participate in the short course organised by the World Food Systems Centre (WFSC) – Designing for Food Systems Resilience: A Circular Approach, which was held on 10-12 February 2021. It was the first time I had enrolled for an asynchronous international online course and I was nervous. I wondered whether I could contribute in a significant way and whether my internet connection would be stable enough. My anxiety grew more intense because we had to use Miro – an application I hadn’t used before. But when the course started, I realised that I wasn’t the only one new to it, and that gave me confidence. Toya Bezzola, Interim Education Manager at WFSC, helped us navigate the Miro board, and it proved a very useful tool for brainstorming and putting together our group presentation. Michelle Grant, Education Director at WFSC and course facilitator, did an amazing job at facilitating the programme and making sure that everyone was accommodated, ensuring a smooth transition between activities and time-keeping. Speaking of time management, I didn’t know that the Swiss were renowned for being punctual! Fortunately, I don’t have a problem with punctuality and was able to keep to the schedule. The way the breakout sessions and activities were structured allowed me to interact with different participants and to share my story and insights.

Group work

We were a diverse group of international participants from a range of disciplines. Although most of those in my group were PhD students or graduates, they took my input for the group project seriously. We had different perspectives, perhaps due to our personal biases, but nonetheless together redesigned a hypothetical Moroccan tomato value chain by integrating the principles of a solidarity economy. Some ideas, especially those on a central governance system made me uncomfortable because of my personal experience and views. To me, this implies that people aren’t capable of governing themselves. After some discussion, I realised that it stems from the trust that the other participants had in their governance systems – which are transparent and mostly well-run.

Course content

I’m really grateful for the knowledge and skills I’ve gained. My biggest takeaway from the course is systems and design thinking methods. As our case study was on the tomato value chain in Morocco, which is also in the global south, there were many similarities with my experience as a part-time farmer/agribusiness entrepreneur and the water scarcity challenges in parts of Namibia, especially the capital city Windhoek, where I work for the local authority. The local authority owns land on the outskirts of Windhoek that is currently underutilised for food production. I intend to use the insights gained through this course to analyse the existing urban food system. However, designing a resilient food system in urban areas using a circular approach is challenging as there’s not enough data on urban food security and the flow of food into and out of the city. Without this critical information, how can we design a resilient food system in the city? This is something I’ll cover in my Master’s thesis and use to improve my current community engagement projects on urban gardening. For some time now, I’ve been testing circularity for my agribusiness: I grow barley fodder in the hydroponics system that we designed, to feed chicken, and then feed the chicken droppings to fish in the aquaponics system, and also plant leafy greens in the aquaponics system. We continuously test and improve, and this is a key element of the reflection stage of the design thinking process as explained by Michelle Grant. I’m looking forward to using the tools in a real-life situation and to seeing what will happen.

About the author

Shirley Mambadzo works at the City of Windhoek, the local authority of Windhoek, Namibia. She is a part-time agribusiness entrepreneur and student at the Sustainability Institute of Stellenbosch University in South Africa, studying for a postgraduate Diploma in Sustainable Development.

I’m Behailu, an international student at ETH Zurich and a member of the MAS Sustainable Water Resources class of 2020. I’m originally from Ethiopia, and grew up in a very small rural area with no major infrastructure and rather basic living conditions. So you can imagine how glad I was to be in a new world with a completely different atmosphere and environment. As an international student, my expectations of college were very high. Not only would I be dealing with a foreign culture, country, and language, but also an educational system very different from the one in my home country. My time at ETH Zurich opened a whole new experience for me, presenting countless opportunities for self-improvement as I tackled challenges and achieved goals. I can confidently say I’ve become a much better version of myself – like a system upgrade with super cool features! It was always my dream to attend a world-class university; studying in Switzerland at ETH Zurich is one of the best opportunities I’ve ever had.

Surviving and thriving in lockdown

On the other hand, the pandemic which shook the world severely affected my studies. I felt surprised and frightened when I read the email from the Rector of ETH Zurich announcing that classroom teaching was suspended; on 16 March 2020 everything would go online and staying at home was a must. In my panic, I experienced all the symptoms of Covid-19 that first day, and didn’t sleep the whole night! Since then, time has moved too slowly and life hasn’t been the same. I started to schedule activities during the day to keep me active while enjoying what I like to do most – study and enjoy nature. But those tough times showed me how to be resilient and optimistic when thinking about the future and finding alternatives. The ETH Zoom platform for our online class was outstanding: I was able to interact with my classmates, and this turned out to be the favourite part of my day, and the most fruitful. I also tried to embrace the idea of staying at home, as this gave me more time for research and improving my cooking skills. I’m truly astonished at how I adapted to the situation and was able to overcome the challenges.

Academic values and hospitality: a priceless professional experience

My stay at ETH has been one of the most enriching experiences I’ve ever had: it has advanced me professionally, given me an opportunity to meet and make friends with people from all over the world and to share their culture, and taken me to developed countries such as Germany and Italy. I’ve also learnt to live alone and provide for myself for the first time! The hospitality of the Swiss people and interaction with them were great. Moreover, the continuing education at ETH Zurich has helped me to acquire new knowledge and skills in sustainable water resources. I’ve had excellent exposure to top-level scientific research, and this will enable me to develop and disseminate the expertise needed to solve water management problems.

In interacting with highly qualified professors during my course and research work, I’ve gained a new teaching-learning experience, which will help my academic career. What’s more, studying at ETH Zurich has changed the way I think, enhanced my understanding of various approaches to problem-solving using engineering principles, and led me to see developing countries like Ethiopia through new eyes. As a professional, I have to do more here, and be part of the solution as well. Lastly, my MAS programme has added value in sharing knowledge and experience on sustainable water resources within the university and with water-related sectors at regional and national level.

If you have any questions, feel free to contact me at behailunadew040@gmail.com / shewit.cute040@gmail.com

About the author

Behailu Nadew was born in the small rural area near North Shoa zone, Amhara region, Ethiopia. He joined Hawassa University and studyied Agricultural Engineering for four years.  As he was one of the top students, he was employed by Ambo University as Lecturer. After working for one year, he joined Arbaminch University to pursue his MSc in Hydraulic and Hydropower Engineering. Behailu came to ETH Zurich for his Master of Advanced Studies in Sustainable Water Resources.