Maritza Satama Bermeo

Progress of the research stay

During my research stay at University of Göttingen from 01.10.2021 to 31.01.2022, the idea from the beginning was the establishment of joint research between Germany and Ecuador regarding sustainable articles. Thus, the collaboration was made with the Department of Forest Economics and Sustainable Land-use Planning (Germany), and researchers from Ecuador worked in the field of agricultural economics. As a result of this collaboration, the research could be done during these four months. Although we are still making corrections in the manuscript, we reached a second draft of a scientific article.

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The snowy institute

The title of our article was Why does the region matter? Sustainable agricultural practices adoption in Ecuadorian family farming systems during the Pandemic. Here, our purpose was to study the impact of COVID-19 on sustainable agricultural practices (SAPs) adoption such as the use of organic fertilizers, minimal use of tillage, crop rotation, soil burning, and crop association in the frame of family farming systems in Ecuador. This research employed probit models’ estimation with pooled data of 2019 and 2020.

The study combined three sources of information in Ecuador: The Survey on Surface and Agricultural Continuous Production, Census of Environmental Information at the Provincial Level, and, Directory of Enterprises. On the other hand, this study proposed to analyze six regions: Coast, Coast-Mountains, North Mountains, Center Mountains, South Mountains, and Amazon. The main results showed that the pandemic affected the adoption of all practices except minimal soil tillage, which can be associated with the lack of monetary resources. Likewise, the adoption of sustainable practices is not equal across the six regions established in this research. Also, the findings reveal that the technical assistance showed a negative influence on three sustainable practices, and the rest was indifferent.

Regarding the research limitations, it is essential to mention that a particular study could be required to identify the orientation of the technical assistance provided by the government and non-governmental organizations in Ecuador. In addition, this study helps to understand the implications of the COVID-19 in adopting SAPs. Finally, this research can help the scalability of the practices starting from the regions most likely to adopt each of the five practices.

An Ecuadorian immersed in the German culture

Living a second experience in Germany from the beginning was exciting. Before leaving Ecuador, the research line and the method were established. However, the final method applied change at the end. To come back to the point, the German culture is quite curious; planning is part of everyday life, even for leisure time. To do unexpected things is not quite common, which sometimes is similar in Ecuador. All of this will depend on the person. However, talking about myself, I love to have in mind my schedule for the day; but also, I am the type of person who purposes to do things spontaneously. Although it was not a problem to interact with my colleagues at work, and with the owner of the house where I was living, I have to say that nowadays the social life is still restricted for the pandemic.

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Maritza Satama and her research group in front of the institute building

I had the opportunity to share a few moments with my colleagues at work, like a walk in the forest, and when I presented my Ph.D. dissertation. We could not get to know each other so much due to COVID-19 restrictions, and most of the conversations were related to work or to present seminars, which all the time was enjoyable. Also, I had the opportunity to travel to other cities as Köln, Frankfurt and Amsterdam, where I visited some Ecuadorian friends that currently are working in those cities.

I have to tell that one of the factors which restricted my immersion in German culture was that I did not have a recognized vaccine in Germany. This means that I had my vaccine from Ecuador called SINOVAC (my complete dosis). However, as I highlighted before, this vaccine was not recognized in Germany due to a lack of data to proof its effectiveness. In the beginning, it could sound like a complaint, but it was part of my days in Germany. However, the head of the research department was incredibly supportive during this time and the owner of the house where I’ve lived. Thanks to them, my stay had become warm and handy. Although I had friends living in Germany, they could not help me at all in the vaccine issue I was facing, which was expected because they took the vaccine in Germany.

Regarding work-related ways, it was amazing to see how everyone manages their time and how supportive they are, offering help on the process that you are doing. Here, a second draft of the manuscript, where a conceptual theory was constructed and a complex database was analyzed, is not for four months, but we could manage on time!

Christmas and New Year’s Eve

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Maritza Satama Bermeo spent Christmas with her roommate and friends

Christmas is a time to be in the family; however, considering that I was far from my country, my roomie became my family. We had a nice celebration for Christmas at home with her family. Also, one friend from Ecuador was invited to the celebration. I offered to cook for them and prepare a meal in an Ecuadorian style. We had a dancing event from her grandkids, and finally, we interchanged gifts. It was a lovely evening, playing cards and memory games. I have to tell you that I enjoyed Christmas time, and I felt like a family.

Research Experience at University of Göttingen

The research done at the University of Göttingen allowed me to strengthen my research skills in my scientific pathway. We worked together on an article, and it is possible that in the long-term we concentrate our efforts on joint proposal between Germany and Ecuador. Many options are open with the department where I’ve made my research stay, which make me think about the range of possibilities of projects.