Research in India for my master thesis

For my Master thesis I got the chance to travel to India and join a team of economist researchers of the international non-profit organization International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), which undertakes scientific research for sustainable development. This journey of three months took me to the city of Hyderabad where the NGO is located and into India’s geographical heart – the state of Madhya Pradesh – where we conducted the experiments. While Hyderabad, the fourth largest city in India, grows rapidly and boosts its attractiveness for information technology companies, Madhya Pradesh is dominated by agriculture and home to rural and even tribal villages. It’s covered by dense forests and hosts several nature and tiger reserves. The contrast could not have been more intense.

Admittedly, the first weeks were a roller coaster ride and it took a while to adjust to the cultural differences, the hotness, the spicy food, the masses of people, and the noise level. Eventually, however, I grew very fond of this colorful, crazy, diverse and contradictory country and had an amazing time.

Professionally, it was very interesting to see the workings of an international research institute and accompany the development of an experimental game, its implementation, and finally the analysis of the data. I worked at the unit “Innovation Systems for the Drylands” under the supervision of Dr. Thomas Falk. This unit works towards the CGIAR Research Program on Policies, Institutions, and Markets (PIM), specifically towards the activity “Exploring transitioning options for sustainable management of common property resources for enhancing productivity and equity in semi-arid communities”.

The experiment conducted was a public good experiment, which had the maintenance of stop-dams as subject. India’s farmers are habituated in the drylands and their livelihood thus crucially depends on water. A well-maintained dam offers a wide range of benefits such as groundwater recharge, surface irrigation water availability, and flood and soil erosion control. However, the maintenance of dam structures is labor-intensive and local communities hesitate to make contributions to maintain common infrastructures especially when the risks of free-riding are high. Moreover, asymmetric access and appropriation of the water supplied further fuel conflicts among its users. This jeopardizes the sustainable cooperation and management of these structures, and in the end, the full benefits are not exploited. And even worse, the water infrastructure degrades. Aim of the experiments was thus to raise awareness of these problems and ideally lead to a more committed and coordinated management approach in the long run, and thereby enhance the livelihood of the farming families.

Main difficulty of implementing the experiments probably was that the experiment was conducted in Hindi, as the targeted participants generally do not speak English. Accordingly, the local field assistant team we worked with in Mandla spoke only broken English. What first appeared a bit complicated, turned out to be great fun in the end. On the long car rides to the abundant villages of roughly one hour each day, we learned to communicate mostly with gestures and hand signs, with scraps of English and some learned Hindi (much to the amusement of the team). The perks of driving at least one hour into the Indian landscape and being accompanied by locals became clear quickly. While being on the road, the local team members showed us the best roadside restaurants with delicious food and chai, local spice markets in the middle of nowhere. We passed beautiful forests, river basins, and wide fields, always accompanied by thoroughly relaxed cows walking along and on the bumpy roads, who do not bad an eyelid even when adventurously packed trucks raced by them honking furiously.

Good food and great hospitality, indeed, were a constant companion. The team members made us feel home by inviting us to their homes and serving home cooked meals. We encountered equal hospitality in the villages we visited for the experiments and got regularly served chai and snacks. While only fourteen members of the villages participated in the experiments, the classrooms, public places or backyards were always filled with onlookers, curious children, and from time to time a visiting monkey or cow.

As Madhya Pradesh is also known for its rich wildlife we did not want to miss the opportunity to at least try to sneak a peek on the local tigers at Kanha national park. In the end, we did not get any glimpse on the majestic cats but instead spotted what felt like thousands of different bird species from the common king fisher, to vultures and the spotted owlet, cheeky monkeys and the rare species as the Swamp Deer and the Indian porcupine.

These rather rural and outdoor experiences were nicely complemented by the time in Hyderabad, were I had a great time with all the other international student interns. We experienced a diversified cultural program, and of course did all the touristy things such as visiting the old city center and sights as Charminar, Golkonda Ford, Chowmahalla Palace, going on a Holi party, or saw a cricket game.

Overall, I had a great time. I enjoyed working in an international team finally applying my university knowledge. On top of that, I made new friends, learned a lot about myself, and am looking forward to visit India again.