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199 – The Pan-African Convening on the Future of Biodigital Technologies in Food and Agriculture

October 7, 2025

James Musyoka interviews David Stern, about his attendance at the Pan-African Convening on the Future of Biodigital Technologies in Food and Agriculture. Held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and organized by the Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa (AFSA), the event focused on the impact of digital technologies on African agriculture and data sovereignty. David shares insights about a declaration formed during the event and discusses the three models of technology development presented by Million Belay. They draw parallels between these topics and IDEMS’ African Data Initiative and the R-Instat project, highlighting the challenges and opportunities in achieving local ownership and collaborative development of technology in Africa.

198 – Introducing Michele Pancera

October 3, 2025

David is joined by Michele Pancera, an Impact Activation Fellow at IDEMS. Michele shares his journey from a high school maths enthusiast to member of IDEMS, via being a teacher and beekeeper. The conversation covers Michele’s passion for making mathematics engaging through games, his experience of societal perceptions of maths education, and his various professional pivots. The discussion emphasises the value of generalists in a world that often prioritises specialists, and touches on Michele’s ongoing contributions at IDEMS including developing an AI assistant for STACK questions and his woodworking ventures.

197 – From Exams to Experiences: How Gamification Could Transform Education

September 30, 2025

Santiago and David explore the transformative potential of gamifying education. They discuss how rethinking exams to be more like driving tests could shift the educational landscape away from high-stakes differentiation to a mastery-based model.

196 – Scalable AI Tools for Farmers

September 26, 2025

David and Lucie discuss ongoing efforts to responsibly use AI to assist smallholder farmers in the Sahel region. They discuss the challenges faced by farmers in identifying pests and diseases and the shortcomings of commercial AI tools. They highlight the work of Digital Green, a non-profit organisation developing an AI tool for farmers that emphasises relevance, local language integration, and responsible AI practices. They explore the potential for collaboration and future advancements in AI tools tailored for low-resource environments.

195 – When All You Have is a Hammer, Everything Looks Like a Nail

September 23, 2025

Lily and David discuss the old adage “When all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail”, and how it applies to the realm of research, particularly in the context of statistical analysis and methodology. Emphasising the importance of having a diverse set of tools, they explore how narrow training in data skills can limit the effectiveness of research. They consider how methodologies from different disciplines can benefit from cross-disciplinary approaches, including medical science, climate, education and agriculture.

194 – Twenty years of RMS for CRFS: Next Steps

September 19, 2025

Wrapping up the series of episodes marking twenty years of research method support for the Collaboration for Resilient Food Systems, Lucie and David Stern consider the complexities of research planning. They explore the shifts in their roles towards structural change, particularly in the West African region. David shares his experiences with building local capacity and structurally embedding research methods within organisations like FUMA Gaskiya. They also reflect on the challenges of meeting researchers where they are and the importance of involving both qualitative and quantitative methods in research planning.

193 – Using Generative AI in IDEMS Work

September 16, 2025

Lily and George discuss their personal experiences of using generative AI in their work. They explore how AI assists in course development, coding, and writing tasks, sharing insights on how these tools can enhance productivity and creativity.

192 – Twenty Years of RMS for CRFS: Crop Simulation Models

September 12, 2025

Lucie and Roger discuss the intricacies and applications of crop simulation models in agricultural research. Roger explains the historical development of these models since the 1980s and provides a detailed explanation of how crop simulation models work, such as the DSAT and APSIM systems, which are used extensively in the United States and Australia. The discussion underscores the models’ value in complementing traditional field experiments, especially in understanding long-term agricultural dynamics. They also touch on the challenges of implementing these models in Africa due to climatic data availability.

191 – Gamification of Education

September 9, 2025

Santiago and David discuss how aspects of education could be “gamified” in order to improve outcomes. They explore various real-world examples of how games are used to enhance learning, including platforms like Kahoot and innovative projects like SmileyCoin. As well as the benefits, they consider the potential downsides, such as excessive screen time and the impact of dopamine release on student concentration.

190 – Twenty Years of RMS for CRFS: Multi-year trials

September 5, 2025

As part of their continuing conversations around research methods for agriculture, Lucie and Roger discuss the utility of conducting research trials over multiple years. They consider the importance of understanding climate variability, and the value of pilot experiments as well as the implications of adapting research methods based on initial findings and the benefits of engaging farmers extensively in the research process.

189 – How do people really live around the world?

September 2, 2025

How do we understand the material living conditions of people on Earth today? In this episode of the IDEMS podcast, Lily and David discuss the influential book “Factfulness” by Hans Rosling. They explore Rosling’s key concepts about global development, particularly the categorisation of the world into four income levels instead of the binary “developing” and “developed” terms.

188 – Twenty Years of RMS for CRFS: Designing Real-World Agricultural Experiments

August 29, 2025

Social impact scientist and anthropologist Lucie Hazelgrove Planel joins Roger Stern to discuss the intricate process of designing agricultural experiments. Using a real-world example involving 10 maize varieties and a field with 12 plots, they explore the challenges of fitting theoretical models to practical scenarios.