During his time as a sailor and soldier in the navy, Thorben Persch gained his first experiences in the global south. After the end of this four-year period of service, he studied political science in Bonn, completed his first internships in the field of rural development and gained further insights into this topic. He was particularly impressed by his three years of work in a global programme within German Development Cooperation on the topic of agricultural and food economy. The special thing about this: In Germany and Ethiopia he got to know different aspects of development cooperation on the one hand, and on the other hand the exchange of different perspectives and bringing people together has always been a special attraction for him. With this comprehensive and multi-layered practical experience, he now supervises the German-Ugandan internship programme and an international umbrella organisation on organic farming at AHA.