ABOUT

Kruchem research is the cooperation of development policy author Thomas Kruchem with a network of highly qualified experts and informants around the world.

Together, we research, often in an investigative manner, burning challenges that primarily affect the poor population in developing and emerging countries.

We process the information critically and analytically and present it to the users in a clearly structured and understandable way – as a basis for, possibly, their own actions.

Thomas Kruchem

The founder of kruchem research, grew up in Lüneburg and studied political science, English literature and history in Heidelberg.

For almost 40 years, he has been travelling crisis regions all over the world as a freelance reporter and (partly scientific) author.

His honeymoon trip took him to Angola's Bush, to rebel leader Jonas Savimbi. In the 1990s, he did research in crisis regions of Central America and in Taliban Afghanistan. In Sarajevo, Thomas Kruchem barely escaped a sniper.

More recently, he has focused on structural crises in poor countries and on unholy alliances and conflicts of interest in development cooperation. In doing so, as he explains, he strives for "empathy that is both participatory and distanced". He also questions his own perception of good and bad, of wrong and right “mercilessly".

Kruchem has published seven books to date. He and his temporary office partner Bernd Girrbach (†2014) are the only ones to have received the BMZ's "Development Policy Media Prize" four times.

In his private life, the father of five loves endurance sports, especially road cycling. The epitome of enjoyment of life for him are playing with his three grandchildren, long walks and long reading evenings with his wife Cäcilia.