Wouter Vanhove is researcher at the Laboratory of Tropical and Subtropical Agriculture and Ethnobotany at the Faculty of Bioscience Engineering (Ghent University). He graduated as a Master in Bioscience Engineering with a study on the diversity of Vasconcellea spp. in the Andean valleys of Southern Ecuador. At Ghent University, he studies and teaches the sustainability of tropical and subtropical agricultural and food systems. This more specifically includes the diversity, conservation and use of underutilized fruit species, the ethnobotany (medicinal and food plant use) of ethnic communities in Subsaharan Africa and the agronomy of tropical cash crops such as cocoa (Theobroma cacao L.) and oil palm (Elaeis guineensis), with focus on agroforestry, integrated soil fertility management, integrated pest management, cocoa farm ecology and cocoa pollination in Southeast Asia and West Africa. He further contributes to studies on the relationship between (agro)biodiversity and human nutrition. Wouter Vanhove has participated to and led a number of oversees research projects financed by the Flemish Interuniversity Council (VlIR) or the European Commission.
Key Publications
Kibungu Kembelo, P., Nzuki, B.F., Belesi, K.H., Vanhove, W. & Van Damme, P. (2020). Ethnobotanical characterization of medicinal plants used in Kisantu and Mbanza-Ngungu territories, Kongo-Central Province in DR Congo. Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine, 17(5) https://doi.org/10.1186/s13002-020-00428-7.
Vanhove, W., Yao, R.K., N’Zi, J.C, N’Guessan Toussaint, L.A., Kaminski, A., Smagghe, G. & Van Damme, P. (2020). Impact of insecticide and pollinator-enhancing substrate applications on cocoa (Theobroma cacao L.) cherelle and pod production in Côte d’Ivoire. Agriculture Ecosystems and Environment, 293, 106855. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agee.2020.106855
Vanhove, W., Feng, Y., Yu, M., Hafiz, I.O., Vanhoudt, N., Van Damme, P. & Zhang, A. (2019). Evaluation of attract-and-kill strategy for management of cocoa pod borer, Conopomorpha cramerella, in Malaysia cocoa plantation. International Journal of Pest Management. doi: 10.1080/09670874.2019.1578003.
Lachat, C., Raneri, J. E., Walker Smith, K., Kolsteren, P., Van Damme, P., Verzelen, K., Penafiel, D., Vanhove, W., Kennedy, G., Hunter, D., Odhiambo, F.O., N’Tandou-Bouzitou, G., De Baets, B., Ratnasakera, D., The Ky, H., Remans, R. & Termote, C. (2017). Dietary species richness as a measure of food biodiversity and nutritional quality of diets. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 115(1), 127-132. (impact factor: 9.661).
Vanhove, W., Vanhoudt, N. & Van Damme, P. (2016). Effect of shade tree planting and soil management on rehabilitation success of a 22-year-old degraded cocoa (Theobroma cacao L.) plantation. Agriculture Ecosystems and the Environment, 219, 14-25. 10.1016/j.agee.2015.12.005