Our laboratory forms part of the Department of Plant Production of the Faculty of Bio-Science Engineering, Ghent University. Our research unit has been led by Prof. Dr. ir. Patrick Van Damme since 1992.

The research interests of our team cover a wide range of agronomic and socio-economic topics in tropical and subtropical regions:

• agro-ecophysiology of plants in (semi-)arid areas
• agrobiodiversity
• ethnobotany
• domestication and new crop development
• sustainable agricultural systems
• water managements
• market integration of small-scale farmers in developing countries - value chain analysis

We focus on applied research that bridges the gap between academic research and its application by governments, NGOs, and other actors in rural development in tropical and subtropical countries. Our laboratory also lectures and provides practical training for Bio-Engineers of the faculty, specialising in Agricultural Sciences and Land and Forest Management. Outside the faculty, courses in Agricultural Development are lectured to students of the Master in Development Co-operation and to students of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine. Prof. Van Damme also lectures at the Catholic University of Leuven (KUL) and the Institute of Tropical Medicine (Antwerp).

Since 2009, Patrick Van Damme is also chairman of the Centre for Sustainable Development (CDO) (UGENT)

NEWS!

• The Ghent Africa Platform (GAP) organises on 10 October: Mandela Lecture: Tom Lanoye in conversation with Antjie Krog about the role of Nelson Mandela in South Africa and the world today

• Investing in and collaboration with Africa: Report of the Ghent Africa Platform (GAP) Network Event (19 May 2016)

• Ethnobotany... "To boldly go where no man has gone before!" - dr. Ina Vandebroek

• Corporate sustainbility labels - how green are they? (In Dutch)

• Bioversity International Vavilov-Frankel Fellowship - 2015 Call is now open!

• Afrika Focus, Volume 27, Special Agroforestry Issue, 2014

• Tropentag 2014 - Prague - Patrick van Damme's guest speech and interview: The multiple faces of agroecology

• Helping the Ecuadorian Ministry of Agriculture with a White Paper on protecting and prioritizing biodiversity in compliance with the government’s constitution and the philosophy behind it

• Linking Ethnobotany, Herbaria and Flora to Conservation: The Case of Four Angiosperm Families at the National Herbarium of Ethiopia - 9^th most cited article in the Journal of East African Natural History Statistics in 2013.

• Prof. Van Damme was involved in the second evaluation round of the LEGATO project.

• Prof. Van Damme gives a presentation at the University Meets Microfinance Action Group of the European Microfinance Platform

• Conservation concerns for endemic potato species in Bolivia - from Bioversity International.

• Presentation of Prof. Patrick Van Damme at the International Conference on Forests for Food Security and Nutrition, 12-15 May 2013, FAO - Rome

• SALSA - Wereldwijd duurzame soja- en vleesketen. De Molenaar 2 (22 February 2013), 12-15

• Agroforestry Tree Domestication - A Primer. The World Agroforestry Centre

• Agrobiodiversity and Health - A discussion on the paper of Termote et al. (2012)

• Yield of indoor cannabis plantations higher than first thought

• Food Security in Guinea-Bissau EC Funds

• On 1 Januari 2010 Prof. Patrick Van Damme was appointed as senior advisor of the Agroforestry Germplasm Program of the World Agroforestry Centre (formerly known as ICRAF)

• Pictures of the presentation of an Honorary PhD to Dr. Monty Jones and the open house day of the Faculty of Bio-Science Engineering - March 2009.

• Research in Congo (DRC) of Céline Termote draws attention of Belgian media