Philippe Vaast

With a PhD degree in Soil Science from the University of California, Davis, USA, Philippe has a long-working experience on coffee and cocoa issues, particularly production, quality and ecosystem services throughout Africa and Central America, as well as in India, Vietnam and China. His research combines agronomical, ecological, and economic approaches with the aim of developing integrated management practices for the benefits of rural communities while enhancing the provision of environmental services in coffee & cocoa-dominated landscapes. Current work focuses on the quantification of 1) farmers’ local knowledge on tree species and agroforestry to develop decision tool for tree selection in the local context, 2) role of shade trees in buffering climate change for the development of climate-smart practices, 3) effects of shade trees on soil fertility and carbon sequestration for the improvement of sustainable agricultural production, and 4) modeling complementarity for water, light and nutrients between coffee/cocoa and shade trees for the development of sustainable agricultural systems.

Philippe enjoys supervising research works of graduate students (over 15 PhD students and 25 MSc students). He is an associated editor of the international journal “Agroforestry Systems” and board member of ASIC (Association for Science and Information on Coffee).