Dr. Ir. Romaric Vihotogbé

Dr. Ir. Romaric Vihotogbé

Research interests : Agrosystems Analysis – Food Tree Species – Trees Phenology – Geostatistics – Biosystematics

Position

Associate Researcher

Research interests

Agrosystems Analysis
Food Tree Species
Trees Phenology
Geostatistics
Biosystematics

Background

I am Agronomist (since 2001: Forestry-FSA/UAC, Benin) working on NTFPs. In 2002-2005, I served as head of research/training unit at the (CECODI-NGO: giant snails breeding and mushroom domestication and cultivation program). I joined the Laboratory of Applied Ecology (FSA/UAC) as Research Assistant in 2005 and completed an MSc (2006: UCL, Louvain La Neuve, Belgium) and PhD (2012: Wageningen University). During a break time 2007 to 2008, I worked as Scientific Assistant for SAFORGEN in Bioversity International, Cotonou 0ffice. Today, I am completing a two years Humboldt granted postdoc research position at the Hochschule Rhein Waal University of Kleve in Germany on food tree species’ biosystematics.
I teach methods for NTFPS study and Geostatistics, Ecology and Organic Agriculture.

Research project

African bush mango tree are priority fruit tree species in West and Central Africa, with huge potentials in food, nutrition and cosmetics. The bitter versus sweet taste of bush mangoes governs their species identity which is questionable due high botanical similarities. This hinders their domestication and conservation. This project intends to revisit their biosystematics in: (i) reviewing recent researches, (ii) revisiting detailed comparative morphological and genetic characterizations so that domestication actions can progress towards materials’ selection and (iii) analysing the ecological history of their occurrence using species distribution modelling techniques. This project is expected to be a turning point in bush mango trees’ accurate knowledge and for more efficient domestication and conservation processes.

Awards and distinctions

- 2005: Catholic University Louvain la Neuve, Belgium. SCO/ADRI Scholarship
- 2008-2012: Dutch Organization for International Cooperation in Higher Education PhD scholarships
- 2009: International Foundation for Science (IFS)
- 2013: African German Network for Excellence in Science (AGNES) Grant for Junior Researchers supported by AvH and TWAS
- 2014-2014: Georg Forster Research Award for Post doctorate Position: Alexander von Humboldt Foundation (AvH) Fellowship
- 2015-2016: IFS Collaborative research grant

Profiles and Curriculum

Research Gate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Romaric_Vihotogbe

Total number of publications

Articles scientifiques publiés dans les journaux: 10
Communications: 9
Documents techniques: 0

Key publications

Vihotogbé R, van Den Berg RG, Sosef MSM 2013. Morphological Characterization of African Bush Mango Trees (Irvingia species) in the Dahomey Gap (West Africa). Genetic Resources and Crop Evolution, 60:1597-1614.
Vihotogbé R, Glèlè Kakaï R, van Andel T, Berg van Den RG, Sinsin B, Sosef MSM Accepted. Impacts of the diversity of traditional uses and potential economic value on food tree species conservation status: case study of African bush mango trees (Irvingiaceae) in the Dahomey Gap (West Africa). Plant Ecology and Evolution 147 (1):109-125.
Vihotogbé R, van Den Berg RG, Bongers F, Sinsin B, Sosef MSM (2014). Phenological diversity and discrimination within African Bush Mango Trees (Irvingiaceae) in the Dahomey Gap (West Africa). To be submitted to Trees Structure and Function 28:1777–1791.
Vihotogbé, R, Sossa-Vihotogbé, C.N.A., & Achigan-Dako E. 2014. Safety of botanical ingredients in personal healthcare: Focus on Africa. In Gurib-Fakim A. (Ed): Novel Plant Bioresources, Application in Food, Medicine and Cosmetics, pp395-408. Willey Oxford, United Kingdom.
Vihotogbé R, van Den Berg RG, Missihoun AA, Sinsin B, Sosef MSM (2015). Genetic diversity and difference within and between bitter and sweet African bush mango trees (Irvingia spp., Irvingiaceae) in West and Central Africa. African Journal of Biotechnology, In Pres.

rlvihotogbe@gmail.com
+22995451295