dr. VJ (Verina) Ingram

Research interests

Verina's research focuses on the social and environmental impacts of the governance of thelandscape - value chain nexus. This entails first understanding how value chains of forest and tree-based commodities originating from tropical landscapes are governed by public, private, civil society initiatives, state regulations and customary rules. Secondly, how the interactions between governance arrangements impact livelihoods and the environment, and the extent to which the impacts are sustainable, equitable, inclusive and legitimate. Verina seeks to understand why impacts differ for different people – unravelling the influence of power, product and value chain characteristics and the way that combinations of governance arrangements interact to impact at different scales. The effectiveness and legitimacy of governance arrangements in equitably creating positive and sustainable impacts for all engaged in chains and landscapes embraces broad conservation and development questions. This research contributes to debates reconciling tropical forest conservation and use with poverty, livelihoods and sustainable trade, using participatory and mixed method approaches. Verina focuses on the vulnerable in society, with a geographical focus on tropical humid and dry forested landscapes in Central and West Africa, the Amazon and Indonesia, looking at non-timber products (such as nuts, honey, fruits, leaves and woodfuel) and agricultural tree products (such as cocoa, coffee and palm oil).

With Wageningen Economic Research, Verina works on impact evaluations of agricultural and forest commodities and their value chains, and the links between food, energy, water, climate  and landuse.

When not teaching, Verina is based at the CIFOR-ICRAF Central African office Yaounde, Cameroon.

Memberships

• Member Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) Sustainable use of wild species assessment 
• ISEAL Alliance, invited member Living Income working group since 2014
• Member of Finance Alliance for Sustainable Trade, Workgroup on Sustainable Forestry Indicators since 2013
• International Association for the Study of the Commons (IASC), member since 2010
• Africa Study Centre Community, University of Leiden, Fellow since 2009
• Western Highlands Conservation Network, Cameroon, honorary member since 2010
• Vereniging Tropische Bossen (Tropical Forestry Association), member since 2008
• Society for Economic Botany, member since 2008
• Commonwealth Forestry Association, member since 2008
• International Tropical Timber Organisation, Fellowship Network, member since 2017 

Journals

• Bois et Forêts des Tropiques, Editorial committee, since 2020
• International Forestry Review, Editorial Board member, since 2014.
• Fontiers: People and Forests, Review editor, since 2019

• GIC Guiding Hope (1-6-2010/31-12-2099)
  Advisory director to the management committee of a Cameroonian social, ethical small & medium enterprise producing organic certifed honey, wax and other bee products in Central Africa (GIC: Common Iniaitive Group) on certification, sustaianble business models.
• FarmGate Foundation (1-12-2017/31-12-2099)
  member of the advisory board of the FarmGate Foundation - a civil society, non profit organisation established to empower and strengthen farmers, especially smallholder cocoa farmers to promote sustainable farming