Curriculum vitae

I am an emeritus professor specializing in insects as food and feed. Trained at Wageningen University, I authored over 350 publications, including the influential FAO book Edible Insects: Future Prospects for Food and Feed Security. I also served as chief editor of the Journal of Insects as Food and Feed from 2017 to 2026.

I completed my undergraduate studies at the State Horticultural College in Utrecht and my graduate studies at Wageningen University in the Netherlands. I worked from 1974 to 1979 in Nicaragua for the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations in a research project on integrated pest management (IPM) in food grains.

Working experience

January 2015 – Present. Emeritus professor. Mainly engaged in insects as food and feed. Giving lectures all over the world. Writing articles and acting as a consultant.

October 1985 – December 2015. Personal Professor, Department of Entomology, Wageningen University

• Employer: Laboratory of Entomology, Wageningen University, the Netherlands, P.O. Box 8031, 6700 EH Wageningen, the Netherlands.
• Research:
  • The potential of sustainable production of edible insects and insect-derived products, in particular proteins, as a reliable and high quality food and feed source with a lower negative environmental impact than conventional meat production. From 2003 – present.
  • Convergence of sciences programme in West Africa on achieving higher impact of agricultural research in developing countries. Convergence between natural and social disciplines (inter-disciplinarity), between societal stakeholders (trans-disciplinarity – democratization of science), and between institutions. Phase 1 (2001-2006) Benin and Ghana (2.2 million euro); phase II (2008-2014) Benin, Ghana and Mali (€4.5 million). From 2001-2014.
  • Designing improved Desert Locust survey operations and control strategies using scenario studies. From 1990-2007.
  • Biological control stored-product cowpea pests Callosobruchus maculatus and Bruchidius atrolineatus (Col.: Bruchidae) by means of the egg parasitoid Uscana lariophaga (Hym.: Trichogrammatidae) in West Africa: host selection studies, effect of abiotic factors, olfaction studies, functional response, semiochemicals, biology and ecology and impact studies. Research in cooperation with several universities in West Africa (Niamey, Ouagadougou, Lomé and Cotonou) and Europe (London, Tours). From 1985-2005.
  • Various topics depending on PhD studies.
  • Being responsible for a number of research projects dealing with integrated pest management and biological control in the tropics.
• Courses taught:
  • Integrated management of insect and vector pests in tropical crops (1985-2002).
  • Ecological aspects of bio-interactions (2003-2011)
  • Pest management in organic agriculture (2007-2010)
  • Introduction to Plant Sciences (2001-2008)
  • Development of pests and diseases (1997-2002)
  • Insects and society: insects as food and medicine, insects in African culture, insects in technology (1996 – present)
• Outreach activities: identification, formulation, evaluation, monitoring, execution, backstopping and inspection of IPM projects for the Directorate of International Cooperation (DGIS) of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands, FAO, UNDP, and other international organizations. Participation in international meetings, working groups, workshops, etc.

April 1982 – September 1985. Project manager of the ‘Regional training programme for crop protection in the eight member countries of CILSS (French acronym for the Permanent Interstate Committee for Drought Control in the Sahel)

• Employer: Directorate General of International Cooperation, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, P.O. Box 20061, 2500 EB  The Hague, the Netherlands.
• Project:  Département de Formation en Protection des Végétaux (DFPV) of the Agrhymet Regional Centre, P.O. Box 12625, Niamey, Niger.
• The training component of the regional crop protection programme of CILSS started in 1982 in Niger and concerned a 2-year training of higher technicians in crop protection for students from eight Sahelian countries. Students were trained to recognize pests and diseases, and assess the damage they cause, carry-out laboratory techniques (e.g. isolation of pathogens), implement integrated pest management techniques, handle pesticides safely and efficiently, consider their side effects on natural enemies, human health and the environment, and implement field experiments.
• I directed a team of two entomologists, one phytopathologist, one virologist/nematologist, one chemical control expert, and an administrator, and was responsible for the overall management, recruitment of students, international recognition of diplomas, and scholarship management. I maintained contacts with the Dutch embassies in Abidjan, Dakar, Lagos, Ouagadougou and Yaoundé.
• The member states of CILSS decided in January 1986 to transform the temporary project (1981-1985) into a permanent activity, which up till to day exists: http://www.agrhymet.ne/eng/

January 1981 ‑ Jan. 1982. Research scientist, Laboratory of Entomology, Wageningen University

• Description of work: computer analysis of a socio-technical survey on traditional pest management in maize in Nicaragua. Two hundred food grain farmers, stratified in six farm size classes, were interviewed in 1978 in four production regions in Nicaragua.
• The article ‘Traditional pest management in maize in Nicaragua’ has been published in ‘Communications Agricultural University Wageningen’ 82‑6 (1982), 42 pp. During research four Dutch students of the Wageningen University have been supervised.

April 1979 – April 1981. Research Scientist, Laboratory of Entomology, Wageningen University

• Supervisors: Late Prof. Dr. J. de Wilde, Head Laboratory, and Dr. L. Brader, then Chief PPS FAO.
• Description of work: Computer analysis of research data (collected as the FAO entomologist of the project FAO/UNDP/Nic/70/002 from 1974 to 1979 in Nicaragua) and preparation of the dissertation ‘Integrated pest management in the small farmer’s maize crop in Nicaragua’ published in ‘Communications Agricultural University Wageningen’ 81‑6 (1981), 221 pp. During research five Dutch students have been supervised.

November 1974 – April 1979. FAO expert entomology project ‘Development and implementation of integrated pest management in cotton and food grains` in Nicaragua

• Research: Development of integrated pest management technology in cotton, maize, sorghum and beans; the design, execution, analysis and publication of field trials; the elaboration and execution of a socio-technical survey on traditional pest management in food grains.
• Training and extension: In-country training of counterpart staff; participation in integrated pest management courses for students, technicians and extension officers; preparation of integrated pest management guidelines in maize, sorghum and beans; setting-up of a framework of cooperation between the Research Department and the Extension Service.
• During the project eight progress reports and five travel reports have been submitted. Five counterparts and five Dutch students have been supervised.

May 1972 – October 1972. Research scientist at the International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (ICIPE), P.O. Box 30772, Nairobi, Kenya.

Research: Orientation behaviour of the harvesting termite Hodotermes mossambicus (Hagen). Supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation, Grant No. 3.500.71. Published as Leuthold et al. (1976).