Staff Profiles

PhD Weed Science

Dr. Kashe holds a PhD in Weed Science from University of New England, Armidale , Australia. He joined Okavango Research Institute (ORI) as a Research Scholar in April 2013.  Before that he worked as Principal Researcher in Weed Science at Department of Agricultural Research, Ministry of Agriculture. His research then had been in ecology and adaptations of crop weeds, mainly working with farmers on management and control of weeds in their farms.  Since joining ORI, his research now includes: (i) dry land vegetation including vegetation inventory and  impacts of invasive plant species, (ii) monitoring the impacts of  land-use change on plant populations and communities (iii) supervision of the development and maintenance of  the ORI herbarium. Dr Kashe has worked on several international projects:  Wild plant post-genomic project-analysis of  genes of wild watermelons responsible for resistance to drought stress and high light intensity or high temperature,  management of weed parthenium in eastern and southern Africa using integrated, cultural and biological measures and building alliances for effective striga research and control.  Through these international collaborations , he visited countries such as Japan, Ethiopia and Burkina Faso.

Plant ecology

Weed science

Invasive species

Biofuels

Dryland vegetation including vegetation inventory and impacts of invasive species

Population structure and regeneration status of woody species

Monitoring the impacts of land-use change on plant populations and communities

Biodiversity data mobilisation

Invasive species management 

Sustainability of biofuel projects

Mapping the current and potential distribution of invasive plant species

Ecology of invasive plant species

Quantifying the ecological impacts of invasive plant species

Diversity, population structure and regeneration status of woody species

Potential  indigenous oil plants for biodiesel production

Keotshephile Kashe, Donald L. Kgathi & Demel Teketay (2020): Invasiveness of biofuel crops: implications for energy research and policy in Botswana. South African Geographical Journal, DOI: 10.1080/03736245.2020.1768583.

Keotshephile Kashe, Demel Teketay, Benjamin Thupe. (2020). Potential impact of alien invasive plant species on ecosystem services in Botswana: A review on Prosopis juliflora and Salvinia molesta. In Keitumetse et al (Eds). Environmental Sustainability in Developing Countries: Case studies from Botswana’s journey towards the 2030 Agenda. Springer. ISBN: 978-3-030-48350-0

K. Kashe, D. Kgathi, M. Murray-Hudson and K. Mfundisi. (2017). Assessment of benefits and risks of growing Jatropha (Jatropha curcas L.) as a biofuel crop in Sub-Saharan Africa: A contribution to agronomic and socio-economic policies.  Journal of Forestry Research DOI:10.1007/s11676-017-0460-1.