Professor Niels Fold holds a PhD in Economic Geography from the University of Copenhagen.

His research focuses on agro-industrial linkages and regional development in the Global South analyzed within a global value chain (GVC) approach. He is particularly interested in the impacts of regional growth centers and rural-urban dynamics on spatial restructuring processes. He has worked and published on several agro-industrial value chains in Ghana, Tanzania, Mali, Burkina Faso, Rwanda, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Malaysia, Nepal, Vietnam and Colombia. He has extensive experience in management of externally funded research projects, coordination of multi-country programs, and handling of cross-disciplinary projects. Niels Fold is former director of a PhD Program at the University of Copenhagen, head of the research group ‘Environment and Society in the Global South’ and presently heading a consortium of Danish Universities that upgrades research capacity at Sokoine Agricultural University (Tanzania).