Farmers' guide to cowpea production in West Africa (original) (raw)
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A way to strengthen the role of cowpea in West Africa
2015
In many African countries, there are many regionally and traditionally important crops such as sorghum, millet, yam, cowpea, banbara groundnuts, banana, and plantain, etc. They possess various unique characteristics that enable them to become suitable to regional and local environments and cultures; and they play crucial roles in the farm households. There are rational reasons for and advantages of cultivating those crops traditionally and continuously. These crops hold great potential to bolster the livelihoods of smallholder farmers and to benefit local communities in terms of household food security, nutritional supply, economic benefits, soil and ecosystem health, cultural values, and diversification of regional agriculture systems. Cowpea [Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp.] is a major grain legume widely cultivated in most tropical regions around the world, especially in a wide range of agro-ecological zones in West Africa. The crop’s importance is attributed to its favorable charac...
Improving cultivation of cowpea in West Africa
Achieving sustainable cultivation of grain legumes Volume 2
Introduction 2 Optimal plant population 3 Plant configuration in intercropping systems in West Africa 4 Manipulating planting dates to improve cowpea productivity 5 Nutrient management for increased cowpea productivity 6 Integrated pest management (IPM) in cowpea production 7 Future trends and conclusion 8 Where to look for further information 9 References
2020
Ethiopia is the origin of a number of food crops. Some of them are performing well under the ongoing climate change. Cowpea is one of a few crops in this aspect. Historically cowpea has secondary origin in Ethiopia. In this paper, we report on this dryland leguminous crop production-cum-utilization, which received a meager research and development attention in the country. Data employed in this paper came from large cowpea growing households across the crop growing areas in Ethiopia. The information included socioeconomic aspects and seeds collection from land races and new varieties. The seeds collected were maintained as germplasm resources for the crop improvement. The information included in this paper is deemed useful in the research and development of cowpea-a crop of multiple benefits. The paper touches the production to consumption continuum, the information included can be utilized by people across wide disciplines involved in research and development. Likewise, the paper highlights on cowpea producer households' members participation in terms of gender roles and benefit sharing in cowpea production, storage, marketing, and utilization in the crop values chain understanding. The authors are grateful to the Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research for hosting this work and facilitating the field survey and report writing. Our special thanks go to farmers and local Agricultural Development Agents for their cooperation in the data collection. The authors are indebted to Mr Yohannes Fekadu for his help in software data management and analysis.
Cowpea Production, Marketing and Utilization in Ethiopia
2019
Ethiopia is the origin of a number of food crops. Some of them are performing well under the ongoing climate change. Cowpea is one of a few crops in this aspect. Historically cowpea has secondary origin in Ethiopia. In this paper, we report on this dryland leguminous crop production-cum-utilization, which received a meager research and development attention in the country. Data employed in this paper came from large cowpea growing households across the crop growing areas in Ethiopia. The information included socioeconomic aspects and seeds collection from land races and new varieties. The seeds collected were maintained as germplasm resources for the crop improvement. The information included in this paper is deemed useful in the research and development of cowpea-a crop of multiple benefits. The paper touches the production to consumption continuum, the information included can be utilized by people across wide disciplines involved in research and development. Likewise, the paper highlights on cowpea producer households' members participation in terms of gender roles and benefit sharing in cowpea production, storage, marketing, and utilization in the crop values chain understanding. The authors are grateful to the Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research for hosting this work and facilitating the field survey and report writing. Our special thanks go to farmers and local Agricultural Development Agents for their cooperation in the data collection. The authors are indebted to Mr Yohannes Fekadu for his help in software data management and analysis.
Expounding the production and importance of cowpea (Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp.) in Ethiopia
2020
Cowpea is an important legume crop growing across the world mainly in tropical and subtropical regions including Ethiopia. Besides its noticeable production, little is known about its yield, productivity, importance, and distribution in Ethiopia. This review paper aimed to reveal the production and importance of cowpea in Ethiopia. Cowpea is produced in Ethiopia primarily for its edible seeds, pods and the leaves that are used as human food and animal feed, and income provision to households. Its production is practiced under varying cropping systems including sole cropping, intercropping and mixed cropping system. The yield of cowpea has generally remained below the potential of the crop and consistently remained below the world averages as a higher proportion of farm households grow cowpea on marginally fertile and infertile soils. The overall low yield potential of cowpea is mainly attributed to limited attention by research and development programmes, severe attacks of pest complexes, low soil fertility, drought, poor management practices, marketing problems, and poor technology dissemination and popularization. However, Ethiopia has a high potential for the production of various crops, especially cowpea, due to the diverse agroecology and suitability of the country. Moreover, the integration of cowpea with the farming system has significant importance in improving nutrition, soil productivity, feed quality, and withstands the impact of climate change. Therefore, further research strategies, promotion of improved agronomic practices, and successful marketing systems are required to alleviate problems and boost the production of cowpea in Ethiopia.
African Journal of Food, Agriculture, Nutrition and Development, 2021
Cowpea (Vigna unguiculata L.Walp) is an important legume in the hot, dry tropics and subtropics of sub-Saharan Africa, serving a multiple role for the livelihoods of millions of relatively low-income people. The entire plant can be used for either human or livestock consumption and with considerable drought-tolerating capacity. Tender young leaves, green pods and matured seeds are used as human food. Moreover, the crop serves for sustainable soil fertility improvement due to its excellent nitrogenfixing capacity. However, its production and utilization are limited in Ethiopia partly due to dependence on the conventional agronomic practices and lack of information on its wide ranging uses. This study was conducted to assess the cowpea agronomy and the contributions the crop has in the livelihoods of farmers at Loka-Abaya and Humbo districts of Southern Ethiopia. Multi-stage sampling techniques were employed to achieve the set objectives. Both primary and secondary data were collected to solicit the required information. The data were subjected to descriptive and inferential statistics such as multiple linear regression model using the SPSS Software version 20 and STATA 13. Multiple linear regression model results showed that education, land size, climate information access, credit access, lack of market chain, availability of seed of improved varieties, and pests significantly (P<0.001) affected cowpea production in the studied areas. The trend analysis showed that the cowpea yield and production area coverage is increasing in Humbo District whereas, a decreasing trend was observed at the Loka Abaya. According to the household interview data, about 76 % of the respondents reported a decrease in the cultivated area of cowpea. According to the respondents, lack of access to improved seed and lack of extension support services contributed 79 % and 73 %, respectively to the low yield observed in the area. The majority of the respondents cultivate cowpea as intercropping and rotation with cereals and in the main field with the main purpose to replenish soil fertility (97 %). On the other hand, 62 % of the respondents cultivate cowpea for home consumption. According to the survey result, 48 % of the respondents use the matured grain for consumption. The production trends of the cowpea are highly variable mainly due to less attention paid by the extension systems to boost the yield of the crop, reliance of farmers on local varieties, pest occurrence and poor market chain. Therefore, modern production technologies including the supply of improved varieties of seed with their full production package should be introduced to the area so as to improve the yield and optimize its contribution towards achieving food security.
Legume Crops [Working Title]
Cowpea, Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp, is among the most important grain legumes in Africa. Its nutritional value and biological nitrogen fixation (BNF) potential coupled with a high plasticity to environmental conditions places this legume in a unique position in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) in the context of food and nutritional security. However, cowpea yield and BNF contribution to agricultural systems in this sub-continent is far behind the average global values. The inability to run effective breeding programs to timely generate and deliver high yielding, nutritious and climate smart cowpea varieties, coupled with poor crop husbandry practices has been in the forefront of the current situation. In this chapter, the main constrains and opportunities to establish and run successful and effective cowpea production and breading programs in SSA are discussed. The discussion is built around the argument that SSA can benefit from its rich collection of landraces, as well as from high-throughput methodologies to assist the screening and the development of adapted, high yielding and nutritious varieties.
Archives of Agronomy and Soil Science, 2010
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