news crop: Cowpea

In late 2009, the World Bank reported that the number of the world’s hungry has jumped the one billion mark. The Famine Early Warning Systems Network says that in Africa alone over 20 million people are at high risk from acute food shortages, with millions more following suit. To mitigate this, agricultural scientists are scrambling to improve food security in a sustainable way and at an unprecedented scale, with researchers looking at a four-point strategy to help Africa weather this storm. Lessons learned here could help the rest of the world cope with such challenges.

This four-pronged strategy include the promotion on ‘non-tradable’ commodities, better integration of markets, closing the gap between actual and potential yields, and diversification of rural economies. This strategy was born out of the recognition of the changing global environment in which international agricultural research centers operate. Unlike the situation in the early 1970’s, current research thrusts have moved beyond just keeping the Malthusian spectre of food scarcity at bay.

Non-tradable commodities are goods or services which are not usually traded outside of a country and whose prices are mainly dictated by domestic supply and dem and. They are, therefore, largely immune from variations in exchange rates or world market trends. In Sub-Saharan Africa, governments should promote the utilization of non-tradable crops such as cassava, sorghum, millet, yam, cocoyam, banana and plantain, cowpea and bambara nut as substitutes to corn and rice, which are prone to global price fluctuations. These could be supplemented by small livestock such as goats and sheep to supply the required nutriments to families in poor communities.

Markets at the local, national, and regional levels in Africa should be better integrated to complement each other. It is amazing to see massive food aid to some parts of the continent to shore-up the lack of food, while in other parts there are production gluts. Northern African countries, for example, have a shortage of animal feed, while those in the sub-Saharan region produce enough cassava to more than satisfy such feed markets. Market integration entails massive political will and investments. Basic infrastructure such as farm-to-market roads and transportation facilities need to be established, while at higher levels, policies supportive of integration need to be formulated and implemented.

In Africa, a big gap still exists between the actual and achievable yields of major food crops. In Nigeria, for example, actual production of rice, maize and cassava are currently at 3.0, 2.8 and 12.0 t/ha, respectively, far below their potential yields of 5.0, 7.0 and 45.0 t/ha. Just by closing the yield gap, food production can easily double or triple.

Already, international agricultural research centres operating in Africa such as Africa Rice, IRRI, IITA, and CIMMYT are pitching in. IITA with its partners, for example, have developed and disseminated better yielding cassava varieties to farmers in Mozambique and Nigeria, which are also resistant to the cassava brown streak disease. At the same time, we are also applying molecular-based approaches to make African bananas resistant to the deadly Banana Xanthomonas Wilt. Africa Rice and IRRI are deploying high-yielding drought-tolerant rice varieties across the continent, while CIMMYT is doing the same with drought-tolerant maize.

Addressing the food challenges in Africa must take into account regional differences. In southern Africa, political and agricultural policies in the past concentrated on the production of only one prime commodity. This made the region vulnerable to natural shocks. For example, the productivity of cereals in this part of the continent substantially drops during droughts or floods. Diversification into a ‘food basket’ strategy would be appropriate in such a situation and should be pursued aggressively.

The research agenda of research centers has also exp anded to include the three goals of agricultural productivity, environmental sustainability, and a more explicit focus on poverty reduction that recognizes the dynamic and multidimensional nature of livelihoods of poor people.

For example, scientists now not only emphasize on just producing more pest/disease resistant crops and higher-yielding varieties but also on innovative extension techniques, the creation of input markets and delivery systems, and the strengthening and diversification of output markets.

International agricultural research centers are research for development organisations, but what is research withoutdevelopment? Research-for-development emphasises on the pursuit of a policy of advocacy after research is completed and then exiting to let development specialists bring the fruits of research to the ground where they find practical application.

As centers of excellence, a paradigm shift is needed from being supply-led to becoming more proactive and responsive, and one in which public/private partnerships and client orientation are core principles.

This shift would entail a drastic change in the role of agricultural researchers from just being “the science guys”. They must now also become partners, teachers, students, advocates, development workers, and communicators all rolled into one. Their work then must have an envisioned impact that leads to concrete and practical outcomes that are useful to target beneficiaries and end-users.

These strategies are not overnight solutions: they will take time, commitment, and money. Their potential to address hunger and food insecurity is enormous if the support is there. However, at a time when the world needs them the most, many traditional donors are downsizing their investments in agricultural research, which does not bode well to hungry people in Africa or anywhere else for that matter. But that is a different issue altogether.

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For more information, please contact:

Jeffrey Oliver, J.oliver@cgiar.org
Corporate Communications Manager

Godwin Atser, G.Atser@cgiar.org
Regional Corporate Communications Officer (West & Central Africa)

Catherine Njuguna, c.njuguna@cgiar.org
Regional Corporate Communications Officer (East & Southern Africa)

Communication Office
IITA – Headquarters
Ibadan, Nigeria
URL: www.iita.org

About IITA
Africa has complex problems that plague agriculture and people’s lives. We develop agricultural solutions with our partners to tackle hunger and poverty. Our award winning research for development (R4D) is based on focused, authoritative thinking anchored on the development needs of sub-Saharan Africa. We work with partners in Africa and beyond to reduce producer and consumer risks, enhance crop quality and productivity, and generate wealth from agriculture. IITA is an international non-profit R4D organization since 1967, governed by a Board of Trustees, and supported primarily by the CGIAR.

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For more information, please contact:
Jeff Haskins at +254 729 871 422 or jhaskins@burnesscommunications.com
Denise Young at +33 6 85 91 86 56 or dyoung@burnesscommunications.com
Godwin Atser at +234 803 443 0027 or g.atser@cgiar.org

Scientists Arrive in Senegal
To Give African Hunger a Black Eye

DAKAR, SENEGAL (26 September 2010)—A long neglected crop with the potential to halt hunger for millions in Africa, sustain the livestock revolution underway in developing countries, rejuvenate nutrient-sapped soils, and even feed astronauts on extended space missions, is attracting scientists from around the world to Senegal this week for the Fifth World Cowpea Research Conference.

“It’s hard to imagine a more perfect crop, particularly for Africa, where food production lags behind population growth, dem and for livestock products is soaring, and climate change is bringing new stresses to already challenging growing conditions,” said Christian Fatokun, a cowpea breeder at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), which is co-organizing the conference in collaboration with Institut Senegalais de Recherches Agricoles (ISRA), Dry Grain Pulses Collaborative Research Support Program, and Purdue University.

“But fulfilling the promise of this marvelous legume requires intensive efforts to deal with threats that inhibit production and long-term storage,” he added. “The good news in Senegal is that researchers will be revealing new and innovative approaches to dealing with the pests and weeds that attack cowpeas at every stage of their lifecycle and with the voracious weevils that devour dried cowpeas.”

The cowpea, which is also known as the black-eyed pea, is one of the world’s oldest crops. It is currently cultivated on 10 million hectares, mainly in Central and West Africa, but also in India, Australia, North America, and parts of Europe. It was brought to the Americas on slave ships and became a favorite of President George Washington, who was looking for a variety of peas—he called them “pease”—that could withst and the warm climates of the southern United States. Cowpeas are treasured for their high protein content (grains contain about 25 percent protein), leaves and stalks that serve as especially nutritious fodder for cows (hence the name cowpea) and other farm animals, and the fact that their roots provide nitrogen to depleted soils. For many in Africa, the crop is a critical source of food during the “lean period”–-the end of the wet season when food can become extremely scarce in semi-arid regions of sub-Saharan Africa.

The many qualities of the cowpea are being discovered anew for a number of reasons. One is the potential of the cowpea’s high protein content to help satisfy dietary requirements in food-challenged developing countries, particularly in Africa, where over 200 million people remain undernourished.

Cowpeas provide strong yields, even in hot and dry conditions, and scientists are developing ever more resilient varieties. And as climate change turns up the heat in sub-Saharan Africa, there is growing concern that production of current staples such as maize and rice will fall or even collapse in some areas, requiring so-called “climate-ready crops” like cowpeas to fill the void.

In addition, cowpeas can be used as cheap, high-quality animal feed. Today, livestock experts are drawn to the cowpea as they search for sustainable approaches to satisfying the fast-growing dem and for meat and milk in developing countries. Scientists at IITA and the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) say new “dual use” cowpea varieties bred to satisfy both human and animal nutrition needs could be generating US$299 million to US$1.1 billion by 2020, given their potential to simultaneously boost livestock production and reduce hunger.

The cowpea is also well-known for its ability to infuse soils with nitrogen, which again makes it a crop that could be enormously valuable to Africa, where many farmers struggle with nutrient-poor soils that are among the most challenging in the world.

Even the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is on the cowpea b andwagon. With the plant’s ability to produce nutritious leaves in only about 20 days, NASA scientists are considering sending cowpeas to the international space station, where they could be cultivated to provide food for astronauts.

This widely ranging and rapidly intensifying interest will be highlighted at the World Cowpea Conference, where ground-breaking work in all aspects of cowpea production would be showcased.

For example, new research to be presented at the conference from researchers at IITA and the University of California-Riverside focuses on the successful use of cutting-edge genome analysis tools and techniques to probe cowpea DNA for genetic traits associated with prized qualities like drought and disease resistance.

“When we can zero in on a particular place in the genome and essentially point to the DNA that is providing the traits we want, the time it takes to breed improved cowpea varieties can be shortened from a decade or more to three years or less,” said Fatokun, who specializes in cowpea genomics.

Scientists also will report on the latest developments in efforts to use biotechnology to borrow a gene from a soil bacteria, bacillus thuringiensis or Bt, to create a transgenic cowpea variety. The goal is to provide farmers with cowpeas that can fend off assaults from a caterpillar known as the Maruca or bean pod borer that routinely ruins entire fields. Researchers also will discuss endowing cowpea varieties with a gene from a common bean plant to provide protection infestations during storage.

Related discussions will focus on fresh research probing the risk of transgenic Bt cowpea spontaneously mating or “crossing” with wild relatives—wild cowpea is common in West Africa, which is a “center or origin” for the crop— and possibly creating a super weed that would be difficult to control.

Sacking the Cowpea Beetle

One reason cowpeas are not as widely cultivated as corn or rice is that storage of dried peas is complicated by a tiny reddish-brown beetle, the cowpea weevil, that rapidly reproduces in traditional grain sacks and renders the food inedible.

In Senegal, scientists from Purdue University in the United States and Niger’s Institute of National Agriculture Research will report on an effort to disseminate a simple storage technology to African farmers, which comprises a three-layer plastic bag that shuts off the oxygen required to fuel a weevil population explosion.

Frittering Away to Financial Success and Animating Seed Distribution

Other research to be discussed at the conference focuses on the challenges of translating cowpea production into income and how to encourage wider adoption of improved cowpea varieties along with better approaches to cultivation and storage.

For example, researchers will discuss a new study analyzing the economic fortunes of hundreds of street vendors in Ghana and Niger who sell a popular, deep-fat fried fritter made from cowpea batter called kossai or akara. Most of the vendors are women, and the researchers found that they tend to earn 4 to 16 times more than the prevailing minimum wage in their countries.

Meanwhile, in another study, researchers will discuss an innovative effort that brings together scientists, linguists, and 3-D animators to provide cowpea educational materials and training programs for rural farmers.

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About the World Cowpea Research Conference (http://cowpea2010.iita.org/)
The World Cowpea Research Conference is a gathering of international experts that, through sharing and exchanging of knowledge and ideas, aims to identify opportunities for cowpea growers to gain more incomes, enhance food security, and attain robust health. The event is also targeted at increasing the public’s awareness and appreciation of cowpea, hopefully leading to more support for the cowpea scientific community to enable researchers to carry out cutting-edge research and help realize the crop’s potential. The conference is organized by IITA in cooperation the Institut Senegalais de Recherches Agricoles (ISRA), the Dry Grain Pulses Collaborative Research Support Programme (Pulse-CRSP), and Purdue University.

About IITA (www.iita.org)
Africa has complex problems that plague agriculture and people’s lives. We develop agricultural solutions with our partners to tackle hunger and poverty. Our award winning research for development (R4D) is based on focused, authoritative thinking anchored on the development needs of sub-Saharan Africa. We work with partners in Africa and beyond to reduce producer and consumer risks, enhance crop quality and productivity, and generate wealth from agriculture. IITA is an international non-profit R4D organization since 1967, governed by a Board of Trustees, and supported primarily by the CGIAR.

Hundreds of experts from around the world will gather in Saly, Senegal from 27 September to 1 October 2010 for the Fifth World Cowpea Research Conference to discuss threats to the survival and farm production of black eyed peas—one of Africa’s oldest and most resilient and nutritious crops. Saly is a scenic resort town located about 80 kilometers south of the country’s capital of Dakar.

From its humble origins in the drier regions of West Africa, where farmers have grown the black-eyed pea, also known as cowpea, for 5000 years, it was carried to the United States in the bellies of slave ships, and then introduced to the world through international trade. Today, black-eyed peas are a global commodity, grown in nearly every region of the world. Sub-Saharan Africa accounts for about 70 percent of total world production.

cowpea field
Cowpea is one of Africa’s oldest and most resilient and nutritious crops. Millions of farmers depend on it for food and livelihood. NASA is also looking into its use as “space food” for its astronauts. Photo by IITA.

In years to come, scientists believe that black-eyed peas could lead the way in Africa’s effort to fight malnutrition among its growing population and confront the effects of climate change. The shifting weather patterns threatening to desiccate farmer’s fields across the continent put a spotlight on crops like the black-eyed pea that are rich in vitamins and protein and do well in hot, dry conditions. Black-eyed peas have the added benefit of releasing nitrogen that revives depleted soils.

“Black-eyed peas have been largely neglected despite their multiple benefits and the fact that developing new, high-yield varieties could boost farm incomes by as much as 50 percent while improving household nutrition,” said Hartmann, director general of the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), which is co-hosting the World Cowpea Research Conference with the Government of Senegal, the Dry Grain Pulses Collaborative Research Support Program, and Purdue University.

“Today we see scientists racing against time to rescue and conserve cowpea varieties that can help farmers deal with pests and diseases and adapt to changing environments,” he emphasized.

Scientists will meet in Senegal to discuss key constraints to cowpea production, share progress being made in advanced cowpea genomics, and consider the best ways to unlock cowpea’s potential as a hedge against climate change, hunger, and poverty.

Among the issues to be discussed:

  • Rescuing cowpea from extinction: Progress on global efforts to rescue the cowpea gene pool.
  • “Designer” peas: State-of-the-art genetic research to develop “designer,” insect-resistant black-eyed peas.
  • Cashing in on cowpea: Improved varieties offer a pathway out of poverty.
  • Space food: NASA’s efforts to use cowpea as food for astronauts because of its exceptional nutritional value and potential for cultivation in space station greenhouses.
  • Cowpea genemap: Update work to produce a new genetic map for cowpea which has used methods developed through the Human Genome Project to accelerate efforts to breed improved varieties.
  • Biological controls for cowpea pests: Utilizing genomics tools to develop and deploy biocontrol agents to manage insect pest populations.
  • Green-er farming: How farmers are using cowpea as “green” fertilizers to revitalize degraded soils, and use crop waste as energy-rich feed for cows, sheep, and goats.
  • Postharvest – Reducing insect damage to cowpea in storage is a cost-effective way to increase the food supply. Millions of African farmers are using hermetic storage without insecticides to safely store cowpea.
  • Cowpea-based food entrepreneurship: Cowpea-based street foods provide income for thous ands of women in West and Central Africa. New food technologies and better business methods have the potential to up their profits.

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For more information, please visit the 5th International Cowpea Research Conference

Web site at: http://cowpea2010.iita.org/, or contact:

Dr Christian Fatokun, c.fatokun@cgiar.org

Katherine Lopez, k.lopez@cgiar.org

Jeffrey Oliver, o.jeffrey@cgiar.org

IITA Headquarters
Ibadan, Nigeria

About IITA (www.iita.org)
Africa has complex problems that plague agriculture and people’s lives. We develop agricultural solutions with our partners to tackle hunger and poverty. Our award-winning research for development (R4D) is based on focused, authoritative thinking anchored on the development needs of sub-Saharan Africa. We work with partners in Africa and beyond to reduce producer and consumer risks, enhance crop quality and productivity, and generate wealth from agriculture. IITA is an international nonprofit R4D organization established in 1967, governed by a Board of Trustees, and supported primarily by the CGIAR.

 

Nigeria has released two new improved cowpea varieties to raise production and improve farmers’ incomes.

Cowpea seeds. Photo by IITA.
Cowpea seeds. Photo by IITA.

The varieties come just when the country’s researchers are preparing to attend the Fifth World Cowpea Research Conference to be held from 27 September to 1 October 2010 in Dakar, Senegal, to discuss the state of the art in cowpea research.

The varieties—IT89KD-288 and IT89KD-391—were developed by scientists working at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Ibadan, in collaboration with the Institute for Agricultural Research of the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria; the University of Maiduguri, Borno; and the Agricultural Development Programs of Borno, Kaduna, Kano, and Katsina States.

Both varieties have proven superiority over the current improved lines being cultivated and aim to overcome the challenges faced by cowpea farmers in the country.

For instance, IT89KD-288 (now SAMPEA-11) is a dual-purpose cowpea variety with large white seeds and a rough seed coat. It has combined resistance to major diseases including septoria leaf spot, scab, and bacterial blight, as well as to nematodes, and tolerance to Nigeria’s strain of Striga gesnerioides (a parasitic weed that severely lowers yield).

“It also has a yield advantage of at least 80% over the local varieties,” said Dr Alpha Kamara, IITA Agronomist, who is leading efforts to rapidly disseminate the varieties to farmers.

The nematode-resistant variety is an equally good c andidate for sowing in cereals or as a relay crop with maize in the moist and dry savanna zones, as well as for high grain production in the dry season.

Scientists recommend that the variety be planted in mid July in the Sudan savanna, early to mid-August in the northern Guinea savanna, and by the end of August in the southern Guinea savanna. However, where there is certainty of rains up till the end of October, IT89KD-288 can be planted in September.

IT89KD-391 (now SAMPEA-12) is also a dual-purpose cowpea variety but it has medium-to-large brown seeds with a rough seed coat. These are preferred seed characteristics for commercial production in northeast Nigeria.

“IT89KD-391 is a welcome improvement over SAMPEA 7, Ife brown, IT90K-76, and IT90K-82-2 which are the main improved brown-seeded varieties available. It has been tested extensively in this area and is well accepted by the farmers,” said Dr Hakeem Ajeigbe, IITA Extension/Dissemination Specialist.

“The variety performs well as a sole crop and an intercrop. It could also be planted as a relay crop with maize in the Guinea savannas,” he added.

Several on-station and on-farm trials have shown that IT89KD-391 (SAMPEA 12) produces double the yields of local cultivars.

It will be recalled that in 2008, Nigeria released a Striga-resistant improved cowpea variety (IT97K-499-35). Currently, efforts are being made through the project on legumes funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to make available seeds of these improved varieties by setting up community-based seed production systems.

Dr Kamara said, “The dem and for these improved varieties is high because of their superior yields and their acceptability by consumers.”

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For more information, please contact:

Dr Alpha Yaya Kamara, a.kamara@cgiar.org
Savannah Systems Agronomist

Dr. Hakeem Ajeigbe, H.Ajeigbe@cgiar.org
Extension/Dissemination Specialist

Jeffrey T. Oliver, o.jeffrey@cgiar.org
Corporate Communications Officer (International)

Godwin Atser, g.atser@cgiar.org
Corporate Communications Officer (West Africa)

IITA – Headquarters
Ibadan, Nigeria

About IITA
Africa has complex problems that plague agriculture and people’s lives. We develop agricultural solutions with our partners to tackle hunger and poverty. Our award winning research for development (R4D) is based on focused, authoritative thinking anchored on the development needs of sub-Saharan Africa. We work with partners in Africa and beyond to reduce producer and consumer risks, enhance crop quality and productivity, and generate wealth from agriculture. IITA is an international non-profit R4D organization established in 1967, governed by a Board of Trustees, and supported primarily by the CGIAR.

Scientists at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) and partners in the Netherl ands and the United States are a step closer to developing genomic approaches/tools that will expedite the conventional development of improved cowpea (Vigna unguiculata L) varieties with traits such as drought-tolerance.

An IITA-Lukas Brader Postgraduate Fellow, Eugene Agbicodo, who carried out the genetic analysis of drought-tolerance in cowpea and subsequently constructed a linkage map of the crop, identified portions on the cowpea genome where genes that have effects on drought-tolerance and resistance to bacterial blight could be located.

His findings have been hailed by breeders as a l andmark in marker-assisted selection in cowpea breeding.

Similar work has been reported by researchers at the University of California, Riverside, and researchers at the two institutions are comparing notes on the outcomes of their research to see areas of agreement and possible collaboration, according to Christian Fatokun, Cowpea Breeder, who supervised the Agbicodo’s genomic mapping work at IITA.

“If both parties are able to find areas of agreement or concurrence, such areas of the genome would be of immense benefit when marker assisted selection is to be applied in cowpea breeding. So what will normally take about 10 years to accomplish could be done in three years or even less,” he said.

With about 70 per cent of world cowpea grown in the savannah region of Africa, the protein-rich legume provides not only incomes but also improves the health of its consumers. However, cowpea faces several production constraints among which are diseases, insect pests, parasitic weeds such as Striga, and drought which is becoming increasingly important in the cowpea producing zones of sub-Saharan Africa.

Agbicodo phenotyped and genotyped a set of cowpea recombinant inbred lines generated at IITA’s Ibadan station. Phenotyping was carried out in Ibadan and Kano while the genotyping was carried out at the University of Wageningen, The Netherl ands.

Consequently, he constructed a cowpea genetic linkage map using the data obtained from genotyping and phenotyping. The linkage map showed molecular markers that defined quantitative trait loci (QTLs) with effects on drought-tolerance and resistance to bacterial blight among others.

The Lukas Brader Fellow will present his work during the 5th World Cowpea Research Conference to be held on 27 September – 1 October 2010 in Dakar, Senegal. IITA is the lead organizer of this international cowpea confab.

Fatokun described the work as a milestone as scientists seek ways to fast track cowpea improvement. He said that he feels happy that technologies to quicken plant breeding are being developed.

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For more information, please contact:

Christian Fatokun, c.fatokun@cgiar.org
Cowpea Breeder

Jeffrey T. Oliver, o.jeffrey@cgiar.org
Corporate Communications Officer (International)

Godwin Atser, g.atser@cgiar.org
Corporate Communications Officer (West Africa)

Communication Office
IITA – Headquarters
Ibadan, Nigeria

URL: www.iita.org

About IITA
Africa has complex problems that plague agriculture and people’s lives. We develop agricultural solutions with our partners to tackle hunger and poverty. Our award winning research for development (R4D) is based on focused, authoritative thinking anchored on the development needs of sub-Saharan Africa. We work with partners in Africa and beyond to reduce producer and consumer risks, enhance crop quality and productivity, and generate wealth from agriculture. IITA is an international non-profit R4D organization since 1967, governed by a Board of Trustees, and supported primarily by the CGIAR.

Image of Cowpea
Cowpea, also commonly called “black-eyed peas”. In September 2010, experts will come together in Dakar, Senegal to review the state of the art in cowpea science and map out a strategy to realize the crop’s potential through research.

Cowpea experts from across the globe will converge at the historic city of Dakar, Senegal from 27 September to 1 October 2010 for the 5th World Cowpea Research Conference. For five days, participants will tackle research-related issues to enhance the profile of cowpea as a viable income- generating and food security crop.

The conference will cover a wide range of topics – from cowpea genetic improvement and use of molecular tools, to human nutrition and processing and enterprise development.

Cowpea (Vigna unguiculata L. Walp.), also commonly known as “black-eyed peas”, is an annual legume and is one of the most ancient crops known to man.

Worldwide, cowpea is grown on about 10.1 million hectares, with annual grain production at approximately 4.99 million tons (FAO 2008). The largest production is in Africa, with Nigeria and Niger predominating. The largest areas under cultivation are in Central and West Africa. Brazil, Haiti, India, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Australia, the US, Bosnia, and Herzegovina also have significant production.

All parts of the plant that are used for food are nutritious, providing protein, vitamins (notably vitamin B) and minerals. It is also a highly variable crop, cultivated around the world not only for its seed but also as vegetable, cover crop, and fodder. The cowpea haulm is a great source of quality livestock feed. Cowpea is also used as a green manure crop, for fixing nitrogen, or for soil erosion control.

However, every stage of cowpea’s life cycle has at least one major insect pest. The crop is also susceptible to a number of fungal, bacterial, and viral diseases as well as parasitic plants such as Striga and Alectra. And since cowpea is grown mainly in the dry savanna areas where irrigation is practically non-existent, the irregular rainfall which is characteristic of the region adversely affects the crop’s productivity.

Since 1970, IITA, in collaboration with various partners in developing countries and advanced research institutions, has been working to develop and distribute improved cowpea seeds and new germplasm lines to over 60 countries. IITA maintains a collection of about 15,000 accessions of cultivated cowpea and 1,500 accessions of cowpea wild relatives.

Through the years, considerable progress has been made worldwide in cowpea breeding, and a range of varieties has been developed with resistance to several pests and diseases, and higher yields with lesser inputs. Improved varieties have also been developed for grain and fodder.

Among the most promising technologies developed are varieties resistant to Striga, Alectra, aphids, and bruchids; improved storage techniques using solar drying; and the use of botanical pesticides in the field and in storage.

The conference aims to present the state of the art in cowpea research, building upon these technological advances to move the science of cowpea forward, with the ultimate aim of identifying myriads of opportunities for cowpea growers to gain higher incomes, greater food security, and lead healthier lives.

With the range of expertise expected to attend the conference, organizers believe that the event will also increase the public’s awareness and appreciation of cowpea, hopefully leading to more support to scientists to carry out cutting-edge research to further develop the crop thereby realizing its potential.

The conference is organized by IITA in cooperation with the Dry Grain Pulses Collaborative Research Support Programme (Pulse-CRSP), Purdue University, and the Institut Senegalais de Recherches Agricoles (ISRA).

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For more information, please visit the 5th World Cowpea Conference website at http://cowpea2010.iita.org/

or contact:

Dr. Christian Fatokun, c.fatokun@cgiar.org
Cowpea Breeder and Conference Coordinator
IITA-Ibadan, Nigeria

Katherine Lopez, k.lopez@cgiar.org
Head, Communication Office
IITA Headquarters, Ibadan, Nigeria

Jeffrey T. Oliver, o.jeffrey@cgiar.org
Corporate Communications Officer (International)
Communication Office
IITA Headquarters, Ibadan, Nigeria

URL: www.iita.org

About IITA
Africa has complex problems that plague agriculture and people’s lives. We develop agricultural solutions with our partners to tackle hunger and poverty. Our award winning research for development (R4D) is based on focused, authoritative thinking anchored on the development needs of sub-Saharan Africa. We work with partners in Africa and beyond to reduce producer and consumer risks, enhance crop quality and productivity, and generate wealth from agriculture. IITA is an international non-profit R4D organization since 1967, governed by a Board of Trustees, and supported primarily by the CGIAR.

Despite the plethora of challenges facing resource-poor farmers in the savannah region of West Africa, agricultural research is helping transform their lives for the better.

The deployment of improved seeds, backed by the dissemination of innovative agricultural practices, is helping improve the lot of farmers in northern Nigeria—a savannah area where agriculture is the main source of livelihood—thanks to IITA and partners working on the Sudan Savanna Task Force of the Kano-Katsina-Maradi (SS TF KKM) Pilot Learning Site (PLS) of the Sub-Saharan Challenge Program.

Local farmers say the interventions have raised their incomes, improved agricultural productivity, and enhanced nutrition and health especially of children.

“My family is happy that I am now a successful farmer. I can now provide them with enough food and send my children to school,” says Mohammed Mustapha, a cowpea farmer in Kunamawa village in Katsina State.

As a participant in the SS TF KKM PLS project, Mustapha has seen his yield double using the same plot of l and but with improved varieties and agronomic practices.

“This was possible because of the training and the improved seeds I acquired from the Sudan Savannah Task Force team that are working on the KKM project. Before, I used to get two bags of cowpea from this field, but in 2009 I harvested five bags which were more than double the initial amount,” he explains.

For Hajia Binta Garba, who heads a women farmer group in Bunkure Local Government Area of Kano State, the drought- and Striga-tolerant cowpea varieties are helping farmers in her group to overcome the negative effects of climatic change in the region.

She also attests that the varieties, which are either early-maturing or drought-tolerant, have more than doubled her yields.

“I used to get one and half bags of cowpea but now I harvest no less than four bags on this same field,” Garba says.

Like Mustapha and Garba, several other farmers in northern Nigeria are tapping the opportunities presented by improved seeds and agronomic practices to better their livelihoods.

Though rich in vast arable l and, northern Nigeria is faced with myriad problems that reduce agricultural productivity and keep farmers in poverty. These include parasitic weeds, pests, diseases ineffective extension systems, poor soil fertility, poor crop management, poor access to information, low access to animal feeds, dysfunctional market and postharvest losses. More frequent bouts of droughts and floods, brought about by climate change, have also had dire consequences on the food security in the region.

The SS TF KKM project, which is funded by the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA), is seeking to mitigate these constraints.

Partners in the project include the Katsina State Agricultural Development Programme (ADP), Institute of Agricultural Research, Zaria; National Agricultural Extension Research and Liaison Services, National Animal Production Research Institute, Bayero University Kano, Local Government Councils and input and output dealers.

Alpha Kamara, IITA-Savanna System Agronomist and Taskforce leader, says the dissemination of the solutions is helping boost crop productivity and generating wealth in the drought-prone regions of the savannas.

According to him, the team is tackling the limitations via holistic and innovative platforms. For instance, the deployment of drought-tolerant cowpea and maize varieties is helping in mitigating the effect of drought.

Through experimental studies, Kamara and his team have also established the influence of phosphorus application and plant population on growth and yield of soybean genotypes. They are now recommending that farmers apply nitrogen on Striga-tolerant maize and grow it in rotation with soybean applying sufficient quantities of phosphorous on the soybean.

In trying to match crops to soils and environments, the research team has conducted trials on maize varieties and planting date interactions, and cereal-legume rotation of yields. Results from the trials are used in assisting farmers in choosing appropriate agronomic practices that will reduce the vulnerability of their crops to drought and Striga and improve soil fertility.

Adoption of these improved technologies by farmers has largely brought relief to farmers in the region.

A grateful Mustapha, smiling, says, “Since I became a farmer, this is my first time of meeting an efficient organization as IITA. If IITA was a woman, I would have married her.”

Apart from farmers, policy makers in the implementing states have testified to the success of the KKM project.

At a recent Farmers’ Field Day in Jikamshi, Katsina State, Hajia Fatima Shema, Wife of the Executive Governor of Katsina State; and Dr. Lawal Musawa, the Honorable Chairman of Musawa Local Government Area confirmed that the researches by IITA and its partners were reducing poverty and improving the livelihoods of millions of people who are mostly farmers in Nigeria.

“The fortunes of many of our farmers have improved in terms of increased crop productivity as a result of the operations of IITA,” they stated.

The wife of the Governor noted that the adoption of improved seeds was important for agricultural development in the state and called on farmers to tap the improved technologies offered by IITA scientists. They also promised continued support for the project.

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For more information, please contact:

Alpha Yaya Kamara, a.kamara@cgiar.org
Savannah Systems Agronomist
IITA-Ibadan, Nigeria

Jeffrey Oliver, o.jeffrey@cgiar.org
Corporate Communications Officer (International)

Godwin Atser, g.atser@cgiar.org
Corporate Communications Officer (West Africa)

Communication Office
IITA – Headquarters
Ibadan, Nigeria

URL: www.iita.org

About IITA
Africa has complex problems that plague agriculture and people’s lives. We develop agricultural solutions with our partners to tackle hunger and poverty. Our award winning research for development (R4D) is based on focused, authoritative thinking anchored on the development needs of sub-Saharan Africa. We work with partners in Africa and beyond to reduce producer and consumer risks, enhance crop quality and productivity, and generate wealth from agriculture. IITA is an international non-profit R4D organization established in 1967, governed by a Board of Trustees, and supported primarily by the CGIAR.

Resource-poor farmers in the northern Nigeria state of Borno are looking to better times ahead as researchers implementing the “Promoting Sustainable Agriculture in Borno State” (PROSAB) project report significant improvements in livelihoods and food security in its covered communities.

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PROSAB has delivered on its promise of reducing poverty and increasing food security in covered communities in northern Nigeria.

Analysis of the 17,000 households, or more than 100,000 farmers, that participated in the project showed that poverty levels dropped by an average of 14 per cent, while food security improved by 17 per cent.

These findings were highlighted at the PROSAB-sponsored conference held last week in Abuja, Nigeria attended by international donors and experts working on reducing poverty in the country and in West Africa.

The confab also officially marked the end of the project’s 5-year run.

“The project has been successful because farmers benefited in terms of improved crop yield, incomes, livelihoods and health. More importantly, the knock-on effect on other farmers in the region has been tremendous,” emphasized Dr David Watson, IITA Project Development and Management Director.

“The project has been successful because farmers benefited in terms of improved crop yields, incomes, livelihoods and health. More importantly, the knock-on effect on other farmers in the region has been tremendous,” he emphasized.

Funded by the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), PROSAB started in 2004 and was managed by IITA with partners including the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), Borno State Agricultural Development Programme, CRED, the Institute of Agricultural Research – Zaria, and the University of Maiduguri.

The project introduced improved crop varieties, trained farmers on improved agronomic practices and promoted gender equality in agricultural development.

Donors and policy makers who attended the conference commended IITA and partners for the effective implementation of the project. The FAO, through its Assistant Representative in Nigeria, Dr Rabe Mani, called upon other states in the same geographic zone to tap the approach used by IITA to help improve the plight of farmers in their communities.

“The technologies are here. So I strongly encourage states in that ecological zone to pick up these technologies and scale them up to develop their communities,” he added.

Apart from reducing poverty in households from 63 per cent to 49 per cent, the project also made significant inroads in increasing women participation in agricultural activities, say Drs. Amare Tegbaru and Alpha Kamara, IITA scientists who worked on the project.

Borno is predominantly Islamic with social interactions between men and women largely restricted by cultural norms. PROSAB introduced interventions that encouraged women to work alongside men for development, a feat normally difficult to achieve given the related religious restrictions.

Tegbaru and Kamara adds that farmers who participated in the project increased their average incomes by about 81 per cent compared to when PROSAB started five years ago. Farmers attribute this mainly to improved yields, better access to farm inputs, and enhanced agricultural skills brought about by the interventions of the project.

Mrs Ndirwa, one of the farmers who shared her personal experience with PROSAB during the conference, testified that the project raised her farm productvitiy and incomes, with her yields of cowpea and maize almost tripling.

She added that other participating farmers whom she knew also had impressive yields during the span of the project.

She thanked CIDA, IITA and partners for giving her, and others like her, hope for a brighter future with PROSAB.

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For more information, please contact:

Dr Amare Tegbaru, a.tegbaru@cgiar.org
PROSAB Manager
IITA-Nigeria

Godwin Atser, g.atser@cgiar.org
Corporate Communications Officer (West & Central Africa)

Jeffrey T Oliver, o.jeffrey@cgiar.org
Corporate Communications Officer (International)

Communication Office
IITA-Headquarters
Ibadan, Nigeria

URL: www.iita.org

About IITA
Africa has complex problems that plague agriculture and people’s lives. We develop agricultural solutions with our partners to tackle hunger and poverty. Our award winning research for development (R4D) is based on focused, authoritative thinking anchored on the development needs of sub-Saharan Africa. We work with partners in Africa and beyond to reduce producer and consumer risks, enhance crop quality and productivity, and generate wealth from agriculture. IITA is an international non-profit R4D organization since 1967, governed by a Board of Trustees, and supported primarily by the CGIAR.

Ibadan, Nigeria— Africa’s leading agricultural research partner, IITA, will make its second shipment of African seeds to the Svalbard Global Seed Vault in June. The move is aimed at preserving the genetic resources of African crops.

On 30 January 2008, IITA made history as the first international agricultural institute to have shipped 21 boxes filled with 7,000 unique seed samples of m andate crops from more than 36 African nations to the Vault.

“This year’s shipment will involve about 5,000 seed samples of soybean, maize, bambara nut, cowpea, and African yam bean, in more than 10 seed boxes,” said Dr. Dominique Dumet, Head of IITA’s Genetic Resources Center.

“The whole aim of the shipment to Svalbard is about conservation of genetic resources and agrobiodiversity for humanity,” she added.

Agrobiodiversity—a term which captures all forms of life directly relevant to agriculture: from crop varieties to crop wild relatives, livestock, and also many other organisms such as soil fauna, weeds, pests, and predators— is disappearing faster than at any time since the demise of the dinosaurs.

According to the United Nations Environment Programme’s 4th Global Environment Outlook report, the ongoing loss of biodiversity will restrict future development options for rich and poor countries with negative impacts on food security.

To stem the loss of agrobiodiversity, the IITA Genetic Resources Center, which is located in Ibadan, Nigeria, has over the years, conserved more than 28,000 accessions of IITA m andate crops.

The Center houses the world’s largest collection of cowpea—a key staple in Africa, offering an inexpensive source of protein— with over 15,000 unique varieties from 88 countries around the world.

The Svalbard Seed Vault is another safety net designed to hold duplicated genetic resources.

“It actually serves as a backup for genetic diversity. For instance, there are some genes in the seeds that we are conserving now that might solve problems of future generations, such as lack of resistance to diseases or tolerance for drought,” Dumet explained.

Located on the Norwegian isl and of Spitsbergen, the Svalbard Global Seed Vault secures a seedbank near the town of Longyearbyen in the remote Arctic Svalbard archipelago.

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For more information, please contact:

Dominique Juliette Dumet, d.dumet@cgiar.org
Germplasm Specialist

Jeffrey T. Oliver, o.jeffrey@cgiar.org
Corporate Communication Manager

Godwin Atser, g.atser@cgiar.org
Corporate Communication Officer

Catherine Njuguna, c.njuguna@cgiar.org
Regional Corporate Communication Officer

IITA – Headquarters

Ibadan, Nigeria

URL: www.iita.org

About IITA

Africa has complex problems that plague agriculture and people’s lives. We develop agricultural solutions with our partners to tackle hunger and poverty. Our award winning research for development (R4D) is based on focused, authoritative thinking anchored on the development needs of sub-Saharan Africa. We work with partners in Africa and beyond to reduce producer and consumer risks, enhance crop quality and productivity, and generate wealth from agriculture. IITA is an international non-profit R4D organization since 1967, governed by a Board of Trustees, and supported primarily by the CGIAR.