English - McKnight Foundation Collaborative Crop Research Program

McKnight Foundation Collaborative Crops Research Project No: 06-741
Objective 2: Promotion of high yielding A. vogelii resistant cowpea varieties
With the continuation of the on-farm trials/demonstration component of the project efforts to increase
awareness of the problem of A. vogelii and approaches to management continued in year 3. Work
implemented included farmers field exchange visits, participation in national agricultural shows, training
on preparation of different cowpea recipes and some market studies in Malawi
Output 2.1: Farmer and extension awareness of .A. vogelii and use of resistant cultivars enhanced
In the implementation of the above mentioned output, two activities were conducted in Tanzania, these are
farmer field days and exchange visits and participation in 2009 National Agricultural show. With respect to
exchange visit, twelve farmers from Mangalali (Ari Mpya Group) visited Mkungugu (Fahari research
group) and later both visited Ismani On-station trials in Iringa. The objective of the farmer exchange visit
was for farmers from Mangalali to share experiences with other farmers on principles of cowpea
production, processing and utilization and to be acquainted with on station cowpea lines screening work. At
the research station farmers participated in evaluation of 14 cowpea screening materials planted. Four
cowpea farmers of the CCRP project from Singida rural district (two from Msungua and two from
Ikhanoda) were sponsored by their district council and attended the National Agricultural Show between 1 st
and 8 th August 2009 in Dodoma. Promising cowpea lines and associate processed products of cowpea from
their group were displayed.
In Malawi, farmers from Mngwangwa EPA, on their own accord, organized themselves and participated at
a District Agriculture Fair held in the same EPA in June 2009. The farmers demonstrated a range of
cowpea products based on the training made by the project and shared this with participants. In addition,
the project team participated at a national agriculture fair, alongside the Crop Science Department. Again,
the focus of the exhibit was on utilization. The exhibits attracted a lot of attention from participants
Output 2.2a: Nutritional status of farmers improved
To accomplish output 2.2 above, activity 2.2.2: (Develop/modify/ demonstrate cowpea products) was
undertaken. The primary objective was to promote the utilization of cowpea in Tanzania. Specifically was
to train farmers on the processing of cowpea grains into dhal, preparation of cowpea dishes (snack bites
from cowpea flour “bagia’); and to perform sensory evaluation and organoleptic tests. The training was
conducted in eight villages namely Msungua, Ikhanoda, and Nduu in Singida region, Kikombo and
Mpunguzi in Dodoma region and Mkungugu, Ilambilole and Mangalali in Iringa region. The villages were
purposively selected as a result of their involvement in a project on “Improvement of cowpea productivity
on Alectra Vogelii infested land in Tanzania. A one day workshop was conducted in each project village
and farmers were trained on improved cowpea technologies. The trainings were based on demonstrations,
hands-on trials and printed materials (brochures for cowpea recipes). Farmers participated in the validation
of five recipes for cowpea value addition. Sensory and organoleptic tests were carried out, where by
farmers were required to rank and find out the most preferred types of ”bagia”. The five types of bagia
were made using different recipes. The recipes were translated into Swahili language for better
understanding by farmers.
Table 7: Cowpea snack product recipes
Type of
Materials/ingredients
Bagia
1. Bagia asilia Cowpea dhal/flour, salt, cooking oil, water
2. Bagia asilia na viungo Cowpea flour, salt, cooking oil, garlic, onions and water
3. Bagia; viungo na hamira Cowpea flour, salt, cooking oil, onions, garlic, yeast and water
4. Bagia; viungo na mayai Cowpea flour, salt, cooking oil, garlic, onions, eggs and water
5. Bagia; viungo, mayai na hamira Cowpea flour, salt, cooking oil, onions, garlic, eggs, yeast and
water
13
2009