English - McKnight Foundation Collaborative Crop Research Program

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McKnight Foundation Collaborative Crops Research Project No: 06-741 Dissemination of information A Leaflet on “Recipes for cowpea products” was provided to farmers in each project site. These were produced in Swahili for better understanding of farmers. It emphasized on the different ways of cowpea utilization, recipes and methods of de-hulling whole cowpea grain to produce dhal that can be converted into other value-added products such as dhal, stew and snack products like “bagia”. Value-added products are considered nutritious and sources of income generation. It was also observed that storage of cowpea grain was a big problem but dehulling the grains could improve storage up to many years. Also this reduces the labour involved in preparation by women, wherever they come to prepare Bagia. It is envisaged the disseminated materials can always be referred to by farmers/ processors in case of problem shooting long after the project expires. Results and Discussions Cowpea preference The study found that, the current type of cowpea grown in the project sites take more than two hours to cook. The smallholder farmers/consumers prefer cowpeas that cook in less than two hours. Hence training of cowpea grain processing into dhal as on alternative of reducing cooking time was important. Sensory evaluation “Bagia” samples were prepared using the above recipes. Each bagia type reflected to the type of recipe. At the time of testing the samples were coded 1,2,3,4, and 5 for bagia types made from recipes 1 to 5 respectively. A panel of respective farmers, extension officers and village government leaders participated in the trial. They were given the five samples of bagia not simultaneously, one at a time and they were asked to assign preference score on products attributes including taste, texture and palatability. A pair-wise ranking method (Table19) was used to find out the most preferred bagia type. Panelists were asked to taste and rank the overall acceptability of the product in relation to that of the other four. Every sample was compared to each other by allowing every panelist to give opinion or rise up hands for most preferred sample. The scores of the quality attributes were done using the following rating scale; 1 = excellent 2 = very good 3 = good 4 = average 5 = poor The overall acceptability was ranked from 1-5 (Table 19) Table 19; Ranked cowpea “bagia” Bagia type Rank 1 5 2 3 3 4 4 2 5 1 Table 2 shows that, bagia type 5 was the most preferred by farmers, while bagia type 1 was the least. This indicates that, bagia enriched with nutrients (type 5) came out as the most preferred as compared to “bagia asilia”(type 1), which was not enriched with nutrients (See Table 19). It is evident that, palatability and taste to a large extent is associated with nutrients enrichment. According to the panelist views, it is believed that if a product is palatable and nutritionally enriched, it is most likely to fetch more market than the reverse. Therefore value added products, apart from being nutritious they are considered palatable and sources of income generation. 18 2009
McKnight Foundation Collaborative Crops Research Project No: 06-741 Table 20: Summary village score and rank data Bagia type Village scores and rank Singida region Dodoma region Iringa region Msungua Ikhanoda Nduu Kikombo Mpunguzi Mkungugu Ilambilole Mangalali S R S R S R S R S R S R S R S R S R 1.Bagia asilia 0 4 0 5 0 5 4 1 0 3 0 5 0 5 0 5 0.5 3.5 2. Bagi + viungo 3.Bagia + viungo+hamira 4. Bagia + viungo+ mayaia 19 2009 Aver age Av. rank 2 2 2 3 4 1 3 2 3 1 2 3 2 3 4 2 2.8 2.1 1 3 1 4 1 4 0 5 1 2 1 4 1 4 1 4 0.9 3.8 4 1 4 1 2 3 1 4 3 1 3 2 3 2 2 3 2.8 2.1 5.Bagia + viungo+ mayai + hamira 4 1 3 2 3 2 2 3 3 1 4 1 5 1 3 1 3.4 1.5 NB: S= Score, R= Rank Storage and storage insect pests: Cowpea grain is very susceptible to storage pests especially to bruchids hence store poorly. This has been one of the constraints that farmers do not keep much of their cowpea grains more than 6 months. On the other hand dehuled cowpeas are not infested by storage pests and can bee stored for a long time so long they are kept in a dry place. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS Initially, cowpea production has mainly been for household use and limited sales to local/village markets. Thus by providing farmers with the technologies for use in the improvement of the processing of cowpea into dhal, this study has opened the community to new avenues for storing the cowpea products longer and obtaining income from the crop. By achieving the diversification of small-scale rural farmers’ incomes through adoption of appropriate post-harvest technologies and providing information on the value addition for cowpeas, the project has equipped farmers with means of enhancing their household incomes. This will be enhanced through better quality products which will ensure small-holder farmers’ ability to have market access for them. Additionally, through equipping farmers with knowledge and skills of improved handling, processing and utilization of cowpea products, the capacity of the rural communities in which the project has operated, to earn an income from similar processed products through value addition has been enhanced. Also the project has built the capacity of the rural small-scale cowpea farmers in working in groups and organizing themselves to produce necessary volumes and quality requirements cowpea grain which can meet market requirements. The project further enabled the farmers to change their perception of cowpea as a crop for household consumption and small scale production, to perceiving it as a possible income earner with potential to increase household incomes. However, this study highlighted the fact that, what is needed at times is change in attitude of farmers towards a crop in order to enable them increase its production and make an income from marketing its products. It is recommended that, farmer groups need to be facilitated and equipped with means to obtain storage facilities for large volumes of cowpea grains, especially since large quantities of grains are expected to be produced. Finally, it is recommended that, this study is replicated in other areas of the country and other crops characterized by low utilization base.
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English - McKnight Foundation Collaborative Crop Research Program

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