Final version of Tropical Legumes II Project Report for Phase 1 - icrisat
Final version of Tropical Legumes II Project Report for Phase 1 - icrisat
Final version of Tropical Legumes II Project Report for Phase 1 - icrisat
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Figure 5-3 shows that Nigeria made some progress in increasing its cowpea yields from 0.2 MT per<br />
ha in 1970 to 0.9 MT per ha in 2009. In contrast, Niger has made much slower progress with its yield<br />
increasing from 0.1 MT per ha in 1970 to 0.3 MT per ha by 2009. In fact, since 1970, Niger’s yields<br />
have fluctuated between 0.1 MT per ha and 0.3 MT per ha with the latter being experienced in six years<br />
only in the last four decades. Thus, Nigeria increased its yield by 0.7 MT per ha while Niger increased<br />
its by 0.2 MT per ha during the same period. These increases in yields in Nigeria may be explained<br />
by the limited adoption <strong>of</strong> newly released varieties although this has happened only on a small scale.<br />
Although yields in Europe have shown some fluctuation, they have generally been much higher than<br />
those in Nigeria, Niger and other regions <strong>of</strong> the world. The yields in Asia and North America have<br />
also been higher than those in Nigeria and Niger <strong>for</strong> many decades. This may be an indication <strong>of</strong> an<br />
opportunity to increase yields to levels closer to what is obtained on other continents.<br />
7.0<br />
6.0<br />
5.0<br />
4.0<br />
3.0<br />
2.0<br />
1.0<br />
0.0<br />
1970<br />
1973<br />
1976<br />
1979<br />
1982<br />
1985<br />
1988<br />
1991<br />
1994<br />
1997<br />
2000<br />
2003<br />
2006<br />
2009<br />
North America Europe Niger Nigeria Asia<br />
Source: Authors using FAO data<br />
Figure 5-3: Trends in cowpea yields across the world 1970-2009<br />
Production<br />
Figure 5-4 shows that global cowpea production has steadily increased from an average <strong>of</strong> 1.3 million<br />
MT in the 1970s to about 4.5 million MT in the 2000s representing an annual average production<br />
growth rate <strong>of</strong> around 4.7%. With a production growth rate <strong>of</strong> 28.9%, North America saw the highest<br />
growth rate while the Caribbean recorded the lowest growth rate <strong>of</strong> about 0% with the 2009 production<br />
level being 60% <strong>of</strong> the 1970 level. West Africa recorded a growth rate <strong>of</strong> 4.9% while Asia and Europe<br />
recorded 5.9% and 7.9%, respectively. Since the 1970s cowpea production never exceeded 2% <strong>of</strong><br />
production <strong>of</strong> major legumes. Figure 5-4 indicates that soybeans, groundnut and thirdly beans have<br />
been the dominant legumes in terms <strong>of</strong> production levels. Soybean in particular has experienced very<br />
large increases in production since 1970 with an increase from about 40 million MT to about 220<br />
million MT by 2009.<br />
Of the 4.5 million MT average global production in the 2000s, Africa accounted <strong>for</strong> 95% (4.3 million<br />
MT). Asia and Europe accounted <strong>for</strong> 3% and 1%, respectively, while the rest <strong>of</strong> the world accounted <strong>for</strong><br />
about 1%. Although North America has had the highest growth in cowpea production, its production<br />
share was not up to 1% in the 2000s.<br />
84<br />
Engaging Smallholder Farmers | <strong>Tropical</strong> <strong>Legumes</strong> <strong>II</strong> <strong>Project</strong>