Final version of Tropical Legumes II Project Report for Phase 1 - icrisat

In Malawi for instance, a total of 300 households were selected for baseline study and female-headed
households accounted for 24% of the sample households.
Major results from baseline surveys: cropping systems and perceptions
Cowpea production, processing and marketing in West Africa take place in an ever-changing environment
and so does agricultural research. However opportunities are arising from economic growth and regional
trade. Income drives the demand for high-quality cowpea and soybean grains and processed products.
Biotic and abiotic constraint like pests, diseases, drought and market access mainly for cowpea are threats
to food security, poverty reduction and enhanced livelihoods. Research priorities need to be updated to
take into account these constraints and opportunities. This will require ex ante impact assessment aimed
at identifying potential gains from technologies and novel institutional arrangements and priority setting.
Eastern & Southern Africa (Tanzania & Mozambique)
• About 62% of the sample households in Mozambique live below the poverty line and 58% are food
insecure. Consistent with their poorer access to land and lower adoption of improved varieties,
female-headed households in Mozambique are relatively poorer than male-headed households.
The target households are as poor and food insecure as the control households, implying that the
project has rightly targeted relatively more needy households.
• Average farm level cowpea yields barely exceed 500 kg/ha, much lower than the potential yield of
1.5 to 2 MT per ha obtained in on-farm trials.
• The most important source of information on improved cowpea varieties is fellow farmers. Over
80% of the adopters in Mozambique mentioned another farmer/neighbor as being their main source
of information on varieties IT-18 and IT-16.
• Cowpea variety IT-18, which was introduced long ago, is the ruling or most popular variety in
Mozambique
• Over 50% of the sample households in Mozambique have adopted the cowpea variety IT-18.
Female-headed households tend to have relatively lower adoption rates of cowpea (40%). Only
12% of adopters of improved cowpea varieties bought improved seed from agro-dealers, with the
rest using their own recycled seed.
• Grain yield and earliness/drought tolerance are the most referred traits. Over 60% of cowpea
producers in Mozambique prefer varieties with high grain yield, whereas those in Tanzania prefer
varieties with high grain yield as well as early maturing or drought tolerant. While price and taste
are distant second and third important traits overall, female-headed households prefer cowpea taste
to its price, confirming the importance of cowpea as a food crop.
• Over 70% of non-adopters of improved cowpea indicated lack of access to improved seeds as the
major constraint.
• Drought is the main source of vulnerability both in Tanzania and Mozambique, followed by pests
and diseases. The ex-ante risk management options include crop diversification, planting more
cassava than maize, and off-farm work such as petty trade. The ex-post coping options include
reduced number and quantity of meals, borrowing money to buy food, and switching to cassava.
• Women own nearly 50% of the land and livestock and undertake most of the farming activities,
particularly threshing, seed selection, and storage, but marketing is done by men, both food and
cash crops, with obvious patterns of control of cash income by men. Overall, the survey results
suggest that, despite their ownership of assets, women have no control over their productive assets
and the resulting incomes.
West Africa (Nigeria, Niger, and Mali)
• Availability of labor is a main cowpea production constraint in West Africa. In Mali, 44% of Maleheaded
household estimate that family labor availability is determinant in cowpea production,
while in Niger, it is 19% of Male-headed household.
• In Nigeria, 71% of Male-headed household report the lack of cash availability to purchase seeds
Progress of Phase 1
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