A three-day international workshop on cowpea production and utilisation was held in Accra, Ghana from 10th to 13th February 2004. The workshop was a community effort to help shape plans to mobilise new and better technologies for improved production and utilisation of cowpea to benefit producers and consumers in Africa. It was hosted by the African Agricultural Technology Foundation (AATF) and the Network for the Genetic Improvement of Cowpea for Africa (NGICA). The meeting brought together over 40 scientists from international organisations, seed companies, universities, regional and national research organisations from Africa, Europe, United States of America and Australia. 

The cowpea is an important food grain for over 200 million people in the dry savannah of tropical Africa. It is rich in protein and carbohydrates, is a source of fodder for livestock, has high energy content and is also a source of income for many smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa. Every year African farmers lose a large part of the cowpea crop to field and storage pest infestations. Losses can be as high as 90% in severe cases. This problem can be addressed through conventional breeding and genetic enhancement of the crop. With appropriate technologies, it is expected that farmers will achieve higher yields of better quality cowpea that would impact on the trading volumes and general livelihoods of the producers, traders, processors and consumers especially in West Africa, the largest cowpea producing region in the world. (See AATF project brief on cowpea productivity improvement at  this link Cowpea Project Brief. 

Under the leadership of AATF and NGICA, the workshop participants resolved to generate, gain access to and deploy technologies and new mechanisms that would support the production and distribution of high quality cowpea seed, development of cowpea varieties resistant to pest infestation and damage and dissemination of better storage and processing technologies. It is expected that these interventions will lay the foundation for the development of seeds of high yielding pest-resistant cowpeas that will enhance food security and better livelihoods. The three-day deliberations produced the elements of a concept note for a project on enhancing livelihoods in sub-Saharan Africa through integrated use of emerging cowpea technologies. (For related information, please see Small Group Meeting on Cowpea Production and Utilization held 10–11 July 2003, in Nairobi, Kenya at  this link.

The African Agricultural Technology Foundation is a new not-for-profit foundation facilitating and promoting public/private sector partnerships to ensure smallholder, resource-poor farmers in sub-Saharan Africa access agricultural technologies that could help improve food security and reduce poverty.

The Network for the Genetic Improvement of Cowpea for Africa is a network of individuals and organisations interested in the genetic improvement of cowpea with the goal of devising plans and new initiatives to address the constraints to its production and utilisation. (For further information on NGICA, please contact Larry Murdock – email: murdockl@purdue.edu; Idah Sithole-Niang – email: isn@mweb.co.zw).

For further information please contact

Nancy Muchiri – Communications & Donor Relations Manager

Tel:  254 20 - 422 3700 ; Via USA: ; email: n.muchiri@cgiar.org