Abstract
Cowpea (Vigna unguiculata) is an essential crop in tropical Africa with its production facing numerous challenges. Identifying technologies and policies allowing to improve cowpea production are required to confront increasing food insecurity. This study investigated cowpea production systems, identified farming constraints, traits preference and determinants for the adoption of improved cultivars among 300 farmers surveyed across 15 divisions in two distinct agroecological zones of Cameroon. Participatory research through questionnaires and interviews were used to collect data, analysed with IBM SPSS and GraphPad prism softwares. Farmers grow minorly improved varieties (21.66%) compared to landraces (78.44%). These improved varieties are essentially grown in the Sudano-Sahelian zone. Farmers there are mainly males (85%), cultivating on large farm size, using animal traction (74.29%) with higher harvest that are sold. The western highlands zone in contrary is highly characterized by female farmers (98.75%), practicing sole cropping (95.63%) entirely on an area of < 0.5 ha with no use of chemicals, not belonging to farmers’ organisation and minimum harvest product sold (96.87%). Farmers preferred traits are high yielding varieties, longer storage duration, drought tolerance and early maturing. Major production constraints across the two zones are drought, insect pests, lack of improved varieties and poor soil fertility. Results showed that purchasing land, using animal traction, having certified seed company and improved varieties seed stockists as seed sources, targeting large benefits, belonging to a famer organisation and larger farm size with more workforce positively affected the adoption of improved varieties. To increase adoption, breeders should address the identified farming constraints and take into account farmers’ preferred traits in their research. There is huge recommendation to enhance availability of improved varieties to farmers once developed, through strengthening extensionists training and services, and encouraging farmer-to-farmers experience exchanges.
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Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank the chiefs of surveyed localities in the different Divisions, chiefs of farmers association, extensionists from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and cowpea farmers involved in this study for their collaboration and participation.
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This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.
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The research protocol was approved by the Regional Ethics Committee of Research for Human Health, a public structure of the Ministry of Public Health in the western region of Cameroon with approval number No 97/26/02/2025/CE/CRERSH-OU/VP. All experiments were performed in accordance with relevant named guidelines and regulations.
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Before conducting the interview, a verbal consent agreement approved by the Regional Ethics Committee of Research for Human Health was obtained from each voluntary interviewee by the research team comprising students and two agronomists from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. Written consent was waived by the committee because of the status of illiteracy of most of the farmers interviewed. These interviewees were therefore provided verbally with detailed information about the study and face-to-face interviews were then conducted in order to facilitate effective understanding. Explanations and clarifications when required were provided by the research team.
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Kouam, E.B., Ngompe Deffo, T., Djoufack Tonfack, M.M. et al. Cowpea production systems and determinants of adopting improved cultivars by farmers across western highlands and Sudano Sahelian zones of Cameroon.
Sci Rep (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-58214-6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-58214-6
Keywords
- Adoption
- Agroecological zone
- Cameroon
- Cowpea
- Farming systems
- Improved cultivar
- Production constraints
- Traits preferences
Source: Ecology - nature.com
