Expounding the production and importance of cowpea (Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp.) in Ethiopia

Figures & data

Table 1. The five cultivar groups of cultivated cowpeas and their features

Cultivar group	Selected features
unguiculata	Includes most African grain and forage types. More than 16 ovules/pod.
biflora (Catiang)	Smooth seed in short erect pods. Common in India. Less than 17 ovules/pod.
sesquipedalis	Asparagus or yard-long beans. Very long pods consumed fresh, especially in the People’s Republic of China.
textilis	Rare form with very long peduncles once used for fiber in Africa.
melanophthalmus	Blackeye pea types. Less than 17 ovules/pod. Grown mostly in the Americas.

Source: OECD (2016)

Table 2. Trends of legume crops in the world, Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia

Crop	Area (1000 ha)			Yield (Kg per ha)			Production (1000 MT)
	1985–87	2005–07	ROG (%)	1985–87	2005–07	ROG (%)	1985–87	2005–07	ROG (%)
World
Chickpea	10,294	10,914	0.4	692	818	0.0	7,136	8,929	1.2
Common Bean	26,185	27,232	0.1	582	723	0.0	15,230	19,705	1.2
Cowpea	5,466	14,500	4.5	341	454	1.4	1,718	6,155	5.9
Groundnut	18,784	22,633	1.0	1,137	1,607	1.0	21,363	36,379	2.9
Pigeon pea	3,549	4,655	1.1	845	885	0.5	2,679	3,463	1.1
Soybean	52,503	92,622	3.0	1,877	2,348	1.4	98,569	217,397	4.4
Total	116,781	172,556	1.7	895	1,116	0.9	146,695	292,028	2.8
Sub-Saharan Africa
Chickpea	250	398	2.4	587	769	1.4	132	315	4.4
Common bean	3,045	5,190	2.9	684	596	−0.9	2,070	3,045	2.0
Cowpea	4,629	11,440	4.3	333	450	1.5	1,427	5,145	5.8
Groundnut	5,507	9,057	3.0	782	1,007	1.3	4,277	8,942	4.3
Pigeon pea	249	499	3.1	593	729	1.7	148	363	4.3
Soybean	380	1,228	3.8	928	1,060	3.5	257	1,279	7.3
Total	13,627	26,864	3.3	648	767	1.4	8,186	18,557	4.7
South Asia
Chickpea	8,585	8,334	−0.1	693	855	1.3	5,747	6,792	4.4
Common bean	9,959	11,532	0.3	602	985	1.8	3,714	5,908	2.9
Cowpea	50	159	5.4	655	975	1.0	33	154	4.4
Groundnut	7,647	7,038	−1.1	930	1,122	1.0	6,310	8,457	0.2
Pigeon pea	3,255	4,118	1.0	710	840	−1.1	2,495	3,068	0.9
Soybean	1,526	8,490	8.4	701	1,275	1.6	979	5,735	10.0
Total	31,022	39,671	2.3	715	1,009	1.1	19,278	30,114	3.2

Table 3. Top 20 cowpea producing countries in the world (2014)

Rank	Country	Production (tons)	Area (ha)	Yield (Kg/ha)
1	Nigeria	2,137,900	3,701,500	578
2	Niger	1,593,166	5,325,168	299
3	Burkina Faso	573,048	1,205,162	475
4	United Republic of Tanzania	190,500	197,323	965
5	Cameroon	174,251	209,019	834
6	Mali	149,248	353,382	422
7	Kenya	138,673	281,877	492
8	Myanmar	115,200	132,000	873
9	Mozambique	103,837	377,900	275
10	Sudan	80,000	260,000	308
11	D R C	70,042	159,945	438
12	Senegal	64,088	153,142	418
13	Malawi	35,903	81,753	439
14	Haiti	29,895	41,525	720
15	United States of America	21,591	12,060	1,790
16	Peru	17,588	12,779	1,376
17	Serbia	16,189	4,777	3,389
18	Sri Lanka	15,281	11,519	1,327
19	China, mainland	13,500	13,000	1,038
20	Uganda	10,100	25,000	404

Source: Boukar et al. (2018)

Figure 1. Trends in area, yield and production of cowpea in SSA (from 1961 to 2014). Source: Ojiewo et al. (2018).

Table 4. Global production trends of cowpeas (dry) in million metric tons (MMT)

Cowpea production	Average 1993–2014	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014
World	4.59	6.91	4.78	8.25	8.03	5.59
Africa	4.37	6.57	4.50	7.95	7.78	5.35
Nigeria	2.53	3.37	1.64	5.15	4.63	2.14
Niger	0.79	1.77	1.52	1.33	1.63	1.59
Burkina Faso	0.37	0.63	0.44	0.60	0.58	0.57
Tanzania	0.13	0.15	0.17	0.18	0.19	0.19
Cameroon	0.10	0.15	0.16	0.15	0.17	0.17
Mali	0.10	0.13	0.13	0.14	0.17	0.15
Kenya	0.07	0.07	0.08	0.11	0.13	0.14
Asia	0.13	0.23	0.19	0.19	0.15	0.15
Myanmar	0.11	0.21	0.17	0.16	0.12	0.12
Americas	0.06	0.09	0.07	0.09	0.08	0.07
Europe	0.03	0.03	0.03	0.02	0.02	0.02
Oceania	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00

Source: OECD (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development) (2016)

Table 5. Soil on fertility status and average area of land allocated to cowpea production in Ethiopia

Perceived soil fertility	Amhara (%)	Gambella (%)	Oromia (%)	SNNPR (%)	Tigray (%)	Total (%)
Fertile	23.8	80.0	85.6	37.7	21.7	44.8
Medium	52.3	18.8	14.4	47.4	51.7	40.1
Marginal	23.1	1.2	0.0	14.9	22.5	14.1
Medium and marginal	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.8	0.2
Fertile, medium and marginal	0.6	0.0	0.0	0.0	3.3	0.8
Average area (ha) allocated to cowpea	0.25	0.08	0.19	0.15	0.19	-

Source: Beshir et al. (2019)

Figure 2. Production system and agronomic practices for cowpea production in northern Ethiopia. Source: Alemu et al. (2016).

Figure 3. Schematic representation of the potential contributions of cowpea in food nutrition, income and crop-livestock systems in the dry savannas as modified from Fatokun et al. (2002).

Table 6. Cowpea consumption across major producing regional states in Ethiopia

Parts of cowpea used for consumption across regional states (% respondents) in Ethiopia
Cowpea part	Amhara	Gambella	Oromia	SNNPR	Tigray	Mean
Grain	52.3	0.0	48.1	10.7	48.6	31.9
Leaves	0.0	3.5	0.0	1.3	0.0	1.0
Grain and leaves	0.0	51.8	0.0	20.0	1.9	14.7
Grain, leaf and green pod	0.0	44.7	3.8	51.3	2.8	20.5
Grain and green pod	47.7	0.0	48.1	16.7	46.7	31.8
Average cowpea consumption per household (% respondents) in Ethiopia
Amount (kg)	Amhara	Gambella	Oromia	SNNPR	Tigray	Average
Less than 25	12.3	10.6	13.7	20.3	20.6	15.5
25–50	33.1	24.7	30.4	31.1	28.0	29.5
51–100	29.2	37.6	32.3	20.9	15.0	27.0
101–200	16.9	22.4	20.6	17.6	21.5	19.8
201–300	4.5	3.5	1.0	4.6	6.5	4.1
301–400	1.9	1.2	1.0	3.4	4.7	2.4
401–500	0.6	0.0	1.0	0.7	2.8	1.0
> 500	1.3	0.0	0.0	1.4	0.9	0.7
Sum	99.8	100	100.0	100.0	100	100

Source: Beshir et al. (2019)

Table 7. Nutritional composition of cowpea vegetables (mg/100 g dry weight)

Cowpea leaves (per 100 g dry matter)
Nutrient	Raw fresh	Dried (Solar and sun-dried)	Blanched	Fermented
Moisture (g)	85–90	7.04–7.35	12.0–15.02	6.31–7.29
Crude Protein (g)	28–42	29.09–39.24	4.0–31.86	28.07–29.40
Crude lipid (g)	9.00–10.26	1.31–2.28	4.33–12.91	1.68–1.92
Crude ash (g)	4.80–13.58	10.84–14.80	7.5–11.87	10.6–11.0
Crude fiber (g)	10.09–25.51	14.26–29.31	12.53–14.35	17.10–29.48
Energy value (kCal)	325.36–390.26	219.8–290.51	246.27–384.43	214–226.9
Micronutrients
Beta-carotene (mg)	32.74–36.55	0.25–24.76	19.21–20.35	0.8–30
Vitamin C (mg)	70–203	1.39–137.9	40.1–42.8	45
Iron (mg)	66–75	0.58–7.50	0.56–0.57	0.17–0.23
Calcium (mg)	17.1–39.87	1.40–25.1	24.3–24.6	1.27–1.28
Zinc (mg)	5.22–12.91	1.66–144.5	0.14–7.9	0.05–0.07

Source: Owade et al. (2020)

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