The National Research Foundation (NRF) conducted a Research and Technology fund -2024 Technical Audit visit to UMP on 14 March 2024 to undertake performance monitoring of the UMP cowpea project.
The project involved postgraduate students, academics, and researchers from Mpumalanga Department of Agriculture, Rural Development, Land and Environmental Affairs (DARDLEA) as well as farmers as external stakeholders, and was led by Professor Funso Kutu, Head of the School of Agricultural Sciences.
The objective of the project was to enhance community and farmers' awareness through training and information dissemination on sustainable grain cowpea production practices and their nutritional benefits, as well as to establish on-station and on-farm cowpea trials.
"We also had to establish on-station and on-farm cowpea demonstration trials under different agroecological zones in 10 participating communities during 2023/24, up from four in 2022, and initiated two on-station fields and three greenhouse agronomic trials," said Professor Kutu.
The study addressed several challenges, including low farmers' productivity and income, hunger, poverty, and unemployment in rural communities, food and nutrition insecurity exacerbated by climate change and poorly secured food systems, as well as protein and micronutrient deficiencies.
Professor Kutu highlighted significant progress in increasing UMP cowpea germplasm through the NRF RTF funding and support from partners. "The number of on-farm farmers' participatory demonstration trials is now at 10, as per our 2022 review target for 2023," he noted.
"Continuous training support for farmers has been crucial for empowerment, covering areas such as disease management, agronomic practices, cultivar selection, and postharvest processing. Additionally, consultations on the formation of a cowpea growers' association are ongoing."
UMP Dean of the Faculty of Agriculture and Natural Sciences, Professor Ndiko Ludidi welcomed participants at the meeting.
The project originated from the 2019 NRF-RTF call to develop a competitive funding model and promote the involvement of farmers' cooperatives. Challenges such as climate change, increased droughts and heatwaves, and slow progress in farmers' uptake of previous interventions were considered key motivations for the initiation of the project.
Achievements of the project during the period under review include the submission and presentation of four papers at the January 2024 Combined Congress held in George, Western Cape. Available cowpea seed planted has increased from 9 in 2021 to 20 genotypes through seed multiplication. Ten on-farm demonstration sites were established in 2023/24 with plans to engage more farmers' groups.
The project also facilitated student participation – five postgraduate students supported and hosted three farmers' information day sessions attended by over 120 farmers.
"A cowpea meal tasting day event, co-hosted with the School of Hospitality, was also organized and attended by over 90 participants, including farmers, provincial extension advisers, students, and officials from the national Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development (DALRRD)" added Professor Kutu.
"These achievements have contributed to increased community and farmers' awareness of sustainable grain cowpea production practices, cultivar selection, and their nutritional benefits."
The project also has one manuscript under review, while three others are at different stages of finalisation for submission.”
Professor Kutu reiterated ongoing efforts to recruit more farmers' groups and highlighted the project's impact on employment opportunities and income generation in neighbouring communities.
Story by Lisa Thabethe. Pictures supplied.