A decade of Tropical Legumes projects: Development and adoption of improved varieties, creation of market‐demand to benefit smallholder farmers and empowerment of national programmes in sub‐Saharan Africa and South Asia
This article highlights 12 years (2007–2019) of research, achievements, lessons learned, challenges and gaps in discovery‐to‐delivery research in legumes emanating from three projects, collectively called Tropical Legumes (TL) with a total investment of about US$ 67 million funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Market-led options to scale up legume seeds in developing countries: Experiences from the Tropical Legumes Project
A report of experiences in developing seed delivery under the Tropical Legumes projects, which fostered public–private joint testing of market‐led seed systems, skills and knowledge enhancement, and de‐risking of private sector initiatives.
Tropical Legumes III: Final Report
Final report to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation on the achievements of the Tropical Legumes III project, which ran from 2015 to 2019. Note, some financial details have been redacted.
The poverty impacts of improved cowpea varieties in Nigeria: A counterfactual analysis
A paper evaluating the impacts of adoption of improved cowpea varieties on income and asset poverty reduction, using nationally representative survey data from a sample of over 1500 households in Nigeria and an endogenous switching regression model.
Adoption and ex-post impacts of improved cowpea varieties on productivity and net returns in Nigeria
An assessment of the adoption and impacts of improved cowpea varieties on yields, net returns, and production costs in northern Nigeria, using data from 1,525 households and applying a control function approach and propensity score matching models.
Effects of plant density on the performance of cowpea in Nigerian savannas
This study presents the results of field experiments in Nigeria to establish optimum plant densities of cowpea.
Genomics, genetics and breeding of tropical legumes for better livelihoods of smallholder farmers
A review of a decade of significant research and development work on important grain legumes through collaborative bilateral and multilateral projects as well as the CGIAR Research Program on Grain Legumes.
Mainstreaming Efficient Legume Seed Systems in Eastern Africa: Challenges, Opportunities and Contributions towards Improved Livelihoods
Technical paper proposing and describing 12 basic principles necessary to mainstream legume seed systems in crop development programs for sustainable agricultural intensification in Eastern Africa.
Agronomic evaluation of cowpea cultivars developed for the West African Savannas
This study evaluated diverse cowpea genotypes developed over the past four decades in the Nigerian Sudan Savannas for their agronomic performance and to identify groups of cultivars with similar quantitative characters.
Breeding tropical legume crops for resilient cropping systems in Sub-Saharan Africa
This poster abstract summarizes the achievements of CGIAR centers and national research partners, who have with the support of the Tropical Legumes project enhanced legume crop production in Sub-Saharan Africa through the use of genetic technology.
