Gender trait preferences among smallholder cowpea farmers in northern Ghana: lessons from a case study

Introduction: This case study reports on how a gender responsive breeding program contributes to meeting the trait preference of men and women for improved cowpea varieties in northern Ghana. Methods: Fifty-eight early-maturing, medium-maturing and dual-purpose cowpea lines were planted at the CSIR...

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Autores principales: Jinbaani, Alhassan Nuhu, Owusu, Emmanuel Yaw, Mohammedm Abdul-Razak, Tengey, Theophilus Kwabla, Mawunya, Michael, Kusi, Francis, Mohammed, Haruna
Formato: Journal Article
Lenguaje:Inglés
Publicado: Frontiers Media 2023
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/138619
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author Jinbaani, Alhassan Nuhu
Owusu, Emmanuel Yaw
Mohammedm Abdul-Razak
Tengey, Theophilus Kwabla
Mawunya, Michael
Kusi, Francis
Mohammed, Haruna
author_browse Jinbaani, Alhassan Nuhu
Kusi, Francis
Mawunya, Michael
Mohammed, Haruna
Mohammedm Abdul-Razak
Owusu, Emmanuel Yaw
Tengey, Theophilus Kwabla
author_facet Jinbaani, Alhassan Nuhu
Owusu, Emmanuel Yaw
Mohammedm Abdul-Razak
Tengey, Theophilus Kwabla
Mawunya, Michael
Kusi, Francis
Mohammed, Haruna
author_sort Jinbaani, Alhassan Nuhu
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description Introduction: This case study reports on how a gender responsive breeding program contributes to meeting the trait preference of men and women for improved cowpea varieties in northern Ghana. Methods: Fifty-eight early-maturing, medium-maturing and dual-purpose cowpea lines were planted at the CSIR-SARI research fields and women and men farmers invited for participatory plant breeding (PPB) in 2016. Selected lines from the PPB were further evaluated in 2017 using participatory varietal selection (PVS) in 5 districts in northern Ghana. In addition, 20 focus group discussions (FGDs) were held in 2018 in 10 randomly selected communities with 260 participants (130 women and 130 men) across the districts where the PVS had been held previously. Results and discussion: The study finds drought tolerance, short cooking time and pest resistance to be the most preferred cowpea traits among both men and women. The study also finds that gender differences exist in trait preference, especially for traits such as seed coat color, earliness, pod above canopy and indeterminate growth habit. As breeding programs focus on improving genetic gains for tolerance of biotic and abiotic stresses, equal attention must be given to breeding for traits desired by women.
format Journal Article
id CGSpace138619
institution CGIAR Consortium
language Inglés
publishDate 2023
publishDateRange 2023
publishDateSort 2023
publisher Frontiers Media
publisherStr Frontiers Media
record_format dspace
spelling CGSpace1386192025-12-08T10:29:22Z Gender trait preferences among smallholder cowpea farmers in northern Ghana: lessons from a case study Jinbaani, Alhassan Nuhu Owusu, Emmanuel Yaw Mohammedm Abdul-Razak Tengey, Theophilus Kwabla Mawunya, Michael Kusi, Francis Mohammed, Haruna gender plant breeding trait preferences Introduction: This case study reports on how a gender responsive breeding program contributes to meeting the trait preference of men and women for improved cowpea varieties in northern Ghana. Methods: Fifty-eight early-maturing, medium-maturing and dual-purpose cowpea lines were planted at the CSIR-SARI research fields and women and men farmers invited for participatory plant breeding (PPB) in 2016. Selected lines from the PPB were further evaluated in 2017 using participatory varietal selection (PVS) in 5 districts in northern Ghana. In addition, 20 focus group discussions (FGDs) were held in 2018 in 10 randomly selected communities with 260 participants (130 women and 130 men) across the districts where the PVS had been held previously. Results and discussion: The study finds drought tolerance, short cooking time and pest resistance to be the most preferred cowpea traits among both men and women. The study also finds that gender differences exist in trait preference, especially for traits such as seed coat color, earliness, pod above canopy and indeterminate growth habit. As breeding programs focus on improving genetic gains for tolerance of biotic and abiotic stresses, equal attention must be given to breeding for traits desired by women. 2023-10-12 2024-01-26T15:21:18Z 2024-01-26T15:21:18Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/138619 en Open Access Frontiers Media Jinbaani AN, Owusu EY, Mohammed A-R, Tengey TK, Mawunya M, Kusi F and Mohammed H (2023) Gender trait preferences among smallholder cowpea farmers in northern Ghana: lessons from a case study. Front. Sociol. 8:1260407. doi: 10.3389/fsoc.2023.1260407
spellingShingle gender
plant breeding
trait preferences
Jinbaani, Alhassan Nuhu
Owusu, Emmanuel Yaw
Mohammedm Abdul-Razak
Tengey, Theophilus Kwabla
Mawunya, Michael
Kusi, Francis
Mohammed, Haruna
Gender trait preferences among smallholder cowpea farmers in northern Ghana: lessons from a case study
title Gender trait preferences among smallholder cowpea farmers in northern Ghana: lessons from a case study
title_full Gender trait preferences among smallholder cowpea farmers in northern Ghana: lessons from a case study
title_fullStr Gender trait preferences among smallholder cowpea farmers in northern Ghana: lessons from a case study
title_full_unstemmed Gender trait preferences among smallholder cowpea farmers in northern Ghana: lessons from a case study
title_short Gender trait preferences among smallholder cowpea farmers in northern Ghana: lessons from a case study
title_sort gender trait preferences among smallholder cowpea farmers in northern ghana lessons from a case study
topic gender
plant breeding
trait preferences
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/138619
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