Approaches for Enhancing Cowpea Production to Promote Food Security and Sustainable Development in Enugu State, Nigeria

Abstract

The study examined the approaches for enhancing cowpea production to promote food security and sustainable development in Enugu State, Nigeria. The study answered two research questions in line with the specific purpose of the study. The study adopted a descriptive survey research design. The population for the study was 220 consisting of 190 registered cowpea farmers and 30 agricultural extension agents in Enugu State. The entire population was studied due to its manageable size. The instrument for data collection was 16–item structured questionnaire face validated by three experts from the Department of Agricultural Education, University of Nigeria, Nsukka. Cronbach Alpha reliability method was used to determine the internal consistency of the instrument and an overall reliability coefficient of 0.81 was obtained. The data collected was analyzed using mean and standard deviation. The findings revealed that insect pest attacks, diseases such as fungal, viral, and bacterial, and poor soil fertility were some of the challenges faced by farmers in the production of cowpea; while the approaches for enhancing cowpea production were identified to include the use of early maturing, pest and diseases resistant varieties of cowpea, adopt appropriate planting system, and effective agricultural extension service to disseminate and teach cowpea farmers appropriate practices in cowpea production. It was recommended among others that extension services should disseminate the information to cowpea farmers on good agricultural practices to minimize 
the incidence of pests and diseases of cowpea in the State.