Traditional varieties of cowpeas are popular with subsistence farmers as an intercrop with cereals such as sorghum. In addition to dishes prepared from dry grain, peas, pods and leaves are eaten as fresh vegetables.
Yields are therefore low unless repeated applications and high quantities of pesticides are used.
But several surveys conducted by the NARS revealed that, until 1994, most of these technologies were yet to be adopted by farmers. On-farm trials have been used to validate promising technologies such as solar drying for improving storage, and the use of botanical pesticides in the field and during storage. It is intended that the action learning approach used in FFS will lead to improved adaptation of researcher and farmer generated technologies. The first Regional Training of Trainers workshop was held at Tamale, in northern Ghana during July-September 1999, with 27 senior extension officers and technicians from the nine countries. However, future efforts will require the support of each government if Farmer Field Schools are to be sustained.