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institutions are making advances on breeding cassava for local Case 29: **NIGER: RESEARU TO DIVERSIFY foa CROPS** adaptation in Cameroon, Gabon, .GR BY **I.-** Ghana, Liberia, Mozambique, krway re«earch efforts are **to** Nigeria, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, improve'. the cutture of INoinorU food crops, thereby Sudan, Uganda, and Zaire. The diveriifyine the food crops grown by wcmen. These varieties developed so far, crops are presentty onfons, tomatoes, salad vegetables however, do not "store" well in are potatoes This yerps rbeaseara lauts (voandzou) the soil (Yates 1989). This is a which are high In protein, to;erant of dry conditions, problem since cassava is often and a monocrop good in rotations; sesame for home use grown as insurance against food in sauces and sate of surplus; and okra whfch le grown shortage. There is reason to in the heavier soils of the more hunid, low-lying areas and used fresh or conserved by sun-drying. expect further improvements Spurling (1989) resulting from cassava breeding programs over the next decade.

There is also scope for moving existing local cultivators with desirable features from one area to another which they have not reached. As Carr (1989) has noted, this is happening continually African rural communities but is an aspect of te_hnology transfer which deserves more detailed attention on a panterritorial basis by extension services. The fact that this has not always occured is in part a reflection of the low esteem with which many agricultural staff view cassava, despite its dominant role in the cropping pattern of the humid tropics of West and Central Africa.

4.16 Cowpeas and soybeans, often grown by women, are of special nutritional interest because of their protein levels. Cowpea--frequently is intercropped with maize, sorghum and millet--yields very poorly (about 0.25t/ha). The International Instîtute for Tropical Agriculture (IITA) is working with national agricultural research institutes to develop diseaseresistant, locally adapted strains. Soybean is a minor crop but as a result of the recent release of adapted varieties production is grown increasingly in Nigeria, Zambia, and Malawi. Besides improving household nutrition, the sale of home-processed soybean products offers good income-earning potential for rural women.

4.17 Disease-resistant leguminous grains--such as chickpea, pigeon pea and groundnut for dry zones--still face major stress-resistance problems and it will be some time before major advances are achieved (Yates '°89). Banana and plantain- -important crops in moister or irrigated regions of Africa- -do not appear to get significant research support. Various horticultural crops, often grown by women, such as citrus, pawpaw, and pineapple, are nov receiving greater attention from national departments of agriculture which are multiplying and distributing plants.

# b. Allev Farming

4.18 Alley farming is a particularly innovative farming system with the potential to benefit women farmers considerably. It involves the practice of growing crops in between rows, or of fast growing leguminous trees or shrubs. The tree roots fix nitrogen in the soil. More importantly, when the trees are pruned and the leaves are mulched on the soil, they act more as "fertilizer bushes" supplying a continuous source of nitrogen and potassium throughout the