California cowpeas and food policy in Senegal

Since 1985 the government of Senegal has promoted a large-scale food production program offering cowpeas as a substitute cash and food crop for peanuts. In order to launch the program, the government imported almost 700 tons of a California cowpea variety, CB5, from the United States. Cowpea production in 1985 was estimated to be three to four times the average national harvest, and for the first time in many years villagers had food to carry them through the ‘hungry season’. Despite the dramatic increase in cowpea production, this paper presents evidence to show that promoting rural development through the international transfer of plant varieties is more complex than commonly imagined. Lasting success of imported technology depends heavily on a country's scientific and agricultural institutions and on government agricultural development policies.