Status and potent ial o f pigeonpea i n Easter n and Southern Africa
Abstract
Pigeonpea is a multipurpose, multi-benefit crop adapted to semi -arid conditions , and an
important component of traditional inter cropping systems in eastern and southern Africa .
This publication contains presentations, discussions, and recommendations from a
workshop to review the cur rent status and future prospect s for pigeonpea in the r e g i o n . Th e
workshop , held in Nairobi in Sep 2000, attracted 29 participants from six countries,
representing various stakeholder groups including national and international research
institutes, universities, NGOs , and p o l i c y makers.
A range of imp r o v e d technologies i s available. Effort s to imp r o v e adopt ion must center
on commercialization of pigeonpea, i.e. p r o v i d i n g smallholder farmer swith reliable market
out lets, market information , and adequate incentives to invest i n productivity -enhancing
technologies. Participant s suggested the following : ( i ) Consolidate research information
( cur rent l y scattered i n journal s and reports) into a comprehensive technology inventor y for
the region , identify gaps in knowledge . ( i i ) Identify specific markets , package available
technologies (variety, management ) for each of these markets, establish links with
marketing agencies where possible. ( i i i ) Initiate studies to collect additional information ,
particularly on market opportunities, transaction costs, and comparative advantages.
Citation
Silim, S.N. , Mergeai , G. , and Kimani , P.M (2001). Status and potent ial of pigeonpea i n Easter n and Southern Africa. proceedings of a regional workshop , 12-15 Sep 2000 , Nairobi , Kenya .Publisher
Department of Plant Science and Crop Protection, University of Nairobi, Kenya