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Despite the contribution of cowpeas to food security and the crop's numerous nutritional and health attributes, consumers in South Africa have labelled cowpeas, among other leguminous crops as a “poor people's food”; this contributed to the gradual decline in the cultivation and use of the crop. This, in turn, resulted in the observed high reliance on limited number of plant based protein crops and excessive consumption of livestock products. In this paper, three aspects are interrogated, i.e., genetic resource management, production constraints as well as the trade performance and consumption of cowpeas in South Africa. A clear understanding of these aspects renders an informed decision upon which recommendations for the necessary practical interventions that are needed to be put in place to spur the development of target products and cowpea's value chain. The assessment of genetic resource management and seed production constraints of cowpeas was based on a review of relevant literature, while descriptive analysis of secondary data spanning a period of 10 years (2010-2019) obtained from Trade Map and FAOSTAT databases was used to interrogate the trade performance and consumption of cowpeas. Findings reveal that seed production constraints are largely anchored on the limited attention government and policy making institutions have accorded to the seed system of orphaned crops, thereby compromising their potential by failing to supply affordable good quality seeds to smallholder and commercial farmers. However, South Africa has one of the largest and most diverse collections of cowpea germplasm housed at the Agricultural Research Council. With regard to trade performance and consumption, results show that South Africa is a net exporter of cowpeas, with a 10 years’ period annual average worth R2.9 million. Given that South Africa does not re-export cowpeas, yet on average 4848 tonnes are produced annually, it is a clear indication that the country produces lightly more than what is consumed domestically – on average 4634 tonnes per annum. Therefore, recommendation is made to bolster cowpea production and productivity through mainstreaming the legume seed system towards boosting local and export markets as well as strongly enhancing local consumption by creating awareness of the nutritional and health benefits of cowpeas. Furthermore, there is a need to increase awareness about the nutritional and health benefits of cowpeas and other leguminous crops, among other socio-economic benefits. This is important in spurring cowpeas consumption domestically, while countering the over reliance on animal products as protein sources and the associated risks such as such as high greenhouse gas emissions and obesity for people.

Okra (Abelmoschus esculentus L. Moench) is high-valued vegetable and oil crop serving the food, pharmaceutical, paper and oil industry. The production of okra in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) and globally are hindered by a lack of improved cultivars with drought tolerance. Considerable phenotypic and genotypic variation present in okra genetic resources from SSA is useful for cultivar design with enhanced pod and oil yields, and drought tolerance. However, the genetic diversity present in SSA's okra germplasm collection is yet to be explored for breeding targeting economic and horticultural traits. The objective of this review was to document the research progresses on phenotypic and genotypic divergence analysis and drought tolerance breeding of okra to facilitate breeding and conservation. The review presented the diversity of okra for key agronomic, horticultural and physiological traits for ideotype breeding, gene introgression and drought tolerance improvement. This is followed by key summaries on genetic diversity using conventional and genomic tools, and use of genetic variation in selection programs involving drought-adaptive and economic traits. The review serves as a baseline information to guide future okra breeding and cultivar design under water limited environments in SSA or related agro-ecologies.

Genetic variation is fundamental for breeding drought-adapted cultivars with economic traits. The objective of this study was to determine the response of selected okra genotypes to drought stress using yield and yield-related traits to identify and select candidate genotypes for drought tolerance breeding. Twenty-six okra genotypes were evaluated in glasshouse (GH) and field (FLD) environments under drought-stressed (DS) and non-stressed (NS) conditions using a 13 × 2 α lattice design with two replications. Data were collected on the following phenotypic traits: number of branches per plant (NB), plant height (PH), days to maturity (DTM), stem diameter (SD), fresh pod length (FPL), dry pod weight per plant (DPW), dry pod length per plant (DPL), number of seeds per plant (NSP), number of pods per plant (NPP), pod yield per plant (YPP) and anthocyanin (ATY) pigmentation of the stem. Significant (P

In addition to their use in traditional medicine, cactus pear (Opuntia species) are a source of vegetal nutrients in many countries. The aims of this study were to determine variability in the nutritional value of 42 spineless cactus pear cultivars, identify correlations between nutritional traits, and determine superior cultivars based on cladode nutritional value. Cladodes of 42 spineless cactus pear cultivars grown under the same glasshouse conditions were collected from the Roodeplaat research farm of the Agricultural Research Council, South Africa. The sliced, dried and powdered cladodes were subjected to quantitative analysis of their vitamin C, β-carotene and mineral element contents. Significant variations in nutritional values were observed among the different cultivars. Vitamin C content ranged from 8.95 mg/100 g in cultivar Ofer to 124 mg/100 g in cultivar Malta, whilst β-carotene content ranged from 3.9 mg/100 g in cultivar Murado to 31.4 mg/100 g in cultivar Cross X. Potassium and calcium were the most abundant mineral elements present, whilst iron was found to be the least present among the mineral elements quantified. A significant positive association was established between calcium (Ca), potassium (K) and zinc (Zn) contents. A direct selection for increased concentration of Ca could be a selection criterion for the development of population with an indirect improvement of K and Zn concentrations. The observed variations highlight the need for a careful cultivar selection for population and product development using spineless cactus pear cladodes.

Taro [Colocasia esculenta (L.) Schott] has the potential to address food and nutrition insecurity in sub-Saharan Africa. However, the nutrient content of taro is yet to be fully elucidated. The objective of this study was to evaluate mineral element content as a proxy for nutritional value of different taro genotypes. The study evaluated 14 taro accessions at Roodeplaat and Umbumbulu in South Africa based on their calcium (Ca), iron (Fe), potassium (K), magnesium (Mg), manganese (Mn), sodium (Na), phosphorous (P) and zinc (Zn) content. The accessions were planted in a randomized complete block design, replicated three times under field conditions. The mineral element content varied significantly (p < 0.05) among the genotypes. Genotypes Amad7-2, Umbu8 and Amad101 exhibited high Ca (≥432 mg kg−1), Fe (≥32 mg kg−1) and Mg (≥229 mg kg−1) across the locations. The first principal component (PC) accounted for 33.7% of the variation and was strongly associated with Zn (r = 0.94, p < 0.001) and P (r = 0.89, p < 0.001). The second PC explained 29.7% of the variation and was associated with Na (r = 0.83, p < 0.001), Mg (r = 0.76, p < 0.001) and K (r = 0.55, p < 0.05). Fe and Mn contributed below the 12.5% threshold to the PCs and were considered as less discriminatory among the accessions. The negative correlations among some of the mineral elements would be a challenge for selection and breeding of nutritious taro accessions. This information is essential to select superior local accessions based on their mineral element content for developing breeding populations and lines for improving nutrition quality among poor households in sub-Saharan Africa.