Despite sustained efforts to promote climate-smart technologies in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), adoption remains low. At the same time, the downside risks associated with climate change and food insecurity are becoming acute. Improved cowpea varieties are climate-smart and contribute to food and nutrition security. Limited evidence exists, however, regarding how cowpea attributes influence adoption. We use a discrete choice experiment to investigate farmers' preferences and mean willingness to pay (WTP) for cowpea variety attributes. Our results show that farmers' decision to adopt improved cowpea varieties increases in response to the following attributes: higher yields, early maturity, and white seed coat colour. The results indicate that 86% of the sampled farmers prefer climate-smart cowpea. Secondly, while we observe a wide dispersion of WTP among female cowpea farmers relative to male cowpea farmers, participation in cowpea training reduces the dispersion of WTP for both men and women. Moreover, controlling for farmer risk aversion further decreases the dispersion of WTP for all respondents. Our experiment reemphasizes the need for crop breeding programmes to be participatory. Moreover, such programmes would do well to satisfy the demands of different segments of the population based on risk, gender, and geographical characteristics.

Aflatoxin contamination is a global menace that adversely affects food crops and human health. Peanut seed coat is the outer layer protecting the cotyledon both at pre- and post-harvest stages from biotic and abiotic stresses. The aim of the present study is to investigate the role of seed coat against A. flavus infection. In-vitro seed colonization (IVSC) with and without seed coat showed that the seed coat acts as a physical barrier, and the developmental series of peanut seed coat showed the formation of a robust multilayered protective seed coat. Radial growth bioassay revealed that both insoluble and soluble seed coat extracts from 55-437 line (resistant) showed higher A. flavus inhibition compared to TMV-2 line (susceptible). Further analysis of seed coat biochemicals showed that hydroxycinnamic and hydroxybenzoic acid derivatives are the predominant phenolic compounds, and addition of these compounds to the media inhibited A. flavus growth. Gene expression analysis showed that genes involved in lignin monomer, proanthocyanidin, and flavonoid biosynthesis are highly abundant in 55-437 compared to TMV-2 seed coats. Overall, the present study showed that the seed coat acts as a physical and biochemical barrier against A. flavus infection and its potential use in mitigating the aflatoxin contamination.

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