There are several hurdles to ensure sustainable seed production and consistent flow of improved legume varieties in sub‐Saharan Africa (SSA) and South Asia (SA). The unreliable demand, autogamous nature of most of the grain legumes, and slow variety replacement rate by smallholder farmers do not provide strong incentive for private seed companies to invest in legume seed business. Unless a well thought‐out and comprehensive approach to legume seed delivery is developed, current seed shortages will continue, eroding emerging market opportunities. The experiences reported here are collated through a 10‐year partnership project, the Tropical Legumes in SSA and SA. It fostered innovative public–private partnerships in joint testing of innovative market‐led seed systems, skills and knowledge enhancement, de‐risking private sector initiatives that introduced in new approaches and previously overlooked entities in technology delivery. As new public and private seed companies, individual seed entrepreneurs and farmer organizations emerged, the existing ones enhanced their capacities. This resulted in significant rise in production, availability and accessibility of various seed grades of newly improved and farmer demanded legume varieties in the target countries.

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Aphids (Aphis craccivora Koch) are an important vegetative stage pest of cowpea in Africa. The use of resistant cultivars is among the best management option for this pest, but the success of this strategy is influenced by the stability of the resistant genotype to the cowpea aphid biotypes present in the major cowpea growing areas in a country. This work, therefore, aimed at identifying cultivars/genotypes with stable resistance to aphid infestation across different cowpea growing ecologies in Ghana and estimating yield loss due to aphid infestation at the seedling stage. To ascertain the stability of aphid-resistant cultivars/genotypes, four cultivars/genotypes (SARC1-57-2, SARC1-91-1, IT97K-499-35, and Zaayura) and a susceptible check (Apagbaala) were tested across 18 locations in Ghana. An on-station experiment was used to quantify yield losses due to aphid attack at the seedling stage in the five cultivars/genotypes mentioned above together with 5 additional cultivars/genotypes [i.e., IT99K-573-3-2-1, IT99K-573-1-1, Padituya, Resistant BC4F3 (Zaayura//(Zaayura × SARC1-57-2)), and Susceptible BC4F3 (Zaayura//(Zaayura × SARC1-57-2))]. The results showed that SARC1-57-2 was stable in all ecologies, in terms of its resistance to aphids; it had high vigour score (3.8 ± 0.03) and low plant mortality (3.7 ± 0.22%) compared to the susceptible genotypes. The number of days to flowering and maturity were significantly higher in aphid-infested plants than in the uninfested ones. Grain yield loss was estimated to range between 3.8 and 32.8%. Except for SARC1-57-2, Resistant BC4F3, and Padituya, the remaining cultivars/genotypes sustained significant yield losses under aphid infestation. Thus, the aphid-resistance gene in SARC1-57-2 is stable against aphids. This resistance genotype can be incorporated into cowpea improvement programmes to breed for aphid-resistant cultivars. Also, the cultivation of such improved cultivars will reduce pesticide usage in cowpea production.

Yield gap survey (YGS) was carried out in nine selected communities in the Sudanno-Guinea Savannah (SGS) rice growing ecologies of Ghana in the 2012 and 2013 cropping seasons. One lead farmer was selected from each community to host researcher-managed fields. The specific objectives of the study were to determine the causes of yield gaps in rain fed and irrigated ecologies of the SGS of Ghana and to suggest ways by which the gaps can be bridged to enhance the production of the crop in GhanaIn both 2012 and 2013 seasons, farmers in the Sudan savannah zone recorded higher gaps in rice yields (average 55%) than their compatriots in the Guinea Savannah (average 49%). The analysis of data collected from YGS indicated that factors such as difficult weather and soil conditions, insufficient access to mechanization services/improper land preparation, lack of fertilizers, the use of unimproved rice seed, untimely field operations and inadequate water and pest (in particular weed) management, were some of the key factors that adversely influence rice yields in the study area.Unrestricted access to mechanization services delivery, intensified use of improved rice seed, appropriate melioration with organic and inorganic fertilizers, together with robust soil and water management interventions are essential requirements for bridging experiment-based yield gaps for enhanced rice yields in the Sudanno-Guinea Savannah zones of Ghana.