Abstract
Cowpea (Vigna unguiculata) is an essential crop in tropical Africa with its production facing numerous challenges. Identifying technologies and policies allowing to improve cowpea production are required to confront increasing food insecurity. This study investigated cowpea production systems, identified farming constraints, traits preference and determinants for the adoption of improved cultivars among 300 farmers surveyed across 15 divisions in two distinct agroecological zones of Cameroon. Participatory research through questionnaires and interviews were used to collect data, analysed with IBM SPSS and GraphPad prism softwares. Farmers grow minorly improved varieties (21.66%) compared to landraces (78.44%). These improved varieties are essentially grown in the Sudano-Sahelian zone. Farmers there are mainly males (85%), cultivating on large farm size, using animal traction (74.29%) with higher harvest that are sold. The western highlands zone in contrary is highly characterized by female farmers (98.75%), practicing sole cropping (95.63%) entirely on an area of < 0.5 ha with no use of chemicals, not belonging to farmers' organisation and minimum harvest product sold (96.87%). Farmers preferred traits are high yielding varieties, longer storage duration, drought tolerance and early maturing. Major production constraints across the two zones are drought, insect pests, lack of improved varieties and poor soil fertility. Results showed that purchasing land, using animal traction, having certified seed company and improved varieties seed stockists as seed sources, targeting large benefits, belonging to a famer organisation and larger farm size with more workforce positively affected the adoption of improved varieties. To increase adoption, breeders should address the identified farming constraints and take into account farmers' preferred traits in their research. There is huge recommendation to enhance availability of improved varieties to farmers once developed, through strengthening extensionists training and services, and encouraging farmer-to-farmers experience exchanges.