Economic Impacts of Bio-control Research to Manage Field Insect Pests of Cowpea in Burkina Faso: Baseline Survey Report

Cowpea (Vigna unguiculata) is an important staple in Burkina Faso as well as many other countries in West Africa. Among the major cowpea pests affecting the crop are the legume pod borer (Maruca vitrata), flower thrips (Megalurothrips sjostedti), bruchids (Callosobruchus maculatus), and pod-sucking bugs, for which conventional plant breeding has not been effective and the use of pesticides has economic, health and environmental limitations. Through support from the USAID funded Collaborative Research Support Program (CRSP), the project team led by the University of Illinois is developing alternative strategies to control these insect pests and reduce the levels of pesticide used on the crop. One of these strategies includes implementing a comprehensive bio-control program. The current study was designed to collect baseline data (and eventually end line data) to be able to evaluate the long-term impacts of bio-control research. The baseline data (described in this document) will serve as the ‘before’ scenario, which will be compared with an “after” scenario where the same households will be re-visited after several years.