Exploratory and multidisciplinary survey of the cowpea network in the Tolon-Kumbungu district of Ghana: A food sovereignty perspective

An exploratory survey of selected deprived communities in the Tolon-Kumbungu district of northern region of Ghana was conducted in August 2007 by a multi-disciplinary team of social scientist, food technologist, plant breeder and food nutritionist. The survey sought to identify with farmers their critical agronomic needs and production constraints in order to develop appropriate breeding strategies, as well as cowpea varietal preference for improved processing technology development. A rural participatory and conventional survey approaches were used. Close to half of the interviewed farmers cultivate both improved and local varieties. It was realized that 33 and 22% cultivated only local and improved varieties respectively. Generally, farmers indicated preference for improved varieties due to market value but rather preferred local varieties for household consumption and food sovereignty purposes. The top three most preferred varietal traits mentioned by farmers for breeding considerations included yield, tolerance to diseases and pests and seed colour. Processors preferred white seed coat varieties due to their good whipping ability and short cooking period. Farmers stressed the role of local varieties in food sovereignty with the early maturing ones being the most significant in household food provisio

Efficacy of iron fortified cowpea flour in improving iron status of schoolchildren in malaria endemic rural Ghana

Children in sub-Saharan Africa are more likely to have survived the critical first 1000 days of life carrying along unresolved micronutrient deficiencies into the school-age. Iron-deficiency is the most prevalent micronutrient problem affecting school-age children in sub-Saharan Africa and yet the most difficult to resolve. It is necessary to ensure an adequate iron intake through the diet of school-age children and school-based feeding intervention may be a way to improve iron intake of schoolchildren. Such a feeding intervention would be more sustainable if it relies on locally produced food(s) with the potential to support food sovereignty. In this context, this thesis investigated whether foods based on cowpeas, an indigenous legume crop originating from Africa, can be used in a school feeding setting to improve iron status of school-age children in Ghana. The investigations in this thesis comprised cross-sectional dietary and iron status assessment of schoolchildren (n=383), cowpea acceptability among schoolchildren (n=120 mother-child pairs), chemical analysis of cowpea landraces (n=14), an in vivo iron bioavailability among young women (n=16) and a randomized cowpea intervention trial (n=241) conducted mainly in Tolon-Kumbungu district of Ghana. The results indicated that iron-deficiency and iron-deficiency anaemia affect 8 and 7 out of every 10 schoolchildren respectively. It also showed that the probability of adequate dietary iron intake is 0.32 but much larger (~0.90) if schoolchildren benefitted from a school feeding programme. Mothers/caregivers intended to give cowpeas to their schoolchildren 2–3 times per week. The positive attitudes of mothers towards cowpea predicted their intention to give them to their schoolchildren but they were worried about the cost, long cooking time and the discomfort their children may suffer after consuming cowpeas. The chemical analysis showed that cowpeas contain appreciable amounts of iron (4.9–8.2 mg/ 100 gd.w) and zinc (2.7–4.1 mg/100 gd.w) but also high amounts of inhibitory phytate (477–1110 mg/100 gd.w) and polyphenol (327–1055 mg/100 gd.w). Polyphenol concentration in particular was higher (PP PPPPP Overall, this thesis has shown that in a malarious region with high iron-deficiency like (northern) Ghana, iron status of schoolchildren can be improved through the consumption of cowpeas within a school feeding programme. The improvement in iron status is however unlikely to result from the usual/conventional consumption of cowpeas but through fortification of whole cowpea flour with a highly bioavailable iron compound. This thesis has also shown that the most suitable iron compound for such whole cowpea flour fortification is NaFeEDTA irrespective of whether the cowpea has high or low concentration of polyphenols.</p

Cowpeas in Northern Ghana and the Factors that Predict Caregivers’ Intention to Give Them to Schoolchildren

Background Cowpeas are important staple legumes among the rural poor in northern Ghana. Our objectives were to assess the iron and zinc content of cowpea landraces and identify factors that predict the intention of mothers/caregivers to give cowpeas to their schoolchildren. Methods and Findings We performed biochemical analysis on 14 landraces of cowpeas and assessed the opinion of 120 caregiver-child pairs on constructs based on the combined model of the Theory of Planned Behaviour and Health Belief Model. We used correlations and multiple regressions to measure simple associations between constructs and identify predictive constructs. Cowpea landraces contained iron and zinc in the range of 4.9–8.2 mg/100 g d.w and 2.7–4.1 mg/100 g d.w respectively. The landraces also contained high amounts of phytate (477–1110 mg/100 g d.w) and polyphenol (327–1055 mg/100 g d.w). Intention of mothers was strongly associated (rs = 0.72,

Whole cowpea meal fortified with NaFeEDTA reduces iron deficiency among Ghanaian school children in a malaria endemic area

Cowpeas, like other legumes, contain high amounts of native iron but are rich in phytic acid (PA) and polyphenols (PP) that inhibit iron absorption. NaFeEDTA may overcome the combined inhibitory effect of PA and PP. Our objective was to test the efficacy of NaFeEDTA-fortified cowpea meal in improving iron status of school children in a malaria endemic area. We conducted a double-blind, controlled trial with 5- to 12-y-old school children from 2 rural communities in northern Ghana (n = 241). Eligible children were randomly assigned to 2 treatment groups to receive either cowpea meal fortified with 10 mg Fe/meal as NaFeEDTA, or an identical but nonfortified cowpea meal. Meals were provided 3 d/wk for a period of ~7 mo under strict supervision. Mass deworming and malaria antigenemia screening and treatment were carried out at baseline and 3.5 mo into the trial. Consumption of cowpea flour fortified with NaFeEDTA resulted in improvement of hemoglobin (P <0.05), serum ferritin (P <0.001), and body iron stores (P <0.001) and reduction of transferrin receptor (P <0.001) compared with nonfortified flour. Fortification resulted in a 30 and 47% reduction in the prevalence of iron deficiency (ID) and iron deficiency anemia (IDA) (P <0.05), respectively. The results indicate that fortification of cowpea flour with NaFeEDTA overcomes the combined inhibitory effect of PA and PP and, when used for targeted school-based fortification of cowpea flour, is effective in reducing the prevalence of ID and IDA among school children in malaria endemic rural northern Ghana

School feeding contributes to micronutrients adequacy of Ghanaian schoolchildren

Without gains in nutritional outcomes, it is unlikely that school feeding programmes (SFP) could improve cognition and academic performance of schoolchildren despite the improvements in school enrolment. We compared the nutrient intake adequacy and Fe and nutritional status of SFP and non-SFP participants in a cross-sectional survey involving 383 schoolchildren (aged 5–13 years). Quantitative 24 h recalls and weighed food records, repeated in 20 % subsample, were used to estimate energy and nutrient intakes adjusted for day-to-day variations. The probability of adequacy (PA) was calculated for selected micronutrients and the mean of all PA (MPA) was calculated. The concentrations of Hb, serum ferritin, and soluble transferrin receptor (sTfR) and anthropometric measurements were used to determine Fe and nutritional status. Energy and nutrient intakes and their adequacies were significantly higher among SFP participants (P<0·001). The MPA of micronutrients was significantly higher among SFP participants (0·61 v. 0·18; P<0·001), and the multiple-micronutrient-fortified corn soya blend was a key contributor to micronutrient adequacy. In SFP participants, 6 g/l higher Hb concentrations (P<0·001) and about 10 % points lower anaemia prevalence (P= 0·06) were observed. The concentration of sTfR was significantly lower among SFP participants (11·2 v. 124 mg/l; P= 0·04); however, there was no difference in the prevalence of Fe deficiency and Fe-deficiency anaemia between SFP and non-SFP participants. There was also no significant difference in the prevalence of thinness, underweight and stunting. In conclusion, the present results indicate that school feeding is associated with higher intakes and adequacies of energy and nutrients, but not with the prevalence of Fe and nutritional status indicators. The results also indicate an important role for micronutrient-dense foods in the achievement of micronutrient adequacy within SFP