Evaluation of Sorghum-Cowpea Intercropping Patterns for Food Security in Yobe State

This study evaluates sorghum-cowpea intercropping patterns for optimising combined food production and household food security in Yobe State, North East Nigeria. Sorghum-cowpea intercropping is a traditional and widespread farming system in the North East, providing both carbohydrate energy from sorghum and protein from cowpea in a single field. In the food-insecure context of Yobe State, where conflict and drought have damaged agricultural production, optimising this intercropping system could meaningfully improve household food availability. This study establishes a field experiment at Yobe State University research farm in Damaturu, testing four intercropping configurations: 1:1 alternate row, 2:1 sorghum to cowpea, 2:2 alternate rows, and mixed row, alongside sole sorghum and sole cowpea controls. SAMSORG 14 sorghum and IT97K-499-35 cowpea are used. Sorghum and cowpea yields, land equivalent ratio, combined calorie yield per hectare, combined protein yield per hectare, and monetary advantage are computed. Findings reveal that the 2:1 sorghum to cowpea row arrangement achieves the highest combined calorie production and the best land equivalent ratio of 1.52. Household protein yield per hectare in this arrangement exceeds sole cropping systems for both crops when combined, addressing dual food security dimensions simultaneously. The study concludes that the 2:1 sorghum-cowpea intercrop provides the most balanced food security contribution for Yobe State households. It recommends this pattern as the standard intercropping guidance for extension promotion in the North East zone.

Keywords: sorghum-cowpea intercrop, food security, Yobe State, land equivalent ratio, North East Nigeria.