Regions:
Europe and Eurasia, Global, Latin America and the Caribbean, Sub-Saharan Africa, US and Canada
Related Key Topics:
Capacity Building, Food Security, Gender, Health and Nutrition, Innovation, Markets, Natural Resource Management, Policy, Productivity
Related CRSPs:
Bean/Cowpea
Contact
321 Agriculture Hall
Michigan State University
East Lansing, MI 48824
TEL: +1-517-355-4693; FAX: +1-517-432-1073
dgpcrsp@msu.edu
Dr. Irvin Widders,
Program Director
Widders@msu.edu
Dr. Cynthia Donovan,
Associate Director
donovanc@anr.msu.edu
Marguerite Halversen,
Communications Manager
halverse@anr.msu.edu
The Pulse CRSP supported research and capacity building on many aspects of bean production, processing, and marketing. It worked to increase the availability of beans and cowpeas (which in the US are mainly black-eyed peas), concentrating on all aspects of food handling from improved production technologies or strategies through food processing and the development of value-added products especially for urban markets. The Pulse CRSP sought to address three technical themes: i) reducing bean and cowpea production costs and risks; ii) increasing the utilization of beans and cowpeas both as grains and when used in other food products, expanding market opportunities, and improving human health and nutrition; iii) strengthening pulse value chains; and developing the capacity of scientists who work on pulse-related topics around the world.
The Pulse CRSP worked in nineteen countries: twelve (63 percent) are also priority countries for Feed the Future. These are in Sub-Saharan Africa (Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Kenya, Mali, Mozambique, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Uganda, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania, and Zambia) and in Latin America and the Caribbean (Ecuador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, and Nicaragua).
It partnered with eleven U.S. universities: University of California-Riverside, Colorado State University, Cornell University, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Iowa State University, Kansas State University, Pennsylvania State University, University of Puerto-Rico-Mayaguez Texas A&M, University, and Washington State University. The Pulse CRSP also worked with the following CGIAR centers: the International Institute for Tropical Agriculture (IITA) and the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT). The Pulse CRSP built on the successes of the former Bean/Cowpea CRSP which was also based at Michigan State University from 1980 to 2007.
