Table 2.

Ranking of some cowpea traits preferred by farmers and consumers across the six cowpea-producing districts in Malawi.

Trait	Gender	Ranking of cowpea traits in Malawi (%)				Overall rank
		Not important	Less important	Important	Very important
High grain yield	AF	0.72	0.48	19.32	79.23
	AM	0.55	1.38	12.4	85.12	1
	FY	2.59	2.59	18.1	76.72
	MY	2.45	3.67	17.96	75.92
Fast cooking time	AF	0.48	2.86	18.38	78.04
	AM	1.15	7.2	29.68	61.67	2
	FY	3.86	4.29	22.32	69.53
	MY	3.23	8.47	27.42	60.89
Grain taste	AF	0.5	1.73	30.69	67.08
	AM	0.55	2.47	25.82	71.15	3
	FY	2.15	6.87	26.61	64.38
	MY	1.99	7.17	27.49	62.55
Early maturity period	AF	0.73	7.06	28.47	63.5
	AM	1.12	5.03	32.68	60.89	4
	FY	4.68	6.38	25.96	62.98
	MY	3.24	8.5	25.91	62.35
Large grain size	AF	0.74	6.14	26.29	66.83
	AM	1.95	8.36	26.18	63.51	5
	FY	5.49	4.22	30.8	59.49
	MY	2.82	8.47	29.84	58.47
Leaf taste	AF	0.74	3.96	26.49	68.81
	AM	1.65	11.54	29.95	56.87	6
	FY	3	8.15	25.32	63.52
	MY	5.18	9.56	26.69	58.57
Grain colour	AF	0.97	5.35	25.06	68.61
	AM	1.7	11.36	27.84	59.09	7
	FY	4.72	5.15	27.9	62.23
	MY	2.79	9.16	31.08	56.57
Field pest resistance	AF	3.39	8.23	26.39	61.99
	AM	2.81	7.02	28.93	61.24	8
	FY	5.15	12.02	22.32	60.09
	MY	5.24	8.87	24.6	61.29
Disease resistance	AF	3.4	8.98	25.97	60.92
	AM	2.56	7.1	26.42	63.35	9
	FY	5.93	10.17	25.42	58.47
	MY	3.21	10.44	26.1	60.24
Storage pest resistance	AF	4.14	7.54	31.87	56.45
	AM	3.91	8.38	28.49	58.94	10
	FY	5.15	9.87	24.03	60.94
	MY	4.4	8.4	26.4	60.4
Drought tolerance	AF	7.33	8.56	28.36	55.5
	AM	6.63	6.91	25.97	59.67	11
	FY	8.58	10.73	18.88	61.37
	MY	9.2	6	27.2	57.6
Leaf yield	AF	0.98	8.78	29.27	60.98
	AM	2.27	14.45	30.31	52.97	12
	FY	4.72	7.3	27.9	59.66
	MY	5.6	10.8	28	55.2
Growth habit	AF	1.95	9.73	30.66	57.42
	AM	1.69	8.71	32.3	57.02	13
	FY	5.96	9.36	26.81	57.87
	MY	4.45	12.15	28.34	54.66
Alectra vogelli resistance	AF	15.35	21.1	10.55	53
	AM	11.97	21.94	11.11	54.7	14
	FY	16.81	18.97	12.5	51.72
	MY	13.94	21.12	12.75	52.19

KEY: AF, adult female; AM, adult male; FY, female youth; MY, male youth.