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• Cowpea is a highly valued fruit and leafy vegetable crop contributing to food, nutrition, and health security. • Low cowpea production and productivity in sub-Saharan Africa and globally are due to a lack of improved cultivars with multiple disease, and insect pest resistance and drought tolerant; moreover, there is a lack of seed system research in cowpea. • The extensive phenotypic and genotypic variation found in cowpea genetic resources is useful for the development of cultivars with enhanced grain yield, leafy yield and nutritional values as well as drought tolerant. Despite the contribution of cowpeas to food security and the crop's numerous nutritional and health attributes, consumers in South Africa have labelled cowpeas, among other leguminous crops as a "poor people's food" ; this contributed to the gradual decline in the cultivation and use of the crop. This, in turn, resulted in the observed high reliance on limited number of plant based protein crops and excessive consumption of livestock products. In this paper, three aspects are interrogated, i.e., genetic resource management, production constraints as well as the trade performance and consumption of cowpeas in South Africa. A clear understanding of these aspects renders an informed decision upon which recommendations for the necessary practical interventions that are needed to be put in place to spur the development of target products and cowpea's value chain. The assessment of genetic resource management and seed production constraints of cowpeas was based on a review of relevant literature, while descriptive analysis of secondary data spanning a period of 10 years (2010-2019) obtained from Trade Map and FAOSTAT databases was used to interrogate the trade performance and consumption of cowpeas. Findings reveal that seed production constraints are largely anchored on the limited attention government and policy making institutions have accorded to the seed system of orphaned crops, thereby compromising their potential by failing to supply affordable good quality seeds to smallholder and commercial farmers. However, South Africa has one of the largest and most diverse collections of cowpea germplasm housed at the Agricultural Research Council. With regard to trade performance and consumption, results show that South Africa is a net exporter of cowpeas, with a 10 years' period annual average worth R2.9 million. Given that South Africa does not re-export cowpeas, yet on average 4848 tonnes are produced annually, it is a clear indication that the country produces lightly more than what is consumed domestically – on average 4634 tonnes per annum. Therefore, recommendation is made to bolster cowpea production and productivity through mainstreaming the legume seed system towards boosting local and export markets as well as strongly enhancing local consumption by creating awareness of the nutritional and health benefits of cowpeas. Furthermore, there is a need to increase awareness about the nutritional and health benefits of cowpeas and other leguminous crops, among other socio-economic benefits. This is important in spurring cowpeas consumption domestically, while countering the over reliance on animal products as protein sources and the associated risks such as such as high greenhouse gas emissions and obesity for people. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Drought tolerance was assessed among 26 okra genotypes using phenotypic traits • Phenotypic variation was observed among assessed okra genotypes under drought stress condition • Positive correlations were recorded between fresh pod yield with fresh pod length, dry pod weight and number of pods per plant • The study identified genotypes such as LS01, LS06, LS09, LS17, LS18, LS19, LS21, LS22, LS24 and LS26 for production and breeding Genetic variation is fundamental for breeding drought-adapted cultivars with economic traits. The objective of this study was to determine the response of selected okra genotypes to drought stress using yield and yield-related traits to identify and select candidate genotypes for drought tolerance breeding. Twenty-six okra genotypes were evaluated in glasshouse (GH) and field (FLD) environments under drought-stressed (DS) and non-stressed (NS) conditions using a 13 × 2 α lattice design with two replications. Data were collected on the following phenotypic traits: number of branches per plant (NB), plant height (PH), days to maturity (DTM), stem diameter (SD), fresh pod length (FPL), dry pod weight per plant (DPW), dry pod length per plant (DPL), number of seeds per plant (NSP), number of pods per plant (NPP), pod yield per plant (YPP) and anthocyanin (ATY) pigmentation of the stem. Significant (P < 0.05) genotype x testing environment x water condition interaction effects were recorded for most traits allowing for selection of okra genotypes suited for drier conditions. YPP positively and significantly correlated with FPL (r = 0.66; P ≤ 0.001), DPW (r = 0.80; P ≤ 0.001) and NPP (r = 0.58; P ≤ 0.001) under DS condition in the FLD environment. The study identified genotypes with high yield and other desirable phenotypic attributes which are useful genetic resources for future crosses and selection of promising progenies based on combining ability analysis and heritability under water-limited environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Okra is high-valued vegetable crop serving the food, pharmaceutical, paper and oil industry. • Okra production and productivity in sub-Saharan Africa and globally are hindered by a lack of improved cultivars with drought tolerance. • The extensive phenotypic and genotypic variation in okra genetic resources are useful for cultivar development with enhanced seed and oil yields, and drought tolerance. Okra (Abelmoschus esculentus L. Moench) is high-valued vegetable and oil crop serving the food, pharmaceutical, paper and oil industry. The production of okra in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) and globally are hindered by a lack of improved cultivars with drought tolerance. Considerable phenotypic and genotypic variation present in okra genetic resources from SSA is useful for cultivar design with enhanced pod and oil yields, and drought tolerance. However, the genetic diversity present in SSA's okra germplasm collection is yet to be explored for breeding targeting economic and horticultural traits. The objective of this review was to document the research progresses on phenotypic and genotypic divergence analysis and drought tolerance breeding of okra to facilitate breeding and conservation. The review presented the diversity of okra for key agronomic, horticultural and physiological traits for ideotype breeding, gene introgression and drought tolerance improvement. This is followed by key summaries on genetic diversity using conventional and genomic tools, and use of genetic variation in selection programs involving drought-adaptive and economic traits. The review serves as a baseline information to guide future okra breeding and cultivar design under water limited environments in SSA or related agro-ecologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]