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The Purdue Improved Cowpea Storage (PICS) was a five-year project to improve cowpea storage in West and Central Africa. The goal of the PICS project was to have 50% of the cowpea production in West and Central Africa stored using non-chemical hermetic methods by 2012. Better storage improves household food security and gives farmers more flexibility in marketing leading to higher incomes. The PICS project planned to disseminate the triple-layer sack technology in 28,000 villages in West and Central Africa.

Focus Area: Cowpea zones of West and Central Africa
Amount: US $12 million
Start Date: September 2007
End Date: December 2014
Location: Nigeria, Niger, Burkina Faso, Mali, Senegal, Ghana, Togo, Benin, Cameroon, Chad
Donor: Gates Foundation
Duration: 7 years 4 months
Partners: International Agricultural Research Institutes, National Agricultural Research Systems, Private Sector - Manufacturers and Input dealers International and Local NGOs, Farmers and Farmers’ Based Organizations
Grantee: Purdue University