To manage insect infestation linked to lower yields in cowpea production, man has primarily chosen to use synthetic pesticides due to their high knockout effect. Incessant application of pesticides poses a health risk in agriculture food systems. The alternative to combating insect infestation in cowpea food system is the development of Host Plant Resistance which is eco-friendly, and beneficial to human and animal health. The study aimed at developing host plant resistance in cowpea that suffer heavy losses from aphid infestation, was conducted between 2021 to 2023 at the University of Zambia, School of Agricultural Sciences field station. Three commonly grown parental lines, 101 mutant lines, one landrace variety and five pure line varieties were screened against aphid resistance. The randomized complete block design was used, with each treatment replicated three times. Significant differences were observed in all the parameters under consideration at ?=0.05. The mutant genotype BBBT1-11 identified as the best performing line, outperformed other genotypes in terms of aphid score, population build-up, plant vigour and total grain weight of seeds/plant. Therefore, to create healthier cowpea Agri-food systems and promote one-health, BBBT1-11 can be incorporated into breeding programs to create cowpea-resistant varieties against aphids to minimize pesticide usage.

Keywords: Agri-Food System, Aphids, Cowpea, Pesticides, Productivity, Transformation.