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Intercropping cereals with legumes can potentially enhance productivity and soil fertility. There is limited experimental evidence on the mechanisms underlying benefits or risks in intercropping systems and below-ground interactions in intercrops remain largely unstudied. Such understanding can inform strategies towards maximising returns to investments, particularly in poor fertility soils on smallholder farms in semi-arid areas of sub-Saharan Africa. Additive intercropping experiments were established covering several seasons (2010/11–2014/15) and different conditions (on-station and on-farm) to determine effects on soil chemical variables, root dynamics and yield of intercrops. Maize was planted with the first effective rains and received either no fertiliser or 40 kg N ha⁻¹. Cowpea was planted on the same date as maize or three weeks after planting maize in intercrops or sole stands and received no fertiliser …