Farmers’ utilization and knowledge of Phaseolus bean diversity in Togo, West Africa: implications for its sustainable use and conservation
Bibliographic record
Abstract
Abstract Beans of the Phaseolus genus play a crucial role in the livelihoods of smallholder farmers in Africa due to their high nutritional value and contribution to income diversification. However, in Togo, these legumes are increasingly neglected and face a growing threat of extinction. This study aims to promote their sustainable production and conservation by documenting cultivation areas, indigenous knowledge related to cropping systems, varietal diversity, and uses. An ethnobotanical survey was conducted across all regions of the country. Producers were identified through the snowball sampling method, with the support of the Institute of Advisory and Technical Support (ICAT). A total of 937 producers from 240 villages were surveyed, resulting in the identification of 94 local cultivars. The most frequently used differentiation criterion was based on “color; shape; presence of spots” (Dim1 ≈ 0; Dim2 ≈ 0). Local cultivars were grouped into two main categories: round-shaped (“V”, 54 cultivars) and flattened or kidney-shaped (“L”, 40 cultivars). Most producers cultivated only one or two cultivars (313 men vs. 315 women). Nationally, the most frequently cited cultivars were L3 (37.67%), V13 (20.28%), and L13 (18.57%). Production is mainly intended for household consumption, particularly in the Central (90.98%), Kara (86.27%), Maritime (79.09%), Plateaux-Ouest (64.71%), and Plateaux-Est (60.81%) regions, although some cultivars are marketed. The most frequently cited dishes were Véyi and Ayimolou (Dim1 ≈ 0; Dim2 ≈ 0). Other plant parts, such as leaves and dry pods, are used in traditional medicine, mystical practices, or for potash production. The highest overall ethnobotanical use value (VUET = 2.00) was recorded among the Gangam ethnic group. These findings highlight the diversity and sociocultural value of Phaseolus beans in Togo and support efforts for their conservation and sustainable utilization.
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How this classification was reachedexpand
Full frame machine prediction
Teacher imitationNot calibrated prevalence, not ground truth. Human validation pending. The Gemma side is a direct model label for every work in the frame, read from the title-only record. The Codex side is a classifier learned from the 10,348 direct Codex labels and calibrated to design-weighted sample rates; fields without enough sample support carry no Codex call. Candidate is the union of the two sides; consensus is their intersection. These outputs are machine_predicted_unvalidated and are not human labels.
Distilled classifier scores by category (both heads)
| Category | Codex | Gemma |
|---|---|---|
| Metaresearch | 0.001 | 0.002 |
| Meta-epidemiology (narrow) | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Meta-epidemiology (broad) | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Bibliometrics | 0.001 | 0.001 |
| Science and technology studies | 0.001 | 0.001 |
| Scholarly communication | 0.001 | 0.001 |
| Open science | 0.000 | 0.001 |
| Research integrity | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Insufficient payload (model declined to judge) | 0.002 | 0.000 |
Machine scores (provisional)
The two teacher heads of the student model, read on this work. A score orders the frame for review; it never asserts a category, and the validation status ships verbatim with every row.
Baseline scores from an immature model (maturity gate not passed, 7 training rounds). Scores rank; they never assert a category.
score_only:v0-immature-baseline · verbatim from the scoring run: score_only means the number may rank works, and no category label ships from itClassification
machine, unvalidatedMachine predicted; a candidate call from one source (direct Gemma or distilled Codex), not a consensus.
How this classification was reached, model by model and score by score, is at the end of the page under "How this classification was reached".