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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Sustain. Food Syst.
Sec. Land, Livelihoods and Food Security
Volume 9 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fsufs.2025.1562474
Traditional knowledge and use of cowpea (Vigna unguiculata) wild cowpeas in selected communities of Tanzania
Provisionally accepted
John Godlove Nderingo1
Liberatus Lyimo1,2*
George Muhamba Tryphphone1
William Hamisy3
Sognigbé N'Danikou4
Maarten Van Zonneveld5- 1Department of Crop Science and Horticulture, Sokoine University of Agriculture, Morogoro, Tanzania
- 2Sokoine University of Agriculture, Morogoro, Tanzania
- 3Tanzania Plant Health and Pesticides Authority, Arusha, Tanzania
- 4AVRDC - The World Vegetable Center, Arusha, Tanzania
- 5World Vegetable Center, Shanhua, Tainan County, Taiwan
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Wild cowpeas are utilized as food, medicine, and nutritious fodder. However, there are limited reports on the cultural significance of wild cowpeas across different agroecologies of Tanzania.This study analyzed the traditional knowledge and identified the most culturally important species.The study involved 260 respondents interviewed from 13 villages in seven districts, using descriptive and ethnobotanical methods to assess traditional knowledge. Fisher's exact test (p = 0.0403) revealed that knowledge of wild cowpeas depends on age, not gender and education. A Pearson's test showed significant differences in use categories of wild cowpeas among the Formatted: Not Highlight Deleted: G Deleted: T Formatted: Not Highlight Formatted: Not Highlightrespondents, with 31% as animal fodder, 6% as medicine, 3.5% as food, and 2.5% as green manure, while 57% did not use it. Spearman rank correlations revealed positive correlations among the variables tested, with FC and UR significantly having a high correlation index of 0.98, while the cultural value (CVe) index highly correlated with all ethnobotany indices evaluated. Vigna dekindtiana is the most culturally significant species, with the highest frequency of citation (FCs = 20), use reports (URs = 27), and cultural importance (CIs = 1.125). The leaves of V. dekindtiana have been used as animal feed and vegetables, while its roots have been used to treat gastrointestinal disorders. This study revealed that wild cowpeas can be utilized in various ways, such as ecological and social aspects, and in breeding programs to improve cultivated cowpeas.
Keywords: Vigna, wild cowpeas cowpea, Traditional knowledge, Use categories, Tanzania
Received: 20 Jan 2025; Accepted: 11 Apr 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Nderingo, Lyimo, Tryphphone, Hamisy, N'Danikou and Van Zonneveld. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Liberatus Lyimo, Sokoine University of Agriculture, Morogoro, Tanzania
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