The centre of origin of Bambara groundnut (BGN; Vigna subterranea L.) is Western Sub-Saharan Africa. Due to its high nutritional value and tolerance to biotic and abiotic stresses, this neglected and underutilised species has recently gained significant attention. However, BGN production faces several challenges, including a lack of quality varieties. This study describes a selected core collection based on phenotypic traits, investigates relevant selection criteria and identifies a set of landraces according to participants’ preferences. A core collection of landraces was generated, described, and then subjected to participatory varietal selection. Through individual semi-structured interviews, key selection criteria were identified. Focus group discussions were organised to explore group criteria and to support and validate information from personal interviews. The varietal selection involved choosing three landraces per participant. The results highlighted that seed colour, seed size, cultural value, market value, seed taste, storage, and seed cooking duration were the main selection criteria; however, specific trait preferences varied by gender and participants. Two of 14 selected BGN landraces were considered by the panel of evaluators to be most suitable for recommendation to growers and breeders. They can be disseminated in BGN production regions and used for plant breeding.

Introduction: Hibiscus sabdariffa L. is an economically important and widely adopted crop in Burkina Faso. Yet its production is constrained by the lack of improved, locally adapted varieties. This study used a participatory variety selection approach to identify preferred landraces and selection criteria across two agroecological zones: Sudanian and Sudano-Sahelian. Methods: The evaluation of landraces/accessions was carried out using an ordinal rating system, assigning scores ranging from 9 (most preferred accession), through 7 (very interesting), 5 (moderately interesting), 3 (less interesting), to 1 (least interesting). Landraces considered undesirable were specifically evaluated using negative scores of −5, −3, and −1, reflecting the degree of rejection expressed by the participants. Results: Participatory selection involved 126 stakeholders (75.4% women), including producers (37.3%), consumers (30.9%), processors (16.7%), and traders (15.1%). The findings showed that 130 accessions (81.25%) were positively selected across zones, with traits such as leaf size, tenderness, absence of pubescence, market value, and drought tolerance being prioritized. Preferences differed significantly by agroecological zone, ethnicity (p < 0.001), age group, and actor role (χ² = 360.21, p< 0.001). Two accessions (CKK1 and CKN5) were consistently ranked at the top, with index scores of 0.0441 and 0.0428, respectively. In contrast, accessions like CKO2 and HBB3 were most rejected due to poor agronomic and culinary traits. The analysis showed that only 30% of the selected accessions were shared between the two zones. Conclusion: These results highlight the potential value of participatory selection in identifying varieties that are well-adapted, socially acceptable, and potentially more resilient for underutilized species in West Africa.

Effective utilization of plant genetic resources requires agro-morphological evaluation of collections across diverse growing regions. The objectives of this study are to assess genetic diversity and estimate genetic parameters through morphological traits of Bambara groundnut. The study was conducted over two growing seasons at the SUSTLIVES project site in Gampela (Central Burkina Faso) using an RCBD with three replicates. A total of eight qualitative and eight quantitative traits were used to estimate variability within a collection of 153 landraces. The results revealed a substantial variability in all the qualitative traits, with the number of modalities ranging from 2 to 10, seed color being the variable trait. Based on qualitative traits related to seed, the landraces were grouped into 12 morpho-groups. The analysis of variance showed the presence of significant variation between landraces and across years and their interactions for all of the quantitative traits. The heritability values ranged from 46.12% (seed weight per plant) to 88.66% (days to 90% maturity). The landraces KKou4, KKou2, ODap3, ODap4, KLay68, BPle2, KTog6, KSag11, ZMag4 and ODap1 were identified as high-yielding landraces. Future selection efforts for Bambara groundnut should therefore continue to evaluate the genotypes that have a high potential for grain yield under various pedoclimatic environments of the country.