Tchokponhoué Dèdéou Apocalypse, N'Danikou Sognigbé, Fassinou Hotegni Nicodème Vodjo, Nyadanu Daniel, Kahane Rémi, Odindo Alfred Oduor, Achigan-Dako Enoch Gbènato, Sibiya Julia
School of Agricultural, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Private Bag X01, Scottsville, Pietermaritzburg 3209, South Africa.
Laboratory of Genetics, Biotechnology and Seed Science (GBioS), School of Plant Sciences, University of Abomey-Calavi, Abomey-Calavi 01 BP 526, Benin.
Plants (Basel). 2021 Oct 22;10(11):2253. doi: 10.3390/plants10112253.
Despite the growing interest in the miracle plant worldwide due to its numerous applications, the threats and the wild harvest of the species hamper its sustainable utilisation. Moreover, traditional knowledge so far documented on the species is limited to a narrow geographical coverage of its natural distribution range, which is West and Central Africa. This study analysed the use variation and knowledge acquisition pattern of the miracle plant among West African sociolinguistic groups and deciphered the drivers of populations' willingness and readiness to engage in cultivating the species. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 510 respondents purposively selected from nine sociolinguistic groups in Benin and Ghana using the snowball sampling approach. Information was collected on respondents' socio-demographic profile, miracle plant ownership, plant parts used and preparation methods, knowledge of the species bioecology, perceived threats on the species, willingness to cultivate, maximum acreage to allocate to the species and maximum price to pay for a seedling. Descriptive statistics, generalized linear models, classification and regression tree models were used for data analysis. The miracle plant ownership mode depended on the age category. Sociolinguistic affiliation, level of schooling, migratory status and religion significantly affected the number of trees owned. We recorded 76 uses belonging to six use categories. The overall use-value of the miracle plant significantly varied according to the respondent sociolinguistic affiliation, main activity and religion. Men were the main source of knowledge and knowledge is mainly acquired along the family line. Knowledge related to food and social uses was mostly acquired from parents and people of the same generation, while magico-therapeutic and medicinal use-related knowledge were inherited from parents and grandparents. Sociolinguistic affiliation, awareness of taboos and market availability were the most important drivers of respondent willingness to cultivate the miracle plant. While the respondent's level of schooling and perception of plant growth rate determined the maximum acreage they were willing to allocate to the species in cultivation schemes, their main activity, sociolinguistic affiliation and knowledge of the species time to fruiting drove the maximum purchase price they were willing to offer for a seedling of the species. Our findings provide key information for the promotion of miracle plant cultivation in the study area.
尽管这种神奇植物因其众多用途而在全球范围内受到越来越多的关注，但其所面临的威胁以及对该物种的野生采集阻碍了其可持续利用。此外，迄今为止记录在案的关于该物种的传统知识仅限于其天然分布范围（西非和中非）的狭窄地理区域。本研究分析了西非社会语言群体对这种神奇植物的使用差异和知识获取模式，并解读了人们愿意且准备好种植该物种的驱动因素。采用滚雪球抽样法，对从贝宁和加纳九个社会语言群体中特意挑选出的510名受访者进行了半结构化访谈。收集了受访者的社会人口学特征、神奇植物拥有情况、使用的植物部位和制备方法、对该物种生物生态学的了解、对该物种的感知威胁、种植意愿、分配给该物种的最大种植面积以及购买一株幼苗愿意支付的最高价格等信息。使用描述性统计、广义线性模型、分类和回归树模型进行数据分析。神奇植物的拥有模式取决于年龄类别。社会语言归属、受教育程度、迁徙状况和宗教对拥有的树木数量有显著影响。我们记录了属于六个使用类别的76种用途。神奇植物的总体使用价值因受访者的社会语言归属、主要活动和宗教而有显著差异。男性是主要的知识来源，知识主要是沿着家族传承。与食物和社会用途相关的知识大多从父母和同龄人那里获得，而与魔法治疗和药用用途相关的知识则是从父母和祖父母那里继承而来。社会语言归属、对禁忌的认知和市场可得性是受访者愿意种植神奇植物的最重要驱动因素。受访者的受教育程度和对植物生长速度的认知决定了他们在种植计划中愿意分配给该物种的最大种植面积，而他们的主要活动、社会语言归属以及对该物种结果所需时间的了解则决定了他们愿意为该物种的一株幼苗支付的最高购买价格。我们的研究结果为在研究区域推广神奇植物种植提供了关键信息。
