Abstract
The present research was carried out to identify and document the landrace diversity and ethnobotanical uses of cowpea (Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp) (Fabaceae) in Southwestern and Eastern Ethiopia. Data were collected through field observations, semi-structured interviews, guided field walk with cowpea farmers and users, and market surveys. Descriptive statistics, preference ranking and informant consensus were employed in the analysis. Forty-four cowpea accessions were collected from geographical locations ranging from 428- 2128 m.a.s.l. and 05° 17' 06.6” to 09°33' 58.5'' N and 34° 15' 54.5'' to 42° 26' 30.4'' E. The landraces had diverse seed sizes, colours, growth habits and germination potentials. Local variety ‘Rapo’ (Anywaa language) of V. unguiculata subsp. dekindtiana was found in Gambella Region; ‘Atera babile’ (Oromo language) of V. unguiculata subsp. cylindrica and subsp. unguiculata were found in all regions studied. Farmers grew cowpea for the purposes of human food, livestock Feed, improving soil fertility and medicine. The majority of farmers (63.33%) preferred the widely known ‘Atera babile’ which belongs to subsp. unguiculata because of its spreading nature, ability to produce more biomass than other varieties, effectiveness for improving soil fertility and ability to supersede weeds as a ground cover. Further research should focus on local landraces maintained by farmers and the crop wild relative is a worthwhile undertaking given its local importance and for future genetic improvement both as a food and feed crop. Key words: Cowpea, ethnobotany, inter-cropping, landrace, sole cropping.  
Highlights
The questions included the local names of the landraces of cowpea that farmers cultivated and those they used to cultivate in the past, the parts used, how the parts were prepared as human food, other uses of cowpea, seed sources, methods of cultivation and management, production constraints including pests and diseases, wild forms that the farmers recognized and related aspects
The ten landraces collected from Gambella Region are locally called „Rapo‟, „Wenu‟ and „Boho‟ (Anywaa language) and 16 (36%) cowpea germplasm accessions were collected from SNNPR
Traditional nomenclature of cowpea landraces and the indigenous knowledge encoded in the names
Summary
Legumes contribute to smallholder income, as a higher-value crop and to diet, as a cost-effective source of protein (Chilot et al, 2010; Patil et al, 2013). Pulses offer natural soil maintenance benefits through nitrogen-fixing, which improves yields of cereals through crop rotation or intercropping, and can result in savings for smallholder farmers from low rate of fertilizer use (Chilot et al, 2010). Africa is the main area of production, where the crop is very important for low input agriculture, which characterizes most countries of the continent (Pasquet, 1998; Ba et al, 2004)
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