The analysis of the issues encountered by the minor and threatened food plants in Togo includes the spatial distribution as an indicator of the threat's degree. The study was carried out in 280 localities of Togo, on the basis of ethnobotanic investigations. The study covered the five ecological zones and various socio-ethnical groups. Local names, botanical and culinary descriptions, photos and samples of the plants were used to define or identify cultivated or spontaneous (wild) species. For species identification, we used usual keys and nomenclature published. However, naming and classification have been adjusted to the classification of APG III and The Plant List (2010). As a result, 137 food plant species were inventoried as minor or threatened. The minor plants identified are traditional varieties adapted to local environmental conditions, selected and cultivated by farmers. They are said to be minor compared to plants grown abundantly and widely distributed, consumed throughout the world. The 137 species were classified into four categories as follows: (1) wild food species that are minor, (2) wild food species that are not minor, but endangered, (3) food species and varieties cultivated that are minor and (4) food varieties and species cultivated that are not minor, but endangered. The plants studied include 87 spontaneous species belonging to 45 families and 50 cultivated species in one or several varieties belonging to 22 families. The crops are divided into 28 species of which only one variety per species is endangered and 22 species in which 2 to 18 varieties are threatened per species. Regarding the nature of minor and threatened food plant organs consumed, tuber and root varieties are the most numerous, followed by seed varieties, then by fruit and grain varieties. However, considering the number of species, the fruit species are dominant. Local leaf, stem or rhizome varieties are poorly represented among the cultivated plants. This shows that both wild species (mostly fruit) and those cultivated and daily consumed suffer erosion, constituting a threat to food security for local populations. The large fraction of wild fruit and endangered vegetables is a worry because of their use in food recipes by western African populations during food crisis periods. The number of plants varies from 2 to 40 according to the localities. However, this number varies between 10 and 50 for the majority of the ethnical groups. The analysis of plant spatial distribution shows that 20% of the plants are in regression on all the extent of Togo. On the other hand, 10%, 18% and 18% of the plants carry respectively northern, central and southern limited distributions. The other plants present interregional distributions. These various distributions indicate different threat's degrees that depend not only on the number of indicated plants, but also on the natural distribution of the species. Copyright © 2012 Société botanique de France.
