A key factor that influences common-bean farmers’ decisions on which seeds to acquire and grow is consumer requirements for color and size. In the eight criteria used by Market Intelligence for seed product market segmentation, color is a criterion and size attributes are recognized in the consumer use criterion (for details on the Market Intelligence approach to market segmentation, see Market Intelligence Brief #1).
Recently, Market Intelligence, in collaboration with colleagues at the Alliance of Bioversity and CIAT (ABC), identified an opportunity to refine the initial set of common bean market segments for Latin America and the subregions of Africa based on the application of color and size. When initially applying the color criterion, certain common bean market segments included multiple colors, for example red/black/white and red/red mottled. From the biological side, the use of multiple colors for a single market segment was logical: a single common bean breeding pipeline can generate varieties of different colors. However, from the business side, the goal is to describe the products that farmers, processors, and consumer require–and color and size are critical in their lists of requirements.
Between August and September 2023, a consultative process by Market Intelligence, ABC, and NARES refined the application of size and color for common bean segments at the country level and later aggregated that to the subregional level. The key questions addressed in these interactions were, what are the required colors and sizes for common beans in each country. The table below shows the revised market segments for beans based on the example of East Africa. Some of the colors that have previously been overlooked but have now been included are yellow, purple, kablanketi (purplish), zebras (black and white), beige, and cream. After identification of the present market segments, the area under production of each market segment was assigned for each country.
All refined market segments for common beans are now available in the Global Market Intelligence Platform (GloMIP).
For each new market segment, Market Intelligence, in consultation with bean breeding teams of CGIAR and NARES, will generate a Target Product Profile (TTP) that describes the ideal product and the traits needed to build that product.
Table 1. Revised bean market segments based on the eight market segmentation criteria, East Africa
| Crop | Hybrid (Y or N) |
Sub-region | Consumer use and bean size | Color | Production environment | Production system | Maturity |
| Beans | N | EAF | Food: large/med | Kablanketi/purple | Mid/high altitude | Rainfed-climbing | Early |
| Beans | N | EAF | Food: large/med | Red mottled | Low/mid altitude | Rainfed-bush | Early |
| Beans | N | EAF | Food: large/med | Red mottled | Mid/high altitude | Rainfed-climbing | Early |
| Beans | N | EAF | Food: large/med | Red | Low/mid altitude | Rainfed-bush | Early |
| Beans | N | EAF | Food: large/med | Red | Mid/high altitude | Rainfed-climbing | Early |
| Beans | N | EAF | Food: large/med | White | Mid/high altitude | Rainfed-climbing | Early |
| Beans | N | EAF | Food: small | White | Low/mid altitude | Rainfed-bush | Early |
| Beans | N | EAF | Food: large/med | White | Low/mid altitude | Rainfed-bush | Early |
| Beans | N | EAF | Food: large/med | Zebras | Low/mid altitude | Rainfed-climbing | Early |
| Beans | N | EAF | Food: large/med | Zebras | Low/mid altitude | Rainfed-bush | Early |
| Beans | N | EAF | Food: large/med | Golden green | Low/mid altitude | Rainfed-bush | Early |
| Beans | N | EAF | Food | Yellow | Low/mid altitude | Rainfed-bush | Early |
| Beans | N | EAF | Food | Yellow | Mid/high altitude | Rainfed-climbing | Early |
| Beans | N | EAF | Food: med/small | Cariocas | Low/mid altitude | Rainfed-bush | Early |
| Beans | N | EAF | Food: small | Red | Low/mid altitude | Rainfed-bush | Early |
| Beans | N | EAF | Food-sugar | Speckled | Low/mid altitude | Rainfed-bush | Early |
| Beans | N | EAF | Food-sugar | Speckled | Mid/high altitude | Rainfed-climbing | Early |
| Beans | N | EAF | Food: small | Red | Mid/high altitude | Rainfed-climbing | Early |
| Beans | N | EAF | Food: large/med | Kablanketi/purple | Low/mid altitude | Rainfed-bush | Early |
| Beans | N | EAF | Food: large/med | Brown/khaki | Low/mid altitude | Rainfed-bush | Early |
| Beans | N | EAF | Food: large/med | Brown/khaki | Mid/high altitude | Rainfed-climbing | Early |
| Beans | N | EAF | Food: small | Brown/khaki | Mid/high altitude | Rainfed-climbing | Early |
| Beans | N | EAF | Food: small | Black | Low/mid altitude | Rainfed-bush | Early |
| Beans | N | EAF | Food: large/med | Pink | Low/mid altitude | Rainfed-bush | Early |
| Beans | N | EAF | Food: small | Pink | Mid/high altitude | Rainfed-climbing | Early |
| Beans | N | EAF | Food: small | Brown/khaki | Low/mid altitude | Rainfed-bush | Early |
| Beans | N | EAF | Food: large/med | Cream | Low/mid altitude | Rainfed-bush | Early |
| Beans | N | EAF | Food: small | Cream | Low/mid altitude | Rainfed-bush | Early |