Common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris), also 
called black bean, is an important staple 
food in Guatemala, where it is widely 
produced and consumed, occupying a 
second place as source of food after 
maize. Bean production in Guatemala 
predominantly occurs in poor small-scale 
hilly farms characterized by degraded land 
where yields are low and most production 
is used for home consumption. High 
climatic variability in these areas has been 
further aggravated in recent years by the 
presence of long periods of drought, which 
are challenging bean production in 
combination with increased incidence of 
pests and diseases. These problems are 
particularly severe in the Dry Corridor of 
Guatemala, a semi-arid region 
characterized by frequent periods of 
drought, heat, and poor soil. Given that 
many farming communities depend on 
common bean for subsistence, the 
increasing heat and drought being 
registered in the country are a major 
concern that can cause significant losses 
of this crop with very serious effects for 
food and nutrition insecurity of the 
population.  
In this context, the cultivation of tepary 
bean (Phaseolus acutifolius) represents an 
interesting option for tackling many of the 
above-mentioned problems which 
challenge common bean production in 
Guatemala. Tepary bean, which belongs to 
the secondary gene pool of common bean 
This market analysis was completed 
by Nadezda Amaya in collaboration 
with Gennifer Meldrum, Stefano 
Padulosi and Rolando Cifuentes as 
part of the international Programme 
“Linking agrobiodiversity value chains, 
climate adaptation and nutrition: 
Empowering the poor to manage risk” 
supported by the International Fund 
for Agricultural Development (IFAD), 
the European Union (EU) and the 
CGIAR Research Programmes on 
Climate Change, Agriculture, and 
Food Security (CCAFS) and 
Agriculture for Nutrition and Health 
(A4NH).  
www.NUScommunity.org 
Marketing prospects of tepary bean (Phaseolus acutifolius) in 
Guatemala through an analysis of common bean value chain   
 
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(viable hybrids between the two species 
have been realized by breeders), is a 
species well-adapted to arid conditions, 
exhibiting a high level of drought, heat, 
and cold tolerance. The species has a 
short biological cycle (typically producing 
seeds only after 60 versus 90 days in 
common bean), its seeds have a high 
nutritional value (especially in terms of 
fiber, carbohydrates, and protein) and its 
plants have shown greater tolerance to 
common bacterial blight than common 
bean. Tepary bean is fairly high yielding, 
outperforming common bean by at least 
50% in hot environments. Its introduction 
to semi-arid zones has potential to bring 
important benefits for farmers as a 
Cleaning, selection and packing of common beans in Guatemala. Credit: Bioversity International/N. Amaya 
strategic ally in making production 
and food systems more resilient to 
climate change. The high iron 
content of tepary bean (10.7%) can 
also be strategic for improving 
nutrition, as it is higher than that in 
navy (6.4%), red kidney (6.7%), and 
pinto (5.9%) beans.  
Tepary bean originated in 
Mesoamerica and the south-western 
USA has been cultivated historically in 
Guatemala, although today it is only 
very rarely produced in this country 
and the crop has nearly been 
forgotten. Owing to tepary bean’s 
strategic features, Bioversity 
International and the Universidad del 
Valle de Guatemala (UVG) have been 
investigating the potential for tepary 
bean to diversify bean production for 
better resilience under climate change. 
As the market potential and 
willingness of farmers to adopt a new 
bean species are critical factors that 
would affect the success of this 
strategy, an investigation was carried 
out in 2017 to assess bean value chain 
stakeholder perspectives and 
potentials for adopting and 
commercializing this species. The 
study deployed a Rapid Market 
Appraisal methodology to collect 
qualitative data through semi-
structured interviews of different 
stakeholders engaged in the value 
chain of common bean, including 
producers, producers’ organizations, 
wholesalers, processing industry, 
consumers, indirect actors and other 
informed participants. 
Tepary beans in Guatemala 
Tepary bean is occasionally grown on 
small-scale farms in Guatemala, mainly 
in home-gardens on the south-western 
coast. Production, consumption and 
marketing of this crop in the country are 
extremely limited. In 1998, Otzoy and 
colleagues from Universidad de San 
Carlos de Guatemala (USAC), carried 
out a germplasm collecting mission in 
the Departments of Suchitepéquez, 
Quetzaltenango, Retalhuleu and San 
Marcos of Guatemala, during which 36 
traditional tepary bean varieties were 
gathered. The sampled populations 
were characterized and evaluated for 
supporting future breeding activities. 
According to these authors tepary 
beans were found to be widely used by 
people for the preparation of traditional 
food recipes typical of the surveyed 
regions, especially among Maya 
Quiché, Mam, and Tzutuhil ethnic 
groups. Interestingly, in 2016 the same 
researchers returned to the same areas 
for a follow up collection but they were 
A plot cultivated with tepary beans in Guatemala. Credit: Bioversity International/N. Amaya  
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not able to find any tepary bean variety, 
which made them conclude that a 
heavy genetic erosion had taken place 
on this crop in Guatemala. These 
investigators hypothesized that the 
main reasons that contributed to the 
neglect of tepary bean in the south-
western coast of the country was the 
increasing occurrences of prolonged 
droughts, erosion of traditional food 
cultures among indigenous 
communities, decrease of consumers’ 
interest on the species partly due to the 
small seed size compared with 
common bean, culinary characteristics 
(tepary bean requires longer cooking 
time) and seed coat color (which is 
mostly white, brown, and speckled, and 
notoriously Guatemalans appreciate 
black beans in their food preparations). 
Other factors that were recorded in 
farmers’ interviews conducted during 
this mission include limited access to 
land, low market demand, poor 
information on tepary bean’s 
performance and ways to improve its 
cultivation. 
Tackling problems and 
seizing opportunities 
During the value chain study carried 
out by Bioversity and UVG in 2017, 
additional traits that hinder the 
popularization of tepary beans were 
recorded, including the presence of 
wrinkles on the seed coat which makes 
people believe tepary beans are 
coming from old harvests and thereby 
needing longer cooking time, small 
seed size (smaller than most other 
bean types), round seed shape 
(Guatemalans prefer kidney-shaped 
beans), and opaque color (shiny types 
are preferred). Tepary bean moreover 
has specific culinary features, which 
could pose a challenge for its 
popularization, including a distinctive 
flavor (nutty and sweet), production of 
thin clear broth when cooked (rather 
than a preferred thick and dark broth), 
and longer cooking time as compared 
to common bean. The long cooking 
time is particularly disadvantageous in 
areas where fuel supplies are scarce. 
With regard to cultivation practices, 
tepary bean has been found to be 
susceptible to golden mosaic virus, its 
thin pod walls are prone to shattering 
and seed rotting in wet climatic 
conditions, and laboriousness during 
harvests was also recorded because of 
small pod size and thin pod skin. It can 
be considered that these pitfalls are the 
result of a lack of research investments 
for this neglected and underutilized 
species, which could improve its 
productive and culinary characteristics 
with similar success as has been 
achieved in the development of 
common bean. 
In spite of these limitations, common 
bean value chain actors interviewed 
during our study showed keen interest 
in tepary bean, especially for its heat 
and drought tolerance traits, nutritional 
content and ability to achieve higher 
yields under stress conditions 
compared with common beans. 
Producers’ organizations, wholesalers, 
processing industry and consumers 
expressed the desire to have access to 
the germplasm of tepary beans in order 
to try it out and see by themselves their 
productive, culinary, market, and 
processing potentials. Leaders from the 
bean producers’ organizations 
remarked that as long as tepary beans 
have good productive features, their 
flavor or appearance would not be 
such a limiting factor, given that they 
would prefer harvesting some beans 
than to have nothing at all. Hence, the 
leaders from these organizations, 
which are comprised by 550 bean 
producers, were optimistic that tepary 
beans could be a good alternative for 
food security, especially in the Dry 
Corridor, where drought has become 
such a limiting factor for growing 
common beans.  
An additional important reflection came 
from wholesalers, who stated that the 
best moment to introduce a new type 
of bean to the market is during the 
period when beans are less present in 
the market; so, they suggested to sell 
tepary beans in the May-August period, 
during which common beans harvests 
are very low (sharp shortages of this 
crop occurring especially in June-July). 
During these months, markets are 
Cooking with tepary beans. Credit: Bioversity International/N. Amaya 
Bioversity International is a CGIAR Research Centre. 
CGIAR is a global research partnership for a  
food-secure future. 
www.cgiar.org 
Bioversity International is registered as a 501(c)(3)
non-profit organization in the US. Bioversity 
International (UK) is a Registered UK Charity No. 1131854. 
Bioversity International 
Via dei Tre Denari, 472/a 
00054 Maccarese (Fiumicino), Italy  
Tel. (+39) 06 61181 
Fax. (+39) 06 6118402 
bioversity@cgiar.org 
www.bioversityinternational.org 
Contacts: 
supplied with reserves of stored beans 
or with grain imports at very high prices 
and hence selling tepary bean would 
advantageous. Interestingly, 
consumers view’ on that regard is also 
positive: as beans are an essential food 
in their diets they are willing to accept 
the different features of tepary bean 
(such as size, shape or texture of the 
grain), as long as they have a good 
taste and are sold at reasonable price. 
A very encouraging result of our survey 
was also the fact that the food industry 
is willing to carry out initial controlled 
trials to analyze the industrial potential 
of tepary beans and ascertain whether 
this crop can meet some of those basic 
needs that the industry requires (e.g. 
consistency, size and nutritional 
content after cooking). 
Recommendations 
Tepary bean is a strategic crop for 
building more resilient production and 
food systems in Guatemala. To 
popularize its use, it is recommended 
to evaluate a set of varieties in 
participatory trials to identify the 
varieties that may present more 
desirable characteristics for 
Guatemalan consumers e.g. thick and 
dark broth, smooth surface, soft shell 
(easier to digest and shorter cooking 
time), good taste and cooking time 
less than 60 minutes. The remarkable 
drought tolerance of tepary bean 
could help ensure a more stable and 
resilient source of protein-rich food 
and to that regard, farmers can 
cultivate a small plot of tepary bean to 
compensate recurrent losses faced in 
common bean fields. Tepary bean 
deserves further research attention to 
assess and promote its potentials as 
an alternative and complementary 
source of food for subsistence and 
vulnerable farmers in rural areas 
affected by severe drought, such as 
those in the Dry Corridor, where the 
species would be a reliable drought-
insurance crop. With regard to 
marketing strategies for tepary bean, it 
will be important to choose the most 
suitable period for its 
commercialization, so as to avoid 
competition with common beans. 
Tepary bean can be promoted not in 
competition with common bean, but 
rather as a complementary crop for a 
diversified farm portfolio. Producers 
should also know that tepary beans 
production costs may be lower than 
those encountered in common bean, 
because the former requires less 
water, chemicals and labor, which can 
have an added value for female 
producers, who have less access to 
these resources than men.  
Bioversity International is  CGIAR Research Centre. 
CGIAR is a global research partnership for a food-secure 
future. 
 
Bioversity International delivers scientific evidence, 
management practices and policy options to use and 
safeguard agricultural and tree biodiversity to attain 
sustainable global food and nutrition security  
Universidad del Valle de Guatemala 
Centro de Estudios Agrícolas y 
Alimentarios (CEAA) 
18 Ave. 11-95, zona 15, VH III 
Guatemala, Guatemala 
info@uvg.edu.gt 
www.uvg.edu.gt 
Bioversity International 
Via dei Tre Denari, 472/a 
00054 Maccarese (Fiumicino), Italy  
Tel. (+39) 06 61181 
Fax. (+39) 06 6118402 
bioversity@cgiar.org 
www.bioversityinternational.org 
A variety of dishes cooked with tepary beans. Credit: Bioversity International/N. Amaya