Abstract
The processes and the accompanying genetic changes leading to the evolution of the wild progenitors into the present-day domesticates are discussed briefly in this chapter for the major food legumes, such as pea (Pisum sativum), common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris), chickpea, cowpea, lentil, adzuki bean (Vigna angularis) and Bambara groundnut (Vigna subterranea). One of the broader impacts of the domestication of legumes will be the availability of a new crop alternative for resource-poor farmers in southern Africa and other arid regions of the world.