The diet of the inhabitants of the forested regions of Cameroon is based on starch, part of which comes from plantains (Dury et al. 2002). An increase in production using new techniques is necessary in order to meet the challenge of providing food security for the country (Temple 2000). Varietal improvement contributes to these changes, but although the objectives pursued when creating varieties are known (Auboiron et al. 1998), the lack of research on farmers' knowledge and their expertise of the existing varietal potential is deplorable (CRDI 2001). A study of these farmer's knowledge would be a useful contribution to the improvement of production systems by the introduction of new varieties. The present study is concerned with local knowledge of the different plantain varieties and the factors which determine the choice of varieties by the growers.