Publication: Ethiopia - A Qualitative Understanding of Local Traditional Knowledge and Medicinal Plant Use
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2003-01
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2012-08-13
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The fieldwork-based study aims to gain insight into the local distribution of traditional health knowledge and the uses of various medicinal plants among ordinary men and women in rural communities, who constitute the vast majority of Ethiopia's population. The overall aim of the research is to contribute to the growing body of literature and experience pertaining to the role of indigenous/traditional systems of knowledge in development. Underlying this objective is the fundamental premise that health constitutes the linchpin of the development process, viewed at once, both as the means as well as the end of development. The fieldwork was carried out with the participation of communities in the rural Bahir Dar Zuria district of Gojam (now part of the Amhara Regional State) located in the North Western Highlands of the country. A combination of research tools from various disciplines were employed. Gender considerations constituted an integral and cross-cutting aspect of the methodology, as important gender factors were expected to be involved, inter alia, in the distribution of traditional health knowledge and its inter-generational transmission.
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“World Bank. 2003. Ethiopia - A Qualitative Understanding of Local Traditional Knowledge and Medicinal Plant Use. Indigenous Knowledge (IK) Notes; No. 52. © World Bank. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/10786 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”
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Publication A Qualitative Understanding of Local Traditional Knowledge and Medicinal Plant Use(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2003-01)In Ethiopia, traditional herbal medicine is dominated by plant-focused work, which has been largely driven by an overriding interest in the specific therapeutic properties of individual plants. In search of information on the properties of various Ethiopian medicinal plants, researchers have generally focused their attention on two main sources: (i) the professional traditional health practitioners, and (ii) Ethiopia's ancient medico-religious manuscripts - herbal letters containing elaborate recipes of plant-derived treatments for a wide range of health conditions. Traditional knowledge about medicinal plants and its application are very much taken for granted by both men and women in the communities. Such traditional knowledge and practices constitute routine aspects of daily life and are deeply engrained in the socio-cultural and economic fabric of these rural societies. It is evident that research and development efforts must aim to identify and address the challenges and threats faced by traditional health knowledge systems. The ultimate goal is to strengthen and improve this vast knowledge base for the benefit of the great majority of the developing world who have survived on it for centuries and will continue to do so into the foreseeable future.Publication Building on Traditional Medicinal Plant Knowledge and Home-Based Health Care Efforts in Rural Malawi(Washington, DC, 2004-10)Malawi remains one of the world's least developed countries, with more than 65 percent of its population of over 11 million below the poverty line. As in most countries in the region, biomedical health facilities and services are in very short supply, especially in the rural communities of Malawi-about 85 percent of its population. The HIV/AIDS epidemic has exacerbated the already strained scarce resources available within the national health delivery system. In the absence of adequate biomedical health services, most rural Malawians continue to rely on traditional, largely plant-derived treatments for their primary health care needs.Publication Health : Indigenous Knowledge, Equitable Benefits(World Bank, Washington, DC, 1999-12)The note looks at the intellectual property rights connected with the use, and value of medicinal plants, which has become a metaphor to describe indigenous ownership of traditional knowledge, generating options for contractual mechanisms to ensure benefits return to source cultures, and countries. However, through time, the extinction rate of species, and cultures continues to accelerate, while human health further deteriorates from diseases for which no cure exists. The note seeks answers on how to apply lessons from the Convention on Biological Diversity, and how to move on to implementing such lessons. Through the case study in Nigeria, practical information shows how countries, companies, and cultures can cooperate. It explains the work of the Bio-Resources Development and Conservation Program, organized as a focal point for collaborative research, that builds technical skills in Nigeria, thus generating pharmaceutical leads that target therapeutic categories for tropical diseases. Within this setting, Sharman Pharmaceuticals established a research relationship with scientific institutions, village communities, and traditional healers, which uses the science of ethno-botany, and that of natural product chemistry, medicine and pharmacology, to create an efficient drug discovery process. Recommendations on remaining issues, and future progress are presented.Publication Ethiopia - Traditional Medicine and the Bridge to Better Health(Washington, DC, 2001-08)The majority of Ethiopians depend on medical plants as their only source of health care, especially in rural areas where access to villages is lacking due to the absence of vehicular roads. The increasing scarcity of medicinal plant species represents a trend that should be immediately addressed. The health and drug policies of the Ethiopian Ministry of Health recognize the important role medical plants and traditional health systems play in health care. Unfortunately little has been done in recent decades to enhance and develop the beneficial aspects of traditional medicine including related research and its gradual integration into modern medicine. With the World Bank assistance, the Ethiopian government will soon start to implement the first conservation and sustainable use of medical plants project in Sub-Saharan Africa. The overall objective of the project is to initiate support for conservation, management, and sustainable use of medicinal plants for human and livestock health care.Publication The Economics of African Indigenous Knowledge(Washington, DC, 2003-02)African Indigenous Knowledge (IK) is labeled variously and misconceived at international discussions and in modern literature. The most commonly used phrases are "static," "low-value-added" and "prior art", primarily in the context of the Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS), of the World Trade Organization. Frequently one finds expressions like mystery, charlatan, irrational, or miracle in relation to traditional medicine, for instance. Achievements of traditional medicine are considered anecdotal or beyond scientific validation. The misconception is further aggravated by the little or no growth in the sector and a lack of understanding of the context in which practitioners apply traditional medicine. Yet the literature produced on this sector has not given much attention to the factors that underpin these misconceptions is further aggravated by the little or no growth in the sector and a lack of understanding of the context in which practitioners apply traditional medicine.
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