Skip to main content
Key Specialties
Cardiology Diabetology Endocrinology Gastroenterology Geriatrics and Gerontology Gynecology and Obstetrics Hematology Infectious Disease Internal Medicine Nephrology Neurology Oncology Pediatrics Respiratory Medicine Rheumatology Surgery
Congress Coverage
2024 ASCO Annual Meeting 2024 ACC Congress 2023 ESMO Congress 2023 EASD Congress 2023 ERS Congress 2023 ESC Congress
Clinical Collections
Advances in Alzheimer’s

2024 ASCO Annual Meeting

Keep up to date with all the top stories and latest evidence with our hub page, including official congress videos and expert takeaways.
ADVANCED SEARCH
Log in
Top
Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine
Published in: Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine 1/2010

Open Access 01-12-2010 | Review

Preparation and use of plant medicines for farmers' health in Southwest Nigeria: socio-cultural, magico-religious and economic aspects

Authors: Taiwo E Mafimisebi, Adegboyega E Oguntade

Published in: Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine | Issue 1/2010

Login to get access

Abstract

Agrarian rural dwellers in Nigeria produce about 95% of locally grown food commodities. The low accessibility to and affordability of orthodox medicine by rural dwellers and their need to keep healthy to be economically productive, have led to their dependence on traditional medicine. This paper posits an increasing acceptance of traditional medicine country-wide and advanced reasons for this trend. The fact that traditional medicine practitioners' concept of disease is on a wider plane vis-à-vis orthodox medicine practitioners' has culminated in some socio-cultural and magico-religious practices observed in preparation and use of plant medicines for farmers' health management. Possible scientific reasons were advanced for some of these practices to show the nexus between traditional medicine and orthodox medicine. The paper concludes that the psychological aspect of traditional medicine are reflected in its socio-cultural and magico-religious practices and suggests that government should fund research into traditional medicine to identify components of it that can be integrated into the national health system.
Literature
1.
WHO: Traditional medicine strategy 2002-2005. WHO. Geneva; 2002.
2.
Fasola TR: The impact of traditional medicine on the people and environment of Nigeria. In Sustainable Environmental Management in Nigeria Edited by: Ivbijaro MFA, Akintola F, Okechukwu RU. 2006, 251-267.
3.
Awah P: Diabetes and traditional medicine in Africa. Diabetes Voice 2006.,51(3):
4.
World Bank: A Strategy to Develop Agriculture and a Focus for the World Bank. World Bank Technical Paper Number 203, Africa Technical Department Series 1993, 1-10.
5.
6.
Olayide SO: Characteristics, problems and significance of farmers. In Nigerian Small Farmers: Problems and Prospects in Integrated Rural Development Edited by: Olayide SO, Eweka, JA, Bello-Osagie VE. 1980, 1-15.
7.
Olayemi JK: The need to mobilize savings among non-traditional users of the banking industry. In Mobilization of Savings among Non-traditional Users of the Banking Industry in Nigeria. Edited by: Akinyosoye VO. Ibadan University Press; 1999:1-5.
8.
Mafimisebi TE, Oguntade AE, Mafimisebi OE: A perspective of partial credit guarantee schemes in developing countries: A case study of the Nigerian agricultural credit guarantee scheme funds. A paper delivered at The World Bank conference on Partial Credit Guarantee Schemes held at the World Bank Main Building, Washington, D.C, USA 2008, 35.
9.
Ajani OIY, Ugwu PC: Impact of adverse health on agricultural productivity of farmers in Kainji Basin, North Central Nigeria using a stochastic production frontier approach. Trends in Agric Econs 2008,1(1):1-7. 10.3923/tae.2008.1.7CrossRef
10.
Sofowora A: Medicinal Plants and Traditional Medicine in Africa. Spectrum Books Limited Ibadan; 1993:289.
11.
Okunlola JO: The sociology of the use of medicinal plants. In Medicinal Plants in Agriculture: The Nigerian Experience. Proceedings of the Akure-Humboldt Kellog/3rd SAAT Annual Conference Edited by: Onibi GE, Agele SO, Adekunle VAJ, Olufayo MO. 2007, XLIV-LII.
12.
Mafimisebi TE, Fakoya OE: Awareness and uptake of traditional livestock health management practices based on medicines derived from medicinal plants among farmers in Southwest, Nigeria. In Medicinal Plants in Agriculture: The Nigerian Experience. Proceedings of the Akure-Humboldt Kellog/3rd SAAT Annual Conference Edited by: Onibi GE, Agele SO, Adekunle VAJ, Olufayo MO. 2007, 204-213.
13.
Center for the Study of Religion and Culture: Use of traditional vs. orthodox medicine in help-seeking behavior for psychiatric disorders in Nigeria. Summer Fellowship Report 2005.
14.
Lev E: Traditional healing with animals (zootherapy): medieval to present-day Levantine practice. J Ethnopharmacol 2003, 86: 107-118. 10.1016/S0378-8741(02)00377-XCrossRef
15.
Yesilada E: Past and future contributions to traditional medicine in the health care system of the Middle East. J Ethnopharmacol 2005,100(1-2):135-137. 10.1016/j.jep.2005.06.003PubMedCrossRef
16.
Alves RR, Rosa IL: From Cnidarians to mammals: The use of animals as remedies in fishing communities of NE Brazil. J Ethnopharmacol 2006, 107: 259-276. 10.1016/j.jep.2006.03.007PubMedCrossRef
17.
Alves RN, Rosa IL: Biodiversity, traditional medicine and public health: Where do they meet? J Ethnobiol & Ethnomed 2007, 3: 14.CrossRef
18.
Amonum JI: A survey of medicinal plants used in human health. In Medicinal Plants in Agriculture: The Nigerian Experience. Proceedings of the Akure Humbolt Kellog/Third SAAT Annual Agric, Conference Edited by: Onibi GE, Agele SO, Adekunle VAJ, Olufayo MO. 2009, 28-32.
19.
Adeola MO: Importance of wild animals and their parts in the culture, religious festivals, and traditional medicine of Nigeria. Environ Conserv 1992,19(2):125-134. 10.1017/S0376892900030605CrossRef
20.
Farnsworth NR, Morris RW: Higher plants: the sleeping giants for drug development. Am J Pharma 1976, 148: 46-52.
21.
Farnsworth NR, Soejarto DD: Potential consequence of plant extinction in the United States on current and future availability of prescription drugs. Econ Bot 1985,39(3):231-40. 10.1007/BF02858792CrossRef
22.
Soejarto DD: Biodiversity prospecting and benefit sharing: perspectives from the field. J Ethnopharmacol 1996, 51: 1-15. 10.1016/0378-8741(95)01345-8PubMedCrossRef
23.
24.
Makhubu L: Bioprospecting in an African Context. Science 1998,282(5386):41-42. 10.1126/science.282.5386.41PubMedCrossRef
25.
Lenore WM: The economic uses and associated folklore of ferns and fern allies. The Botanical Review 1978,44(4):34-45.
26.
Samejima M, Sibaoka T: Identification of the excitable cells in the petiole of Mimosa pudica by intracellular injection of procion yellow. Plant and Cell Physiol 1983,24(1):33-39.
27.
Sarojini TR: Modern Biology for Senior Secondary Schools. Africana First Publishers Ltd, Onitsha, Nigeria; 42-43.
28.
Steer BT: Control of Diurnal Variations in Photosynthetic Product: Il. Nitrate Reductase activity. Plant Physiol 1974, 54: 762-765. 10.1104/pp.54.5.762PubMedCentralPubMedCrossRef
29.
Inya-Agba SI, Oguntimein BO, Sofowora A, Benjamin TV: Diurnal and nocturnal variations in the concentrations of the volatile oil content of Siam Weed ( Euphatorium odoratum L .) for medicinal purposes. Inter J of Crude Drug Res 1987,25(1):49-55.
30.
Abdul AK, Achakzai AP, Masood A, Kayani SA, Tareen RB: Response of plant parts and age on the distribution of secondary metabolites on plants found in Quetta. Pak J Bot 2009,41(5):2129-2135.
31.
Campion J, Bhugra D: Experiences of religious healing in psychiatric patients in South India. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology 1997.,32(4): 10.1007/BF00788241
32.
Verger PF: The use of plants in Yoruba traditional medicine and its linguistic approach. In Seminar paper delivered at a conference on Traditional Medicine in Yorubaland. Department of African Languages and Literature, University of Ife, Ile-Ife, Nigeria; 1976:8.
33.
Schiff E, Gurgevich S, Caspi O: Potential synergism between hypnosis and acupuncture--Is the whole more than the sum of its parts? Advance Access Publication 2006,4(2):233-240. eCAM. doi:10.1093/ecam/nel069
34.
35.
Abimbola W: Sixteen Great Verses of Ifa. UNESCO, Paris; 1972.
36.
Dafni A: Rituals, ceremonies and customs related to sacred trees with a special reference to the Middle East. J Ethnobiol & Ethnomed 2007, 3: 28.CrossRef
37.
38.
Bassey AE, Kanung R: The history and cultural background of Busi People. Paper delivered at a workshop on Cultural Anthropology of the Inhabitants of Rainforest of Southeastern Nigeria and Southwestern Cameroon, held at the Obudu Cattle Ranch and Resort, Cross River State, Nigeria 1996.
39.
Appiah-Opoku S: Indigenous beliefs and environmental stewardship: A rural Ghana experience. J Cultural Geo 2007,24(2):79-98. 10.1080/08873630709478212CrossRef
40.
Lajide L: Biotechnology and phamarceutical aspects of medicinal plants. In Medicinal Plants in Agriculture: The Nigerian Experience. Proceedings of the Akure Humbolt Kellog/Third SAAT Annual Agric, Conference Edited by: Onibi GE, Agele SO, Adekunle VAJ, Olufayo MO. 2007, LIII-LVII.
41.
Oguntade AE, Oluwalana IB: An appraisal of the formal market for medicinal plants in Nigeria. In Formulation of Medicinal Plants for Crop and Animal Production in Nigeria: Realities and Challenges. Proceedings of the Humbolt Kellohg/Fifth Annual Agric, Conference Edited by: Agele SO, Adekunle VAJ, Osho IB, Oshundahunsi OF, Olufayo MO. 2009, 233-237.
42.
Wolfenson JD: Message from the President of The World Bank and Chairman, the Board of Directors, The World Bank Group. World Bank Annual Report; 2004.
43.
World Bank: Towards better health in Sub-Saharan Africa. Africa Region. 1994., Number 25:
44.
Jimoh A: The malaria burden and agricultural output in Nigeria. Agrosearch 2005,7(1&2):43-50.
45.
Alaba OA, Alaba OB: Malaria in rural Nigeria: Implications for the millennium development goal. Afr Dev Rev 2009,21(1):73-85. 10.1111/j.1467-8268.2009.00204.xCrossRef
46.
WHO: Review of Traditional Medicine Programme (TRM). WHO Document No AFR/RC 42/19, Brazzaville 1992.
47.
Mafimisebi TE: A comparative economic analysis of two cassava-based business activities exclusive to the female gender in Oyo State, Nigeria. J of Agric Ext 2007, 10: 1-11.
48.
Mafimisebi TE, Okunmadewa FY: Poverty analysis at two levels of Gari marketing in Ibadan Metropolis. Moor J of Agric Res 2004,5(2):135-143.
49.
Mafimisebi TE: Management of farm proceeds for enhanced agricultural productivity: A case study of cassava farmers in Ondo State, Nigeria. J of Human Eco 2008,24(2):125-130.
50.
Oyeneye OY, Orubuloye IO: Traditional health management resources in Nigeria: The case of Bendel State. Ame J of Society, Culture and Environ 1983, 3: 97-110.
51.
Federal Ministry of Health: The Primary Healthcare in Nigeria. A publication of the Federal Ministry of Health, Abuja, Nigeria; 1995:56.
52.
53.
Akuyili D: Fake and counterfeit drugs in the health sector: The role of medical doctors. Annals of Ibadan Postgraduate Medicine 2004,2(2):21-28.
54.
Odugbemi T: Medicinal plants in Nigeria: Challenges for a new spirit and teamwork. Medicinal Plants in Agriculture: The Nigerian Experience. Proceedings of the Akure-Humboldt Kellog/3rd SAAT Annual Conference 2007, X-XIV.
Metadata
Title
Preparation and use of plant medicines for farmers' health in Southwest Nigeria: socio-cultural, magico-religious and economic aspects
Authors
Taiwo E Mafimisebi
Adegboyega E Oguntade
Publication date
01-12-2010
Publisher
BioMed Central
Published in
Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine / Issue 1/2010
Electronic ISSN: 1746-4269
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/1746-4269-6-1

Other articles of this Issue 1/2010

Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine 1/2010 Go to the issue

Research

Ethnoveterinary plant remedies used by Nu people in NW Yunnan of China

Research

Folk medicine used to heal malaria in Calabria (southern Italy)

Research

Utilisation of priority traditional medicinal plants and local people's knowledge on their conservation status in arid lands of Kenya (Mwingi District)

Research

Ethnomedicine and ethnobotany of fright, a Caribbean culture-bound psychiatric syndrome

Research

An ethnozoological study in the adjoining areas of Mount Abu wildlife sanctuary, India

Research

Ethnomedicinal uses of Hagenia abyssinica (Bruce) J.F. Gmel. among rural communities of Ethiopia