Indigenous Knowledge and Practices on Medicinal Plants Used by Local Communities of Gambella Region, South West Ethiopia

Abstract

Indigenous knowledge and practices on medicinal plants used by local communities of Gambella region, south west Ethiopia was conducted to investigate those potential and popular medicinal plants used for the treatment of various diseases in Gambella region. A total of 100 purposively selected inhabitants were employed in the study of which 84 were male and 16 were females. A traditional use of plants information was obtained by semi structured oral interviews from experienced rural elders, Focus group discussion and through questionnaire administered to traditional herbal medicine practitioners of the study area. 81 medicinal plants were identified for the traditional treatment of both human (25) and animal (16) disease. The highest numbers of medicinal plants for traditional uses utilized by this community were belonging to shrubs 30(37.03%) followed by trees (32.10%). The result reviled that 15.2% of the remedies are prepared from root part and squeezing accounts 17(20.99%) followed by chewing 14(17.28%). The major routs of administration of traditional medicines were reported oral 50(61.73%). Urine, placental retention and milk let down accounts higher informants’ consensus factor value (0.96). The findings showed that sheferaw and leele have higher fidelity level which is 100 and 92 respectively. Various factors were recorded as the main threats of medicinal plants in the study area. In conclusion, the community carries a vast knowledge of medicinal plants but this knowledge is also rapidly disappearing in this community. Such type of ethno-botanical studies will help in systematic documentation of ethno-botanical knowledge and availing to the scientific world plant therapies used as antivenin by the Gambella community and further research on plant species identification and chemical extraction is recommended.