Management and practices of ethno-veterinary health amongst livestock producers in Africa

Abstract

The objective of this review paper is to highlight the ethno-veterinary health management practices found amongst 
livestock producers in Africa. It is to also help livestock agents and farmers to integrate and promote the use of 
ethno-veterinary medicine in animal health care, focusing on livestock diseases and parasites in Africa. Plants are 
the most commonly used ingredients in the preparation of ethno-veterinary medicines. All plant parts, including 
leaves, bark, fruits, flowers, seeds and roots are used in medicinal preparations. Edible earth from termite and 
anthills is also used in ethno-veterinary preparations. Limestone and minerals are commonly used in decoctions 
and concoctions. Part sand products of animals, such as skin sand hides, bones, milk, butter, castor oil, cod liver 
oil, fish oil, snake oil and even urine and dung are ingredients of ethno-veterinary medicines. Honey, vegetable oils, 
butter and salt are used for their healing and preservative properties. Spiritual forces maybe invoked by prayers 
during rituals. Rituals are important in the interaction between African livestock keepers and their animals. To 
ensure that the herd thrives, animal husbandry is strictly ritualized. Many different rituals are performed, such as 
invoking the gods through dance or the sacrifice of an animal. Other rituals involve writing a phrase from the 
Koranona slate and washing it in a calabash. The liquid is then used to drench the sick animal. Ritual incantations 
and prayers are sometimes connected with particular plants and special ingredients. To keep animals healthy, 
traditional healing practices have been applied for centuries and have been passed down orally from generation to 
generation. Before the introduction of western medicine, all livestock keepers relied on these traditional practices. 
Ethno-veterinary medicine is accessible, easy to prepare and administer, cheaper and forms part of our traditional 
culture. It is a good attempt on traditional African practices of treatment of animal diseases and parasites. 
However, we can skip those which are harmful methods like hot iron branding; snake oil leading to killing or loss of 
snakes and also be discouraged. Researchers, healers and livestock keepers can together experiment the 
practices / evaluate them after careful selection of few best practices and test them at field level and then 
disseminate with more confidence. Extracting roots or barks of trees /plants can also be discouraged to preserve 
the wealth of plants or only sustainable harvesting practiced. This approach will prevent loss of knowledge on EVM 
and promote low cost solutions locally.