The health care system in African countries is widely based on the natural world of herbs and medicinal plants. A vast traditional knowledge that has been accumulated for centuries are transmitted through generations. Southern Africa is reputed to be the store house of 10 percent of the world’s plant species. But knowledge about them unearthed or substantiated with scientific research has been few. Fewer have been commercialized. But initiatives in research, publication of their results and application for patents have seen an increase in recent years.
There are herbal or medicinal plant markets in African countries. These markets are the source of these plants for use by the local people. This is mostly a part of the informal economy. However, there is also an expanding formal economy of these products in African countries. This is due to the increasing demand of these herbal remedies by the well off people in Africa and outside. There is also a worldwide increasing demand for these natural remedies. This has come along with the global cultural trend towards organic naturopathies. The traditional knowledge and herbal and medicinal plants are becoming commercialized. Nutraceutical, cosmeceutical and pharmaceutical industries locally as well as globally are making use of the reported use of medicinal plants by local communities. The information on the traditional use of medicinal plants is available from the field researches being carried out in African countries on indigenous knowledge, traditional knowledge and folklore medicines.
The traditional plant knowledge of southern African people is a source for the development of products. There is a rise in research activities. The recent trend indicates that there is a rush for documenting such knowledge. These ethno-medicinals are marketed globally. Hoodia gordonii is a tender plant from the Kalahari Desert in southern Africa that has grabbed global attention. This has become popular as an appetite suppressant. It is marketed in many forms such as pills, capsules, and shakes. The pure Hoodia gordonii liquid is said to be more powerful than the pills and capsules.
The global market for such products present rising opportunities for these African countries that could raise the income levels of these impoverished peoples. At the same time there is a threat of exhaustion of these plants from its natural habitat as a result of uncontrolled collection. Scientific conservation management practices are required to ensure that the extraction of these herbs is sustainable.
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