Use of medicinal plants and natural products as part of indigenous veterinary practices of South Omo and Gamo Goffa agro-pastoral communities in Ethiopia

There are various diseases prevailing the livestock resource of Ethiopia, including foot and mouth disease, black leg, mastitis, anthrax, trypanosomiasis, and parasitic diseases. With the varying ecosystem, Ethiopia has many species of plants adapted to such wide range of ecosystem. A project was launched to research and document plants use in South Omo and Gamo Gofa zones in Ethiopia. Fifteen informants of South Omo [1] and 110 informants of Gamo Gofa selected by community members are recognized as co-researchers. Discussions were conducted on diseases, symptoms, treatment procedures and used plant species and parts. Most plants are known in local names and require future taxonomical work but are illustrated by photographs to make tracing easy for future research. The recording work took one year in each part of the study. Field work was conducted for 15 days in each month for 12 months in each case [1]. The same authors and two more practitioners carried out similar work in 2009 from January to December for Gamo Gofa cattle keepers' area. For South Omo and Gamo Gofa 107 and 250 plants have been recorded respectively. Selected medicinal plants of Gamo Gofa and South Omo and their use is listed in the table below. The most often mentioned diseases by Gamo Gofa informants were black leg and mastitis and that of South Omo informants were mangemites and ticks. During the period of documentation, informants have demonstrated the use of part of a single plant or parts of multiple species of plants depending on the treatment procedures of different diseases mentioned by the informants. The common application procedures are drenching intranasal and orally, topical application on the udder and body of the animal, smoking, and fumigation. During the course of these documentations it has been understood that indigenous medicine can contribute a wealth of knowledge to the conventional medicine.

Local/Vernacular name(s)	Plant type	Botanical name	Disease and treatment by the plant	Region/ Zone
Gara/Girawa	Shrub or small tree	Vernonia amygdalina	The leaves fed with traditional mineral soil (ado) for diarrhea, ½ handful gara leaves, one coffee cup of feto and one head of garlic crushed together and drenched 3 times for to treat diarrhea.	Gamo Gofa
Anka/Bisana	Tree	Croton macrostachyus	Tsilike/gupitsula- anthrax treatment, for getting rid of lice and ticks, to deworm tapeworm. To cure mange mites, Thelezia (eye worm). The bark of its stem is pound; mixed with water and orally administered for 2 days. The leaf of anka macerated with erithrina and smeared over the skin of the animal infested with lice and ticks. Young leaves of anka macerated and drenched for getting rid of tapeworm. The bark used to treat mange mites. Anka leaves macerated, mixed with water and some drops applied into the eyes for Thelezia	Gamo Gofa
Gulo/ Damakese	Shrub	Ocimum lamiifolium	Mastitis treatment. The leaf macerated and the sick cow is drenched and also the udder is smeared	Gamo Gofa
Ambe	Tree	Terminalia schimperiana	Used for gupitsula and mengimites treatment. Root used for gupitsula treatment. The bark of anka, ambe root and katikala root pound together and juice is orally administered and the residue smeared on the affected part of skin.	Gamo Gofa
Higisha maro	Shrub	Clutia abyssinica	Mastitis Leaf pounded with termite mound soil and the cow drenched orally	Gamo Gofa
Kilmech	Tree	Ximenia americana	Mange mite. The seed of the plant macerated by stones and mixed with fresh butter and applied to the affected skin.	South Omo
Aloe/eret	Herb	Aloe pirottae	For tick treatment. The sap of Aloe pirottae is applied on the skin.	South Omo

Acknowledgements: We acknowledge Culture and Art Society of Ethiopia (CASE) for administrative assistance and The Christensen Fund (TCF) for funding the project.

Keywords: Ethno veterinary practices, medicinal plants, animal diseases.

References:

[1] Taffese M, Assegid S, Abayneh L. Verification of traditional control methods of ticks and mites in South Omo, Ethiopia 2005 (Eds) Kamondo B, Malo M, Ochuodho T, Opanga O. Biodiversity Research for Livelihood Support and Food Security. Proceedings of the 5th RPSUD Workshop 2004. National Museum of Kenya, Nairobi, Kenya. pp 83 – 89

[2] Taffese M, Samson S. Indigenous veterinary practices of South Omo Agro-Pastoral Communities, 1^st edition. Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 2009.