Indigenous knowledge of veterinary medicinal plant use in cattle treatment in southwestern Burkina Faso
The aim of this study (PDF) in the South African Journal of Botany is to inventory medicinal plants in cattle husbandry in Burkina Faso. Traditional livestock husbandry is of great socio-economic importance for farmers and pastoral populations in Burkina Faso. The results showed that 26 medicinal plants for veterinary use. In total, 9 important cattle diseases for which medicinal plants are used have been recorded. The most frequent diseases reported were foot and mouth disease and animal trypanosomosis. Decoction was the most used preparatin recorded for disease treatment (62%). Statistical analysis revealed that men know more medicinal plants than women do. The results have indicated a disparity of medicinal plant knowledge according to age classes. The results also revealed a significant difference of plants recognised by seven ethnic groups. Knowledge of different medicinal plants for veterinary use among the ethnic groups was influenced by the family income source and the main activity. The informant consensus factor showed that all the informants agreed on the importance of medicinal plant conservation. These findings will contribute to integrate the local knowledge of communities into appropriate proposals to preserve veterinary medicinal plants. Recommendations are that: 1) the authorities should be encouraged to organise sessions of sharing and exchange of knowledge of veterinary medicinal plants among pastoralists, which will enable them to be equally informed for better management of bovine diseases; 2) medicinal plants used in veterinary medicine should be promoted, such as plants used in human health care, on national days of traditional medicine.