Allachy project: Community-based cultivation of commercially used medicinal plants and their integration in home health care in Bunza village, Mpigi District, Central Uganda

Elderly man shares his knowledge of medicinal plants at Bunza, Mpigi District, Central Uganda. © Dennis Kamoga

 

See also:

• Progress Report, March 2008
  By Dennis Kamoga, Executive Director, Joint Ethnobotanical Research and Advocacy

Project background

A great majority of Ugandans depend on medicinal plants for their health care needs. This is due to inadequate and expensive health services. The situation is compounded by the few existing numbers of doctors to handle the ever increasing population. Consequently, the rural communities prefer using herbal medicines as a cheap and effective alternative to cure common ailments. This is because medicinal plants are socially and culturally acceptable as a means of meeting people’s daily health needs.

Therefore, the demand for medicinal plants has tremendously increased, to meet the growing need. However, habitat loss due to land use changes coupled with commercial over exploitation is causing endangerment to particular medicinal plants (especially Psorospermum febrifugum in our area). This is because the wild habitats are the sole source of medicinal plant supply. The situation is worsened by inadequate efforts, knowledge and skills to regenerate these plants for conservation purposes at community levels. It is against this background that the project seeks to promote community-based cultivation of medicinal plants and enhance their integration into home health care.

Implementers

Joint Ethnobotanical Research and Advocacy (JERA)

Department of Botany, Makerere University; P.O.Box 27901, Kampala, Uganda. Tel: +256 712212006; +256 712747798. E-mail: jera360@yahoo.com. Contact: Dennis Kamoga, Isaac Kimbowa.

Project purpose

Conserve and promote accessibility of medicinal plants for the improvement of health care and livelihoods in Bunza village, central Uganda.

Immediate objectives of the work

• Empower fifty community members with knowledge and skills in propagation and
• Cultivation of ten commercially prioritized medicinal plants.
• Raise 1000 nursery seedlings of each of the ten prioritized medicinal plants.
• Promote utilization of medicinal plants in home health care for common ailments.
• Distribute seedlings to households for establishment of medicinal plant gardens and for small-scale commercial cultivation.
• Conserve and promote accessibility of medicinal plants for the improvement of health care and livelihoods in Bunza village, central Uganda.

Expected outputs

• An inventory of medicinal plants used by the community for domestic health care.
• Development of training and educational materials for community conservation of medicinal plants.
• Trained participants in collection, processing and treatment of plant propagules (seeds, etc.).
• Trained participants in propagation and cultivation techniques of ten priority species.
• Trained participants in nursery bed preparation, nursery and seedling management.
• 10,000 seedlings of the ten priority species will be raised for replanting in the natural habitats and establishment of medicinal plant gardens at house hold levels.
• Trained participants in use, preparation and application of the ten priority medicinal plants.
• Establishment of medicinal plant gardens at household level.
• Test of a methodology for community-based conservation of medicinal plants.

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