Medicinal plants boost livelihoods

A project developing medicinal products from plants found in Kakamega forest, western Kenya, has transformed the livelihoods of nearby communities over the past few years, officials of the International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (ICIPE) have said.



A powder developed from one of the plants is used as a revitaliser, appetizer and clearer of hangovers: A group of farmers who have domesticated the "highly threatened" medicinal plant, known locally as mkombela (scientific name mondia whytei), used to collect and sell the roots locally.



Another group of farmers are involved in the domestication of the medicinal plant ocimum kilimandscharicum. A leaf extract from the plant is used in the manufacture of a balm and an ointment used to treat flu, cold, chest congestion, aches, pain and insect bites.



"We believe the project has a major role to play as a model for conservation or biodiversity and in the improvement of the livelihoods of communities living near the forest," Wilber Lwande, ICIPE leader of the applied bioprospecting programme, told IRIN on 21 April.



"It is also one of the ways of enabling indigenous traditional knowledge to be useful to humankind before [that knowledge] is entirely lost."



Communities living near the forest relied on it for firewood, building materials and various herbs. However, since commercial cultivation and processing of the medicinal products began about eight years ago, reliance on the forest has decreased, allowing better forest conservation.



Community enterprise



James Ligare, assistant administrator of the Mondia community enterprise, said a group of 30 farmers, known as the Muliro Farmers, were involved in the initial domestication of the mondia plant, which takes six months to mature. These farmers have since encouraged "outgrowers" to cultivate the plant, which is processed in a factory built with financial assistance from international donors.

Photo: Jane Some/IRIN

Naturub, from the ocimum kilimandscharicum plant, is used to alleviate flu, cold, chest congestion, aches, pain and insect bites

"The farmers harvest the plant three times a year and most say they earn more from mondia than they did cultivating crops like maize and tea," Ligare said. "On average, a farmer makes 35,000-40,000 Kenya shillings [US$437-500 ] when they cultivate the plant on a small plot, ranging from an eighth of an acre to half an acre [one acre is 0.404 hectares]."



Ligare said the bioprospecting programme had raised the status of the communities involved. Those who previously lived in grass-thatched houses now have better homes; and awareness about environmental conservation has improved and many of local people are seeking computer and business management skills in efforts to improve production.



Frederick Nduguli, a consultant in ICIPE's bioprospecting and conservation programme, said the products from mondia and ocimum kilimandscharicum - with approvals from the Pharmacy and Poisons Board of Kenya, the Kenya Industrial Property Institute and the Kenya Bureau of Standards - are available in most supermarkets across the country.



Bioprospecting



ICIPE - a non-profit organisation - has a dozen programmes (one of which is applied bioprospecting) aimed at helping to alleviate poverty and ensure food security and improved health.



Lwande said biosprospecting was increasingly being recognised for its potential to uplift economies. Effective bioprospecting, he said, would allow African nations to have a stake in the global industry of naturally derived products.



ICIPE projects in Coast Province are helping communities living near coastal forests to undertake the commercial collection and processing of seeds from the Neem tree and the Aloe plant.



The Neem (scientific name azadirachta indica) thrives in the semi-arid region of Kwale, whilst the Aloe plant is cultivated by communities near Shimba hills forest.



Neem oil and other Neem plant-based products are used in the manufacture of medical, cosmetic, pesticidal and agricultural products. The Aloe plant is used in making soap.



Lwande estimated that up to 30,000 Kenyans benefit from the bioprospecting and conservation projects undertaken with ICIPE's help in Kenya's western and coastal provinces.



js/cb