BAIF Development Research Foundation

ETHNOVETERINARY MEDICINE: ALTERNATIVES FOR LIVESTOCK DEVELOPMENT
PROCEEDINGS OF AN INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE HELD IN PUNE, INDIA, 4-6 NOVEMBER 1997
VOLUME 1: SELECTED PAPERS
FILE 3 OF 9: PART 2: VALIDATION OF ETHNOVETERINARY MEDICINE

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Key words and phrases:

animal health, community based animal health care, environment, ethnoveterinary medicine, indigenous knowledge, indigenous systems, participation, veterinary

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Edited by:
Evelyn Mathias
D.V. Rangnekar
and Constance M. McCorkle
with the assistance of
Marina Martin

Published 1999 by BAIF Development Research Foundation, Pune, India 1999

BAIF Development Research Foundation
BAIF Bhavan, Dr. Manibhai Desai Nagar
Warje Malewadi (Bombay - Bangalore bypass highway)
Pune 411 029, India
Phone +91-212-365 494, fax: +91-212-366 788

BAIF is a non-political, secular non-governmental organisation involved in livestock development. BAIF's mission is to create opportunities of gainful self-employment for rural families, especially disadvantaged sections, ensuring sustainable livelihood, enriched environment, improved quality of life and good human health. This will be achieved through development research, effective use of local resources, extension of appropriate technologies and upgradation of skills and capabilities with community participation.

Correct citation:
Mathias, E., D.V. Rangnekar, and C.M. McCorkle. 1999. Ethnoveterinary Medicine: Alternatives for Livestock Development. Proceedings of an International Conference held in Pune, India, on November 4-6, 1997. Volume 1: Selected Papers. BAIF Development Research Foundation, Pune, India.

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CONTENTS
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Part 2: Validation of Ethnoveterinary Medicine

Traditional veterinary practices in rural Medak, India
Khan Shaheen Hamed

The use of indigenous veterinary remedies in Malawi
B.M.D. Kambewa, M.W. Mfitilodze, K. Hüttner, C.B.A. Wollny, and R.K.D. Phoya

A recognition of rural knowledge: medicinal plants and traditional veterinary medicine of central Africa (testing the traditional veterinary pharmacopoeia)
K. Kasonia and M. Ansay

Indigenous technologies for health coverage in sheep
Dinesh Kumar

Participatory workshops to produce information materials on ethnoveterinary medicine
Paul Mundy and Evelyn Mathias

Ethnoveterinary knowledge and practices among the Samburu people: A case study
Jacob Barasa Wanyama

 

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PART II: VALIDATION OF ETHNOVETERINARY MEDICINE

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Traditional veterinary practices in rural Medak, India

Khan Shaheen Hamed

To prepare a package of simple, effective traditional veterinary treatments for rural Medak of Andhra Pradesh, India, the author collected information on ethnoveterinary medicine through personal interviews, discussions, and meetings with local healers and livestock owners from villages in Medak. Thus details of 160 indigenous veterinary treatments have been documented for 24 animal diseases.

Since several treatments exist for each disease, an attempt has been made to validate treatments on an empirical basis by keeping quantitative and qualitative records of cases and their treatments. For verechanalu 'diarrhoea', 23 treatments have been collected and for six of these, treatment records exist.

This paper lists the six treatments and summarises the experiences gained from the application of these treatments in 68 animals with verechanalu. Verechanalu can be caused by intestinal parasites, sudden change in feed, infectious diseases, contaminated water and overfeeding. According to farmers, animals with verechanalu have loose faeces that are sometimes mixed with blood, do not want to eat, have dry skin and sunken eyes, and are dehydrated.

Treatment 1

Extract the juice from about a handful leaves of Securinega robovates (tellapulicheri) and mix it with about 250 ml of curd (perugu). Drench the whole amount twice a day for two days. (Source: Bheemappa, Eedulapally village).

Treatment 2

Prepare powder from 200 g of dried leaves of Punica granatum (danimma) or crush fresh leaves. Force feed twice a day for two days. (Source: Bagamma, Sangapur village).

Treatment 3

Take 100 g of leaves of each Psidium guajava (jama) and Securinega robovates and press out their juice. Mix the juice with jaggery, water or curd and drench once a day for two days. (Source: Gangamma, Chilkapali village).

Treatment 4

Mix 20 g of Cuminum cyminum (jilikara) seed powder with 100-250 ml of water and drench once a day for three days. (Source: Eramma, Guntamarpalli village).

Treatment 5

Feed a handful of Bambusa spinosa (egitaku) leaves once a day for two or three days. (Source: Sangaiah, Jambigi village).

Treatment 6

Take a handful of Acacia arabica (nalla thumma) leaves, grind them into a powder and mix the powder with jaggery into a bolus. Feed the bolus once a day for two days. (Source: Susheelamma, Potpally village).

Table 1 shows the efficacy of the six treatments against verechanalu. The data are based on interviews with livestock owners after the animals had been treated with one of the six preparations. In 65 out of 68 cases, farmers regarded the treatments as effective. About 68% of the animals had received treatment 2 and only in one instance, it was classified as not very effective. Treatment 1 was used in about 18% of the cases and marked as effective in all instances. The remaining treatments were used only in a few animals each. Only treatment 4 was regarded as not very effective.

Documenting and validating ethnoveterinary practices is a first step towards preserving and promoting them in villages of Medak district.

 

 

Table 1. Efficacy of six herbal treatments against verechanalu 'diarrhoea' in 28 villages in Medak, A.P., India.

Treat-ment	No of cases treated Sex: female / male (F/M) Age: average (range)	effective	Not very effective
1	1 buffalo sex: F age: 8 years	1
	10 goats sex: 9F / 1M age: 2.2 years (2 months - 6 years)	10
	1 cow sex: F age: 6 years	1
2	12 buffaloes sex: 11F / 1M age: 3.4 years (2 months - 8 years)	11	1
	35 goats sex: 34F / 1 M age: 2.4 years (1 month - 5 years)	35
3	2 goats sex: 2F age: 3.5 years (3 - 4 years)	2
4	2 goats sex: 2F age: 1.1 years (2 months - 2 years)		2
5	4 goats sex: 4F age: 1.4 years (2 months - 3 years)	4
6	1 goat sex: F age: 2 years	1

 

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The use of indigenous veterinary remedies in Malawi

B.M.D. Kambewa, M.W. Mfitilodze, K. Hüttner, C.B.A. Wollny,² and R.K.D. Phoya²

Introduction

In Malawi, the major livestock health constraints in cattle are East Coast fever (ECF), babesiosis, anaplasmosis, heartwater, and endoparasites (Msiska 1988). ECF accounts for up to 50% mortality in calves in the Central Region (Norman and Soldan 1994), and up to 60% losses in calves and weaners in Mzuzu ADD (Demel 1995). In chickens the major constraints are Newcastle disease and ectoparasite infestation. Control of these health problems is inadequate. Mfitilodze (1990) noted that it was expensive for the government to import the drugs. The government also supplies some veterinary services through projects like the Basic Animal Health Services in the Northern Region of Malawi. This project has established a revolving fund for veterinary drugs.

Besides the existing veterinary structures, farmers in the rural areas use traditional medicines to treat livestock. Sondermann et al., (1993) observed that in the Northern Region of Malawi, farmers crushed local plants or parts of them and mixed them into drinking water for chickens to prevent or cure Newcastle disease and diarrhoea. They also used Mucuna puriens and Tephrosia vogelii as insecticides against external parasites such as fleas in chickens. Demel (1995) observed that in the same region calves had scars at lymph node points that were burnt the traditional way as a treatment against ECF. Others had their ear tips cut off for the same reason. However, there is scanty literature on indigenous veterinary remedies in Malawi and as in most countries, no studies have been conducted to provide scientific information on the purposes and effectiveness of the indigenous remedies.

Methodology

The survey

A case study survey was done to gather information on the usage of indigenous remedies among smallholder farmers in the rural areas. This survey was conducted in the seven non-dipping areas in the Northern Region for a period of 1.5 months from August to September 1995. The veterinary assistants (VAs) purposively selected livestock farmers to be interviewed on the basis of their knowledge about indigenous remedies. The author alone conducted the interviews to maintain confidentiality.

The following data were collected with a questionnaire:

• the range of common livestock ailments that farmers complained about and how they diagnosed them;
• the ailments that could be treated with indigenous veterinary remedies,
• the types of medicinal materials, their mode of preparation and application, and the results usually obtained,
• management practices
• background information of the farmers including gender, education, age, how long they have been practising the remedies, and how and why they had started using indigenous veterinary remedies.

On several trips, leaves, barks, roots or whole plant samples of the medicinal materials were collected with the farmers, labelled, and taken to Bunda College of Agriculture for botanical identification. Initially, botanical identification was done using Shorter (1989), Pulinger and Kitchin (1982), and Williamson (1975). The plants were later confirmed at the National Herbarium in Zomba. Slides, print photographs and a video film were taken of the farmers, the animals the farmers claimed to have treated and the plant materials used. Some farmers demonstrated the preparation and application of their medicine. The data from the survey were analysed to get frequencies and cross-tabulations in the Personal Computer version of the Statistical Package for Social Scientists (SPSS/PC+).

Screening tests

A farmer demonstrated how he killed ticks using the extracts from Tephrosia vogelii Hook. Based on the results, screening tests were done under controlled conditions on tick and flea infestation of cattle and chickens respectively. Also included in the tests for ectoparasites was the extract of the tuber of Physostigma mesoponticum. The medicines were prepared and administered following the farmers' instructions.

Table 1. Experimental layout for ticks and fleas.

Treatment	No. Chickens	No. Cattle
Tephrosia vogelii Hook	2	3
Physostigma mesoponticum Taub	2	3
Control	2

The cattle were naturally infested with Amblyomma ticks on the belly and Rhipicephalus ticks around the ears. The chickens were naturally infested with fleas (Echinophaga spp.) on the combs, eyelids, and wattles. Infested areas were marked and ticks or fleas inside were counted. The marked areas were thoroughly bathed with the extracts of Physostigma mesoponticum and Tephrosia vogelii. Some areas on cattle and two chickens were left untreated to act as control. Cattle were then left to graze while chickens were kept in cages in the laboratory. Observations on ticks falling off or dying or clearing from the marked areas on cattle were made 1 hour, 12 hours, and 24 hours after treatment. On chickens, the observations on fleas were made 1 hour, 2 hours, and 12 hours after treatment.

Evaluation of the handling practices of Physostigma mesoponticum Taub

The handling practices that farmers follow on Physostigma mesoponticum Taub, namely extraction method and shelf-life were evaluated to see the effect on the potency of the extract from the tuber. Hardened larvae of Rhipicephalus appendiculatus were obtained from the Tick-borne Vaccine Production Centre and transported in cool containers. These were used as a test system to determine the LD₅₀ in the experiments. The method used was based on FAO Tick Resistance Testing Techniques as outlined by Wilson (1980). Ten-fold dilutions of the extracts were prepared and tested in the tick larval method.

Serial extraction method test

The extract was obtained in the serial extraction method: 250g of the paste were soaked in 2 litres of water. After every 12 hours of soaking, the preparation was sieved through a tea strainer to drain the paste and the extract collected was tested for effectiveness in the larval packet method. The paste was then squeezed to remove excess extract and soaked again in 2 litres of tap water in a glass flask.

Shelf-life test

For this test 250 g of the paste was soaked in 2 litres of water. The extract obtained was filtered through cotton wool into glass flasks, kept in the laboratory at room temperature, and covered with aluminium foil. Samples of the extract were collected and tested for effectiveness once per week in the larval packet method. Daily inspections were carried out to check changes in colour and smell of the extract. Daily maximum and minimum temperature and relative humidity in the laboratory were recorded at 9.00 a.m. using a maximum and minimum thermometer and a sling psychrometer respectively.

Results

Farmers complained most about 29 livestock ailments. The ailments were confirmed with veterinary assistants/scouts. The farmers identified the ailments by observing clinical signs like erection of the hair, inability to eat, to move, to pass urine or stools, colour of the stools and abnormal sounds produced by the animal.

Ailments that can be treated and the materials used

Farmers claimed to be able to treat 17 of the 29 ailments. Table 2 lists the plants and other materials that the farmers use to treat some of the 17 ailments. The ailments that could not be treated by the farmers were tuberculosis, pneumonia, rabies, and poisonous caterpillars in ruminants and stillbirth and African swine fever (ASF) in pigs.

Table 2. Botanical and local names of some materials used as indigenous remedies for livestock ailments as reported by farmers.

Material used	Condition used on
Steganotaenia araliacea Hochst	Worms, snake bite
Sesamun angolense Wel., Aloe nuttii, Kigelia aethiopica, uziro (soil)	Newcastle
Physostigma mesoponticum Taub.	Ticks, Newcastle
Sema didymobotrya Fresen	Worms
Vernonia adoensis Schultz. Bip ex Walp.	Worms, ticks, ECF, snake bite
Tephrosia vogelii Hook F.	Ticks, mange, Newcastle
Fagara merkeri Hie, Cassia abbreviata, Vernonia adoensis	ECF
Tephrosia vogelii, Vernonia adoensis, Dolichos kilimandscharis	Worms
Aloe nuttii Bak	Newcastle, worms, dystokia
Ekebergia benguelensis	Snake bite
Tylostemon sp.	Worms, snake bite, Newcastle, diarrhoea
Plumeria elegans SM.	ECF, milk failure
Soot	Newcastle
Cow dung, dog hair	Wounds
Common salt	ECF, worms
Snail shell	Pink eye

Indigenous veterinary remedies are mainly made from plants, but also from animal parts, salt, and soil. The materials are commonly used in combinations, remedies made from only one ingredient are rare. Since plants are the most common ingredients, scarcity of plants may decrease the usage of indigenous veterinary remedies. Hence, there is need to encourage the conservation of medicinal plants by the farmers or institutions through the establishment of botanical gardens.

The farmers were able to manage wounds, obstetrics, cauterisation, and bloodletting. They do bloodletting because they believe that bleeding "drains out" sickness.

Testing Tephrosia vogelii and Physostigma mesoponticum to kill ticks on cattle and fleas on chickens

In both treatments all the ticks died within 24 hours and fleas died within 12 hours. In the control group the ticks and the fleas increased and remained alive (Table 3). The ticks and fleas were confirmed dead after examining them under an illuminated ring magnifier (Luxo, type LFM-102-B, 1*22W). The ticks which fell off were identified as Rhipicephalus and those which did not were Amblyomma. Although the latter did not fall off, they could be easily pulled from the skin of an animal. The fleas were identified as Echidnophaga gallinacea.

Table 3. Number of ticks and fleas before and after treatment with Tephrosia vogelii and Physostigma mesoponticum.

Treatment	Tephrosia vogelii	Physostigma mesoponticum	Control
Tick count	26	30	16
Tick count 24 hrs	0	0	171
Kill rate (%)	100	100	0
Flea count	118	126	98
Flea count 24 hrs	0	0	1021
Kill Rate (%)	100	100	0

¹ shows an increase in number of tick or fleas.

 

Evaluation of the handling practices

In the serial extraction method test, the mean LD₅₀ for the standard extract was 0.003. The extract consistently and significantly became weaker up to the fifth series to LD₅₀ 0.379 (p<0.01). Thus, when fresh, 1 ml of the extract diluted in 333 ml of water killed 50% Rhipicephalus appendiculatus larvae. When reused for the fifth time, 1ml of the extract diluted in 14 ml of water killed 50% of the larvae. This suggests that farmers should not throw away the paste when used once. Rather, they should reuse it and higher dilutions should be used when reusing the paste.

In the shelf-life test, the mean LD₅₀ for the standard extract was 0.0049. It did not change significantly in the first two weeks but dropped significantly to LD₅₀ 0.3031 (p<0.01) in the third week. Thus, when fresh, 1 ml of the extract diluted in 250 ml of water killed 50% of the tick larvae. In the third week, 1 ml of extract diluted in 3 ml of water killed 50% of tick larvae. This suggests that farmers can use the extract for up to two weeks. The average room temperature ranged from 21.5-24⁰C and 22-30⁰C minimum and maximum respectively and the average relative humidity was 85-98%.

Socio-cultural characteristics of the farmers practising indigenous veterinary remedies

Age, gender, and education of the respondents

The 53 farmers interviewed were between 30 and more than 70 years old, about 43% being 50 years old or less and the rest over 50 years. There were more men (81%) than women (19%). Most of the farmers (66%) had attended junior or senior primary school education. The study showed that men and women – young or old – had knowledge about indigenous veterinary remedies. It can be expected that this knowledge will get forgotten as more and more young people go to school and stop using or collecting the medicines. Therefore it is necessary to start lessons on ethnoveterinary sciences in schools so that people should not forget when they go further with their education.

Training and experience of farmers in practising indigenous remedies

Most of the farmers (93.4%) had learnt about the remedies from parents or relatives (ancestors) and 5.7% through dreams. Association with ancestors makes it difficult for the farmers to reveal knowledge about the remedies because of fear of being cursed by the spirits of the ancestors.

The majority (62%) of farmers could not remember when they started using the remedies and these were between 41 and 70 years old. About 13.3% had been using the remedies for less than 6 years and 11.3% had been using the remedies for over 15 years. The time frame the farmers have been using the remedies for shows that the remedies have been used for a long time. Therefore, their knowledge is based on long experience and the remedies might be safe for use.

Not all the farmers believe that the medicines work. About 75.4% of the farmers claimed that the medicine works successfully if animals are treated quickly. The rest reported that sometimes animals recover or die. About 52.7% of the farmers gave examples of animals they successfully treated with indigenous remedies. Since some farmers doubted about the effectiveness of their medicine, it would be important to validate the medicines through experiments. However, it should be noted that not all local practices can undergo validation trials. An example are beliefs.

Reasons for using indigenous veterinary remedies

Most farmers (86.6%) started using the remedies because they inherited them from their ancestors and because of lack of veterinary services. This implies that the use of indigenous remedies is part and parcel of the farmers' lives. It would therefore be appropriate to let indigenous remedies work complementarily with Western medicine. Other farmers (11.3%) started because they observed the medicine working on animals or people. Only one farmer started because his animal was bewitched and he was inspired through dreams to find the medicine.

Discussion

This study used a case study approach. In all the places visited indigenous veterinary remedies existed. The farmers were livestock owners keeping cattle, goats, sheep, pigs, chickens, and dogs. Unlike in human medicine, these farmers have not established themselves as traditional veterinarians. The medicines and the practices are used as home remedies for their own or friends' and relatives' livestock. Some knowledge about the remedies is kept secret by the elders and it is only passed to family members. These findings do not reflect the extent of indigenous veterinary remedies in Malawi. However, it could be expected that farmers have knowledge about indigenous remedies in most parts of Malawi because they might have inherited it from their ancestors. There is need to conduct more research to identify these remedies in most parts of the country.

The tests on the extracts of Tephrosia vogelii and Physostigma mesoponticum indicate that the medicines that farmers use might be effective. However, the sample sizes for the chickens and cattle were small and it is necessary to try the medicines with larger sample sizes under field conditions.

In conclusion, the use of indigenous veterinary remedies to treat livestock health problems does exist in Malawi. Basing on the study findings, it is recommended that more surveys should be done to identify more remedies and more experiments should be done on the medicines that have been or might be identified.

Acknowledgement

The authors are very thankful to the GTZ/SACCAR Programme for sponsoring the study and to the Malawi/German Basic Animal Health Project who remarkably assisted with logistics during the study and the computer services when writing this paper.

References

Demel, Waltraud. 1995. Follow-up study on prophylactic interventions against East Coast fever (tick control) in calves in Northern Malawi. Malawi-German Basic Animal Health Services, Mzuzu, Malawi.

Mfitilodze, M. W. 1990. Sabbatical leave report. University of Malawi, Bunda College of Agriculture, Lilongwe, Malawi.

Msiska, J. G. M. 1988. Disease control measures to improve livestock productivity in Malawi. Paper presented at the National Workshop on Livestock Production in Malawi, Chancellor College, Zomba, 3-9 January, 1988.

Norman, T. L. and A. W. Soldan. 1994. Livestock disease evaluation project dipping trial. 1993 Technical Report, Central Veterinary Laboratory, Lilongwe, Malawi.

Pullinger, J. S. and A. M. Kitchin. 1982. Trees of Malawi with some shrubs and climbers. Blantyre Print and Publishing, Blantyre, Malawi.

Shorter, C. 1989. An introduction to the common Trees of Malawi. The Wildlife Society of Malawi, Lilongwe, Malawi.

Sondermann, L., J. Nafere, and K. A. Leidl. 1993. Baseline survey on
poultry of the Enukweni area in Malawi. Malawi-German Basic Animal
Health Services Project, Mzuzu, Malawi.

Williamson, J. 1975. Useful Plants of Malawi. Revised and extended Edition. Montfort Press, Limbe, Malawi.

Wilson, J. T. 1980. Resistance testing techniques. In: Special Group
on Ticks and Tick-borne Diseases for International Fellows in
Australia, 1980. The Australian Government Agricultural College
Lawer (Gatton), Queensland, Australia.

 

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A recognition of rural knowledge: medicinal plants and traditional veterinary medicine of central Africa (testing the traditional veterinary pharmaFfontcopoeia)

K. Kasonia and M. Ansay

Background

Our project analysed data from the Great Lakes region in central Africa to identify consistencies (and inconsistencies) in the use of medicinal plants. It started with the establishment of a database by PRELUDE, an international network based in Belgium. The database is devoted to traditional veterinary medicine of sub-Saharan Africa (Baerts et al. 1996). This paper describes our methodology and presents some of the project's findings.

Material and methods

Our analysis of the pharmacopoeia of Congo, Rwanda, and Burundi in the Great Lakes region is based on data encoded up to 15 August 1996. It used the following methods:

• In the very beginning, files were selected with the help of the computer. We found that data from 19 authors and contributors related to the study region. The plant families as well as the vegetable species in these files were identified.
• Botanical consistencies were identified. We speak of botanical consistencies when a plant is mentioned by at least two sources - publications, files - as having been of veterinary use in the region.

The data from the 19 authors and contributors were compared with each other by Boolean groupings (1) to identify the plants in common between the authors of the same country, (2) to measure the degree of information exchange between contemporary authors of the three countries concerned, and (3) to measure the degree of accuracy in the transmission of knowledge from generation to generation.

We also used statistical methods to identify the plants most frequently used in veterinary medicine in this region and for which the information is not due to chance.

• The consistencies of veterinary usage were examined wit respect to the diseases they were recorded for. However, local and scientific disease names do not necessarily match. For example, traditional practitioners do not recognise East Coast fever (a parasitic disease of the blood caused by Theileria parva) as such. They speak of a febrile hypertrophy of the (preparotidian) ganglions (bibagaliro in the Mashi language); an investigator would most likely translate the symptom bibagaliro with East Coast fever. To overcome the difficulty of matching local and scientific disease names, a disease is thus defined as being the symptom or a group of related or similar symptoms. Sometimes it is a matter of exact aetiology.

Each file of the database includes the recorded diseases represented through a symbol for the symptom(s). These symbols are regrouped according to our comprehension as veterinary surgeons of the language of the contributors who have translated the language of the traditional practitioners.

There is a consistency in the veterinary usage when the same plant (the same genus, the same family) is mentioned at least twice for treating the same illness (as defined above).

• Thus we established a list of diseases well known to traditional practitioners. It was based on the indications of the plants most frequently mentioned for each disease.
• The convergence of the usage of the veterinary plants with traditional human medicine for the Great Lakes region was determined with the help of the database 'Pharmel 2'. This database contains information concerning plants used in traditional human medicine in Africa.

There exist a convergence of usage with human medicine when a plant mentioned at least twice in traditional veterinary medicine is mentioned at least once for the same disease in traditional human medicine.

• After this double-screening, we established a list of plants called 'remarkable', taking into account (1) the absolute number of references to a plant, (2) its degree of specificity for a disease, (3) its compatibility of use in human medicine and (4) the number of authors who mention the plant for this disease.

Thus we selected the so-called 'popular' plants, i.e., those most known to treat a specific disease, and the more or less 'secret' plants, i.e., less known but with a very high degree of specificity between 51 and 100%. The selection was achieved with the aid of graphs defined by the frequency of quotation of a plant for a symptom on the Y-axis and the absolute number of times the plant is mentioned on the X-axis.

Applying the algebra of Boolen for plant selection facilitated the detection of plants, which are used for two, three or more diseases. This was done in the case of constipation, diarrhoea, haemorrhagic diarrhoea, and verminosis.

• The plants against constipation, diarrhoea, and verminosis classified as "remarkable" were submitted to documentary research. This allowed the determination of consistent and inconsistent factors based on pharmacology, phytochemistry, and biology.
• The pharmacological and phytochemical consistencies among plants used by traditional practitioners in preparations against asthma and coughing were analysed with laboratory methods.

Results

Botanical consistencies

From 421 plants belonging to 100 families, 13 families contain more than half of the plants used in traditional veterinary medicine. These families are (in descending order by frequency of quotation): Asteraceae, Fabaceae, Lamiaceae, Poaceae, Rubiaceae, Euphorbiaceae, Solanaceae, Malvaceae, Cucurbitaceae, Amaranthaceae, Mimosaceae, Verbenaceae, and Acanthaceae.

Selected through a diagram based on the formula

y = a . e ^-bx

six plants appear to be most frequently used: Ricinus communis, Clerodendrum myricoides, Vernonia amygdalina, Phytolacca dodecandra, Tetradenia riparia, and Nicotiana tabacum.

The Boolean groupings showed the following results:

• The data taken from publications of several different authors and investigators working in Congo showed the following relationships: about 80% of the plants recorded for the Ituri and North Kivu regions overlapped and so did 78.7% of the plants recorded by two different authors for Bushi.
• The degree of information exchange between the contemporary authors of the biggest monographs from the three countries of the Great Lakes region is slight. Only 7% of the plants are common in all three countries and about 18% in two countries.
• With regard to the authors of Rwanda, the knowledge of some plants used against inflammation of the mammary glands, genital infections, and external parasites is evidently passed from generation to generation with certain accuracy.

Consistencies in veterinary usage

Certain botanical genera seem to be used specifically for the treatment of particular symptoms or organs. For the symptoms and diseases of the digestive system, 34 genera belonging to various families endeavour special attention.

Through screening for plants mentioned at least two times for each disease, we established a list of plants most frequently mentioned for each disease. It contains 37 of the 52 diseases known by traditional practitioners in the Great Lakes region.

The diseases which practitioners are most concerned about

The results of the different study methods indicated that diarrhoea, verminosis, East Coast fever, mastitis, injuries, and wounds are the chief preoccupations of the traditional practitioners and breeders of the Great Lakes region. Other visible illnesses are also of concern. Animal diseases are usually attributed to natural causes.

Similarities in the use of plants between veterinary medicine and traditional human medicine

The results obtained in the second screening show that there exist some important similarities between the two medical systems. These concern verminosis (35 plants in common), diarrhoea (24 plants), injuries and wounds (14 plants), constipation, haemorrhagic diarrhoea, and retention of the placenta (12 plants in each case), agalactia and inflammation (nine plants in each case), and mange (eight plants).

Remarkable plants

Based on the criteria previously outlined, lists of remarkable plants were compiled for each disease. The lists contain a total of 92 popular plants and 122 secret plants.

Documentary research of phytochemical, biological, and pharmacological consistencies

After the screenings, a documentary search allowed the selection of remarkable plants, which needed to be further studied, and of those whose isolated chemical groups or pharmacological activities were known and confirmed (or disclaimed) their traditional usage.

A few examples from our project: scientific findings support the traditional usage for six out of 14 remarkable plants against constipation, 23 out of 34 against diarrhoea, and 21 out of 49 against verminosis, or about 51,5% about the plants used for these three diseases.

Pharmacological and phytochemical consistencies established by laboratory methods (plants used against asthma and cough)

Preliminary screening showed that 15 from 30 plants appraised by traditional practitioners had good promising pharmacological activities. One of these plants, Cassia didymobotrya Fresen, was submitted to an in-depth study of the dose-effect relationship to account for its activity as a broncho-relaxant.

The capacity of the extract was studied in reference to the well-known molecule theophylline. The tension of the isolated trachea of the guinea pig at rest or after maximum contraction with acetylcholine was the basis of the test.

When the extracts of Cassia didymobotrya Fresen were compared to theophylline, the following results were obtained:

• reproducibility from year to year of curves dose-effect;
• repeatability of the relationship between ED₅₀ ± SD of the relaxation of the basic tension and of the maximum tension of the trachea;
• non-specific relaxation of the tension of the tracheo-bronchial smooth muscles in a model of functional antagonism;
• the role of the extraction method on the activity of the plant extracts;
• the content in sennosides is not related to the plant's activity.

Perspectives and conclusion

The 'testing' of the veterinary knowledge of rural people by studying consistencies (botanic, veterinary usage, similarities with the plants' usage in traditional human medicine) has showed that our method is feasible and can be recommended for the investigation and evaluation of multiple data stored in databases.

Once a study has been accomplished, we have, in return, to inform the local people of the activity and possible acute or chronic toxicity and side effects of specific plants contained in their remedies. This simple recognition and above all this exchange of information are necessary. They can, much better than words, help the local people to preserve the biodiversity of their environment.

Our method when applied to the old knowledge, selected across the ages, does not only allow the identification of the most promising plants for the research of new medicines but it also opens the way to the next phase, i.e., the standardisation of the plants whose activities have been demonstrated. At the same time, cultivation of these plants in gardens can be initiated.

Thanks to our method, we have been able to determine the preoccupations of the breeders and traditional practitioners relating to animal health in the Great Lakes region in central Africa. These preoccupations concern in the first place diarrhoea, verminosis, East Coast fever, mastitis, injuries, and wounds.

We have identified plants that are popular remarkable, 'secret' (hidden), or have common usage in veterinary and human medicine; the ancestral knowledge is backed up by documentary research and investigation of the pharmacological and phytochemical properties.

Phytochemistry and pharmacology confirm the usage of more than 50% of the remarkable plants used by traditional practitioners for treating diseases of the digestive tract

New molecules identified through research on traditional knowledge arise as a starting material of modern science. Today we have to recognise that this knowledge is the unique medical resource for more than 80% of the population of the world. We have also to undertake some efforts to evaluate it and make it more homogeneous, more efficient, less mysterious, and more profitable to holders and users.

It is necessary to create opportunities for a dialogue between 'modern' and 'traditional' knowledge and continue the research of methods of improvement without destroying the diversity of cultures, which uphold this knowledge. It is no longer necessary to maintain the inferiority complex, which has developed in traditional medicine across the centuries of cultural and industrial colonisation. We need to revive traditional practices used to manage and protect the biodiversity in the South. The traditional veterinary medicine is one example amongst many others. Biodiversity is tightly coupled with the diversity of cultures.

At the end of this paper, we would like to recommend respect for the knowledge of other cultures.

References

Baerts, Martine, Jean Lehmann, Michael Ansay, and Kakule Kasonia. 1996. A few medicinal plants used in traditional veterinary medicine in sub-saharan Africa. Louvain University Press, Belgium, and Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Coorperation (CTA), Wageningen, Netherlands.

 

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Indigenous technologies for health coverage in sheep

Dinesh Kumar

Introduction

Over time and through trial and error, sheep farmers of Rajasthan have developed a wealth of animal healthcare practices. Such indigenous knowledge is based on experience and time-tested (Warren 1989). It is important to document it in order to understand its scientific rationale, accelerate technological change, enable better understanding of technology and the development of new concepts, increase awareness among the young generation, develop appreciation for the traditional systems, and revive and restore pride among the farmers themselves (Gupta 1990). Besides, understanding the technology of the clientele helps ascertain the degree and direction of change through formal research (Verma and Singh 1969). It is likely that adoption rates can be improved through selecting indigenous practices of scientific relevance and modifying, testing, and re-applying them. To test this hypothesis, this study has been undertaken.

It had the following objectives:

1. To identify indigenous animal healthcare technologies practised by sheep farmers.
2. To assess the scientific relevance of identified indigenous practices.
3. To modify selected indigenous technologies in the light of their scientific relevance and validate them through formal research.
4. To prepare materials for communicating selected tested indigenous practices.

Prior to this conference the first two objectives have been implemented. The results are reported in this paper.

Methodology

The study was conducted in Rajasthan State of India in three districts: Jaipur, Ajamer, and Tonk. In each district, 10 villages were randomly selected. In each village, five sheep farmers with sheep-rearing experience were interviewed. To assess the scientific relevance of the identified practices, 25 veterinary scientists were selected based on their field experience. Thus, the respondents of the study comprised of

• 150 sheep farmers from thirty selected villages of three districts, and
• 25 scientists of the Central Sheep and Wool Research Institute, Avikanagar and Chaudhary Charan Singh Haryana Agricultural University, Hissar.

Information on indigenous healthcare practices was collected with an in-depth survey. First, discussions with a group of farmers revealed various components of traditional health coverage technologies. Then, during a pilot phase, indigenous practices were identified with the help of a checklist. Based on the pilot survey, a detailed interview schedule was prepared and used for data collection. The interviews, however, were not restricted to the questions enlisted in the schedule, but kept flexible thus allowing to include also additional information that came up during the interviews.

To assess the scientific relevance of the technologies, the scientists were asked to rate each practice for its scientific relevance on a continuous scale between 0 and 2 with 0 being 'irrelevant', 1 being 'partially relevant', and 2 being 'relevant'. The scientists were also asked to suggest whether and how a practice could be modified.

Based on the scientists' assessment, the scientific relevance score for each practice was estimated as (Sethi 1993):

N

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P_i = å x_i , 0 £ P_i £ 1

i=1 2N

Where N = Number of respondents

x_i = 2 if i-th practice is relevant

= 1 if i-th practice is somewhat relevant

= 0 if i-th practice is irrelevant.

The outcoming values of the scientific relevance scores (P_i) ranged between 0 and 1, with 1=relevant and 0=irrelevant.

Results and discussion

Through the interviews with the 150 respondents, 189 indigenous practices were identified. For each practice, the percentages of farmers practising it and the scientific relevance score (see above) were calculated. Table 1 presents the data for more than 40 practices against 17 disease conditions.

Out of the 189 technologies, 71 were practised by more that 50% of the respondents. For 27 the scientific relevance score was greater than 0.5, indicating a reasonable scientific basis for testing, modification, and adoption. But because the scientific relevance score is an indication, but not an objective measure of a practice's scientific validity, some selected technologies will be scientifically tested.

The selection for this will be based on the scientific relevance score. The methodology will depend on the occurrence of diseases. Control group method will be used for diseases affecting a large number of animals simultaneously. Technologies for diseases occurring only in few animals will be studied with the case study method.

After studying the existing technologies in depth and understanding their scientific basis, we will include them in an improved package of sheep health technologies. This will make a very strong case for re-orienting the sheep health research to give highest priority to the identification, testing and modification of traditional sheep health technologies practised by the sheep farmers. Propagating the modified and tested technologies to farmers through a video film will help overcome difficulties in treating sick animals quickly and at low costs.

References

Gupta, A. K. 1990. Documenting indigenous farmer's practices. ILEIA Newsletter 6(2): 29-30.

Sethi, Nishi. 1993. Indigenous dryland farming technologies practiced by rural women. Ph.D. thesis submitted at Chaudhary Charan Singh Haryana Agricultural University, Hissar, Haryana, India.

Verma, M. R. and Y. P. Singh. 1968. A plea for studies in traditional animal husbandry. The Allahabad Farmer, 43(2):94-8.

Warren, D. M. 1989. Indigenous knowledge: A definition. CIKARD News 1(1):5.

 

Table 1. Scientific relevance scores of selected indigenous animal healthcare practices of 150 sheep farmers in Rajasthan.

Disease	Indigenous practice	% of respondents practising	Scientific relevance score
Bloat	Giving a mixture of mustard oil, kachari (a cucumber species), common salt and whey.	93.33	0.72
	Giving a mixture of warm oil and water.	86.66	0.54
	Introducing soap solution into the rectum through the anus.	28.00	0.48
Diarrhoea	Giving barley flour mixed with rice starch (i.e., water left after cooking rice).	73.33	0.54
	Feeding sheesham (Dalbergia sissoo) leaves mixed with barley flour.	66.00	0.42
Entero-toxaemia	Giving oil and turmeric.	60.66	0.22
	Giving soap solution.	24.66	0.20
	Cutting the sheep's ear and tail.	92.00	0.14
External and internal parasites	Applying turpentine oil on wounds.	29.33	0.62
	Giving blue vitriol solution.	44.00	0.50
	Feeding papaya seeds to kill internal parasites.	26.66	0.34
	Rubbing kerosene oil on the body.	14.00	0.30
Fever	Giving alum mixed with human urine.	68.00	0.10
Foot-and-mouth disease	Allowing sick animals to stand on hot sand an hour daily for 6-7 days.	58.00	0.44
	Spreading water from boiling fish on the paddock floor.	54.66	0.08
	Burning clothes stained by the menses of a woman in the sheep paddock.	13.33	0.04
Footrot and ecthyma	Washing affected parts of hoof and mouth with alum water. Putting then a paste of butter and alum on the affected portion.	60.66	0.72
	Applying a paste of oil and turmeric on the affected portion.	32.00	0.62
	Putting a paste of mehandi (myrtle) on the hoofs.	64.66	0.52
Haemorrhag. Septicaemia	Putting a paste of kala jeera on the affected portion.	11.33	0.10
	Giving alum.	13.33	0.38
	Giving a solution of blue vitriol in water.	8.00	0.36

Table 1 (continued)

Disease	Indigenous practice	% of respondents practising	Scientific relevance score
Itching	Rubbing on a paste of gandraph (sulphur), common salt, and oil.	16.66	0.64
Indigestion	Giving castor oil.	76.00	0.70
	Giving a mixture of rock salt, turmeric, and kartumba.	92.66	0.64
Inducing heat	Giving kala jeera (Carum bulbocastanum) with oil cakes.	32.60	0.60
	Giving the leaves of Acacia nilotica.	42.00	0.40
Jaundice	Giving a mixture of sata (Commelina benghalensis), whey, and common salt.	42.00	0.38
	Tying a talisman (tabeez) around the neck of sheep.	78.00	0.00
Mastitis	Washing the teats with the water from boiling neem leaves.	48.00	0.60
	Applying a paste of common salt and butter on the affected portion of teats.	45.33	0.24
	Putting dry red chillies on the fire after taking them over the sheep.	50.66	0.02
Nematodiasis (bottle jaw)	Giving tobacco powder and blue vitriol mixed with water.	22.00	0.64
	Giving a mixture of cluster bean (Cymopsis tetragonoloba), gram, and red chillies.	32.00	0.24
	Giving kerosene oil.	64.66	0.18
Pneumonia	Giving aloe (Aloe perfoliata) with turmeric.	19.33	0.38
	Giving a mixture of turmeric, alum, and caraway.	33.33	0.34
	Rubbing salt on the body.	46.66	0.14
Retention of placenta	Giving a boiled mixture of ber bush (Zizyphus numularia), milk, and gur.	87.30	0.50
	Giving boiled water of rotten bamboo.	73.30	0.22
Sheep pox	Keeping the affected animal in the shadow away from other animals.	39.33	0.68
	Giving barley flour mixed with water.	56.00	0.14
	Presenting a sweet dish prepared at the paddock to a goddess.	58.66	0.04

 

 

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Participatory workshops to produce information materials on ethnoveterinary medicine

Paul Mundy and Evelyn Mathias

Information scarcity

Livestock and agricultural technicians, extension personnel and NGO staff require large amounts of information about a wide range of topics. They are required to implement sometimes sophisticated farming, veterinary and other technologies. They use social methodologies such as training, community organising, facilitation and other skills. They are called on to provide information on everything from agroforestry to veterinary surgery.

This information can come from different sources: education and training, their own and others' experience, and books and other types of information materials. Each of these sources alone is inadequate. Field-level development workers typically have low levels of education and few training opportunities. Many are young and city-bred, so lack experience. They may learn from colleagues and pick up indigenous knowledge from local people, but the information they gain is sketchy and unsystematic.

A glance in development workers' homes or offices shows that they lack printed information materials, too. A few pamphlets, perhaps a newsletter from head office, and one or two textbooks from school or university – form the typical field extensionist's library.

Three problems underlie the scarcity of information materials:

• Quantity. Few information materials appropriate for development workers have been published and printed. Print runs are typically too small to serve needs. In Indonesia, provincial extension agencies typically print just 1500 copies of an extension pamphlet – perhaps enough for one copy for each field agent in the province, but far from enough to reach the tens of thousands of farmer groups there.
• Appropriateness. Much of the information material that is available is too technical or otherwise unsuited for use by village-level workers. A research article on a drug's effectiveness is of little use to a paraveterinarian trying to identify and prevent a livestock disease. Also of little use are such staples as policy papers and news stories of field visits by government officials. Village-level workers are key intermediaries in the information web linking research, policy, markets and farmers, but sadly they receive scant attention when it comes to information provision.
• Availability. The little appropriate material that has been published is not widely available where it is needed – in the field. Distribution to district- and village-level workers is limited; many materials are distributed no further than the provincial capitals. Commercially published materials are too costly for low-paid staff with extremely limited funds. Useful information is often scattered in different documents, so is hard to find.

Of course, merely making information more available and more appropriate is no guarantee that development workers will use it. Admittedly, there are many good materials lying unused in cupboards and drawers throughout the world. But that is not an argument against making appropriate information materials available in the first place. Rather, we must find ways both to increase the availability of appropriate materials, and of encouraging and enabling development workers to use them.

Ethnoveterinary medicine is no exception to the general lack of information. With the exception of the two books described in this paper (IIRR 1994, ITDG and IIRR 1996), there are no generally available manuals of livestock diseases and how to prevent and treat them using remedies based on indigenous knowledge of local people. Development workers have thus had to rely either on conventional veterinary techniques (many of which require expensive drugs or unavailable supplies), or on indigenous techniques they have gleaned from local people but which have not been subjected to scientific scrutiny.

Alternative ways to produce information materials

One of the main reasons that there are so few information materials appropriate for development workers is that they are hard to prepare. The information typically comes from many different sources. The materials must be accurate and supported by scientific research or field experience, yet must be relevant to the needs of the audience. To be effective, the materials typically need to be written in non-technical language, well-illustrated, and clearly laid out.

However, many information materials, particularly those written by scientists, do not fulfil these criteria. They draw information from only a few sources – usually scientists rather than extensionists or farmers. They are scientifically accurate, but may not be relevant to the audience's needs. Many such materials contain large doses of jargon and few, if any, illustrations. Therefore, they are not effective.

Information materials are traditionally produced in various ways: written by a single author or a small team, written by multiple authors, compiled by an editor, or synthesised through a conference. Each of these approaches has distinct disadvantages:

• Single authors often lack the breadth of knowledge or direct experience to write about a broad topic, so must rely on information that is already written in the literature.
• Team and multi-author approaches require considerable co-ordination and the resulting manuscripts vary considerably in style, coverage and quality.
• Conferences can easily become unmanageable, and there is insufficient control over the manuscripts to make a uniform, easily used, whole.
• All these approaches take large amounts of time, both in writing and in editing the drafts.
• These approaches usually involve scientists rather than development workers or farmers. The manuscripts therefore often lack the richness of practical experience and indigenous knowledge that development workers and local people can provide.
• Development workers have no opportunity to comment on the relevance and usability of the manuscript. Information materials aimed at development workers and local people should be pre-tested and revised before they are published, but this vital step is often skipped to save time and money.

Intensive workshops

The workshop approach described in the remainder of this paper overcomes these disadvantages by compressing the preparation of the final manuscript into a short time, and by involving scientists, farmers and development workers in the writing process. A team of editors, artists and computer personnel assists the workshop participants to revise, illustrate and desktop publish the manuscripts. The aim is to develop the materials, revise and put them into final form as quickly as possible, taking full advantage of the expertise of the various workshop participants and staff.

This process has been used in over 20 workshops since 1989 to produce manuals on various development-related topics, ranging from agroforestry and biodiversity to technologies for women and veterinary medicine. Two manuals on ethnoveterinary medicine have been produced: in Asia (IIRR 1994) and in Kenya (ITDG and IIRR 1996). The Asia workshop, held in the Philippines, involved 21 livestock specialists (veterinarians, an anthropologist, a pharmacologist, NGO staff and farmers) from nine countries, and resulted in four illustrated booklets (total 400 pages) on ruminants, swine, poultry and general topics.

The Kenya workshop involved some 40 participants from Kenya and Ethiopia, including veterinarians, veterinary researchers and educators, an ethnobotanist, development workers, field practitioners, and traditional animal healers. In all, 14 Kenyan ethnic groups were represented in the workshop. The resulting 226-page book covers diseases and problems of camels, cattle, chickens, dogs, goats and sheep.

The authors co-ordinated and managed both workshops and the production of the resulting manuals. Both ethnoveterinary workshops followed a procedure pioneered at the International Institute of Rural Reconstruction (IIRR) in the Philippines (Gonsalves and Domingo 1989, IIRR 1995, Swan and Shakya 1992). This process has been used, in various forms, more than 20 times in different countries and languages to produce information materials on topics ranging from biodiversity to technologies for women.

Workshop process

The procedure followed in the two ethnoveterinary workshops was slightly different. The description below is based on the Kenya workshop (ITDG and IIRR 1996:xiv–xv) (Figure 1).

Preparation

The workshop required careful preparation over a long period (up to a year), to allow time to identify partner institutions, delineate the workshop themes, identify topics and participants, and to raise funds.

Several months before the workshop, a steering committee held a one-day planning meeting. The steering-committee members included staff of NGOs, government departments, universities, research institutes and private individuals. They were selected for their knowledge and experience in veterinary science, traditional medicine, pharmacognosy, livestock production and animal healthcare and extension. This steering committee determined the scope of the manual (for example, what livestock species it should cover, whether conventional veterinary treatments should be included) and listed the major diseases and problems to cover. It also identified potential authors to write manuscripts on each disease (typically, each author was asked to cover 2–4 diseases). Wherever possible, overlap among manuscripts was avoided, as this would have caused confusion and a lot of extra editorial work during the workshop.

The steering committee and workshop managers developed detailed guidelines for structuring the manuscripts, and sent these and examples from previous manuscripts to the authors. The predetermined format greatly facilitated the review and editing of manuscripts during the workshop, and made the final book easier for the reader to use. Limiting the length to 4–6 pages forced authors to focus on key points and eliminate unnecessary background material. Authors were requested to submit all manuscripts as hard copy and on disk, and to bring the drafts and various reference materials with them to the workshop.

First-draft presentation and discussion

The workshop itself was held in Machakos, Kenya, in July 1996. The staff included a workshop co-ordinator (with the task of scheduling presentations), a team of three editors, four artists, three computer operators, and a photocopier operator. The workshop lasted two weeks.

Each author in turn presented his or her first-draft manuscript, using overhead transparencies of each page. Copies of each draft were also given to all other participants, who critiqued the draft and suggested revisions. Modifications included the addition of large numbers of indigenous treatments, local names and disease signs, the deletion of inappropriate information, and the simplification of language and format. Some topics were deleted; others were merged or split.

Early in the workshop, the participants brainstormed a list of diseases and topics not yet included among the manuscripts. Individuals or small teams then volunteered (or were persuaded) to write manuscripts on these topics. In this way, several diseases that had escaped the steering committee's notice were added to the manual. In total, 111 topics were presented and discussed during the workshop (some of these were later combined or discarded, so the final manual contains 96 topics).

The participants included both traditional healers and university-trained veterinarians. While most of the original manuscripts were written and presented by the veterinarians, the great majority of the indigenous disease-prevention and treatment methods were contributed by the traditional healers. Each treatment for each disease was discussed by specialists from both types of background. Any remedies that the group could not agree on were deleted. The remaining remedies were rated according to whether they were standard veterinary practice or close equivalents, could be supported by scientific knowledge, or were judged by traditional healers to be effective. These ratings are included in the manual as a guide for readers.

As much information as possible was collected on forms distributed to the participants. For example, a participant contributing an indigenous treatment was asked to write it on a form specially designed for this purpose. This ensured that the information was reasonably complete and in a standard format for easy editing.

The workshop was held in English, but many of the traditional healers present spoke only their own languages. Translators were responsible for translating between local languages and English. The translators themselves were experienced livestock holders, so were able to contribute much information to the manual in their own right.

First-draft revision

After each first-draft presentation, during the presentation by the next author, an editor helped the author revise and edit the first draft. This frequently involved complete rewriting and simplification of the text, revision to fit the required style and format, inclusion of the large amount of additional information collected during the workshop sessions, and rechecking of information with the author or information contributors. The editor and author also commissioned artwork from the team of artists, who drew illustrations to accompany the text. The Kenya manual contains nearly 350 line drawings, all drawn during the workshop itself.

The edited draft and artwork were then passed to a computer operator, who scanned the artwork onto disk and desktop-published the manuscript to produce a second draft.

Meanwhile, other participants were also presenting papers they had prepared. Each, in turn, worked with the team of editors and artists to revise and illustrate the materials.

The local and scientific plant names were checked during the workshop by an ethnobotanist from the National Museums of Kenya. The traditional healers brought with them samples of medicinal plants they used; the ethnobotanist identified these; and the artists drew them.

Second draft

The first-draft presentations took the first five days of the workshop. During the weekend, the editors, artists and computer operators continued revising the manuscripts, and by the following Monday morning had prepared several second drafts. These were in desktop-published form (the participants had agreed on a format for the manual early in the workshop), and included illustrations.

During the next few days, the presentation and revision process was repeated, this time for second drafts. Each participant presented his or her revised draft to the group a second time, again using transparencies. Again, the audience critiqued it and suggests revisions. Much of this work was done in small groups; this enabled detailed review of each topic, and was necessary to enable the participants to review the large number of manuscripts that had been developed. The participants were asked in particular to check the illustrations for accuracy and ease of understanding.

This second review not only enabled information to be added or corrected. It also meant that representatives of the manual's readership – the development workers and traditional healers present – were able to comment on the format and presentation of the information. This acted as a detailed pre-test of the manual.

After the presentation of each second-draft manuscript, the authors, editors, artists and computer operators again revised it and developed a third draft.

Third draft and final revisions

In the final days of the workshop, the workshop team had prepared third drafts of many of the manuscripts. These were distributed to participants for final comments and corrections. Participants were able to take away with them copies of the third-draft manuscripts, or (failing that) the second drafts.

After the workshop, there remained final editing and desktop publishing, the checking of scientific names, and the compilation of glossaries of plant and disease names in local languages. This work took the authors an additional four weeks before the manuscript was camera-ready and could be sent to the printers. The shortness of this editing period was because virtually all of the required information had been collected and checked during the workshop itself.

The publication

The publication resulting from the workshop can be loose-leaf, a set of pocket-sized booklets, or a bound book. The format and design can be set beforehand – or decided by the participants during the workshop itself. In the Asia workshop, participants decided on four separate, pocket-sized (13.5 x 20.3 cm) booklets (one each for ruminants, swine, poultry, and general information). In the Kenya workshop, they chose a single book in a slightly larger format (17.5 x 24.8 cm).

The broad theme of each book (ethnoveterinary medicine) is divided into smaller topics, each of which is based on a manuscript prepared by a workshop participant. Suitably adapted to local diseases and problems, these lists could be used as a basis for ethnoveterinary and paraveterinary manuals in other areas of the world.

Each disease or problem topic contains the following sections:

• Name of the disease in English (Mastitis in the example from the Kenya manual in Figure 2).
• The species affected (the cow silhouette in the box at the top right of Figure 2).
• The disease name in local languages.
• A one- or two-sentence summary of the disease and its importance in Kenya.
• Disease signs, stated as simply as possible as a bulleted list.
• Disease causes, also as a bulleted list.
• Prevention methods (not represented in the mastitis example, but structured in a similar way to the treatment methods described below).
• Treatment methods. Each treatment gives the preparation method, the type of plant and plant part used, the amount used, the application method, the dosage, and the length of time the treatment should be applied. It also gives the name of the ethnic group or community using the treatment (Turkana, Luo and Kipsigis in the example), and the rating given to the treatment by the workshop participants (3 in this case means that the treatment was a common traditional practice that animal healers generally acknowledge and agree works).
• A picture of the disease signs, vector (eg, flies or ticks) or treatment method.

Workshop advantages

Linking research and practice

The workshop is an excellent method of linking research, extension and field levels. The workshop brings together different groups – scientists, extension personnel, NGO staff, government personnel, teachers, indigenous experts, farmers and other local people – to develop and produce a common set of materials. Scientists learn of indigenous techniques and can plan clinical trials or other forms of research on them; and scientific knowledge is translated into a form that extensionists and livestock holders can use.

The diversity of skills, organisations and backgrounds of participants is key to ensuring that numerous ideas are represented in the materials produced. Several authors can contribute to each section of the materials. This method provides an opportunity for scientists to validate ethnoveterinary practices, since they are able to discuss details of each practice with the indigenous specialists using it, compare it with standard veterinary methods, and judge its applicability and effectiveness. The process of comments and revisions from other participants is like the peer review in journal publishing, but is more intensive and involves more reviewers. The workshop also allows members of the intended audience (farmers, extensionists...) to contribute to the preparation of the materials and pre-test the text and illustrations.

The detailed discussions during the workshop enable participants to learn a great deal from each other. This sharing of experiences allows the development of networks that continue to be fruitful long after the end of the workshop itself, and can have an impact on research agendas and project implementation. Scientists at the Kenya workshop were surprised at the depth and accuracy of the traditional healers' knowledge. Partly as a result, the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute strengthened its research programme on ethnoveterinary medicine. A group of Luo traditional healers and NGO staff are developing an ethnoveterinary manual for western Kenya. And after a similar workshop on upland resource management in the Philippines, participants have held further workshops to translate and adapt the English-language manual for Thailand, Indonesia and the South Pacific (FAO and IIRR 1995).

Speed

The method is a very fast way of generating and publishing information. The concentration of resource persons, editors, artists and desktop-publishing resources at one time and place makes this possible. In conventional methods, the editor is given a completed manuscript, and then must repeatedly contact the authors to check information. Artwork must also be commissioned separately. This takes time and delays publication. Involving the editors and artists in developing the manuscript means that this checking can take place during the workshop itself – considerably speeding and easing the editorial task. With suitable preparation, it is possible to produce material ready for the printer within a few days or weeks after the end of the workshop itself.

Flexibility

The workshop process is extremely flexible. The repeated presentations, critiquing and revision of drafts allow for papers to be reviewed and revised substantially, new topics to be developed during the workshop and topics to be combined, dropped or split into parts.

The process can be modified and adapted to suit individual situations. Workshops have ranged from 1½ days to two weeks in length, covering from four to more than 100 manuscripts, and with between 15 and 150 participants. These workshops have covered a wide range of topics, including agroforestry, indigenous knowledge, family planning, occupational health and biodiversity. Workshops have been conducted in several non-English languages, including Amharic, Chinese, Indonesian, Spanish and Vietnamese.

While the approach described here relies heavily on computers (and thus skilled operators and a reliable electricity supply), the method can also be adapted for use at the field level where these are lacking. A group of villagers in the uplands of Negros, the Philippines, used a similar approach in a one-day workshop to produce a manual on indigenous tree species; all manuscripts and illustrations were prepared by hand, and the final publication is hand-written (Willard 1995).

When is a workshop appropriate?

Workshops are suitable for preparing illustrated materials – such as extension booklets and field manuals – that present relevant, practical information in simple language. They are best used where a large number of people know a little, but no one knows a lot about the subject. The subject area must be divided into topics and assigned to individual participants. A workshop approach would therefore not be appropriate for narrow subjects or if one person or a small group has all the information needed to write a book, or for lengthy literature reviews or the presentation of detailed information. In such cases, more conventional methods of writing are more appropriate.

The workshop approach is very different from the scientific conferences familiar to many participants. It is a very intensive process, making considerable demands on participants and (especially) the workshop staff. Manuscripts undergo major revisions: a few participants may complain that their work has been changed too much. Workshops are also relatively expensive, since the host must cover food and board, airfares, staffing and possibly per diems. When considering whether to plan a workshop or use conventional methods, the benefits of the workshop approach must be weighed against these limitations.

References

FAO and IIRR. 1995. Resource Management for Upland Areas in Southeast Asia. FARM Field Document 2. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Bangkok, Thailand, and International Institute of Rural Reconstruction, Silang, Cavite, Philippines.

Gonsalves, Julian F. and Ines Vivian D. Domingo. 1989. Information materials in regenerative agriculture: Using workshops to speed up and improve production. Paper presented at the IIRR/Mindanao Baptist Rural Life Center/Mag-Uugmad Foundation workshop on sustainable agriculture in the uplands, 25 August–9 September 1989. International Institute of Rural Reconstruction, Silang, Cavite, Philippines.

IIRR. 1994. Ethnoveterinary Medicine in Asia: An Information Kit on Traditional Animal Health Care Practices. International Institute of Rural Reconstruction, Silang, Cavite, Philippines.

IIRR. 1995. Participatory workshops to produce information materials. Promotional leaflet. International Institute of Rural Reconstruction, Silang, Cavite, Philippines.

ITDG and IIRR. 1996. Ethnoveterinary Medicine in Kenya: A Field manual of Traditional Animal Health Care Practices. Intermediate Technology Development Group and International Institute of Rural Reconstruction, Nairobi, Kenya.

King, Wendy and Surendra Shakya. 1992?. A workshop that works: Participatory training material production. Forest, Trees and People Newsletter 25.

Willard, Terri. 1995. "Mga gutok sang bukid: Making integrated conservation and development work in barangay Patag, Silay City, Negros Occidental, Philippines". MS thesis, University of Oxford, UK.

 

 

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Ethnoveterinary knowledge and practices among the Samburu people: A case study

Jacob Barasa Wanyama

Background

Samburu District is located in the arid and semi-arid northern part of Kenya. The project area covers two divisions of this district, namely, Baragoi and Nyiro divisions. These have an area of 5,500 km² with a population of 30,500 people. Half of these are Samburu people and the other half are Turkana. The area is primarily low altitude with sparse savannah-type vegetation dominated by Acacia trees. To the east and north, it is surrounded by the Nyiro and Ndoto mountains both thickly forested. Lake Turkana touches the northern tip of this area. To the west it borders the Lorroki plateau. Rainfall is highly erratic, ranging from 759 mm in the lowlands to 1,250 mm in the mountains. The low lands have low agricultural potential. The Samburu people are semi-nomadic pastoralists whose main economic activity is livestock production. They keep cattle, camels, sheep, goats, and donkeys (Iles 1990, Politz and Lekileley 1988).

One of the main constraints in this area is animal disease. Since the early 1990s, when the government started to implement structural adjustment programmes, there have been major cutbacks on government veterinary services. This and the current poor economic situation make it increasingly difficult for the Samburu people to access modern veterinary services. These services are now very expensive or unavailable to poor members of the community. As a result, they are relying more on their ethnoveterinary knowledge (EVK) to keep their livestock healthy.

Ethnoveterinary practices are cheap, locally available, and culturally acceptable alternatives. But lack of scientific information on their efficacy and safety makes development officials sceptical about integrating these practices into modern animal health programmes. The Intermediate Technology Development Group (ITDG) is researching these practices amongst the Samburu and other communities in the pastoral and marginal farming areas of Kenya, with the aim of validating them and integrating them into modern animal health services.

Objectives

The aim of this work is to develop an appropriate methodology to validate, improve, and promote the use of effective ethnoveterinary knowledge and practices among pastoral and marginal farming communities of Kenya. More specifically the research aims at:

• Finding out the level of understanding and extent to which pastoralists in Samburu use EVK.
• Identifying those traditional treatments which the pastoralists are confident worked.
• Determining whether such treatments could be improved (i.e., efficacy, availability, toxicity etc.) and promoted, so as to complement modern ones.
• Providing feedback on the 'value-added' or improved practices to the source people through community-based animal health training programmes and local schools.
• Developing an appropriate methodology for validating and promoting ethnoveterinary knowledge.
• Influencing other development agencies to promote the use of ethnoveterinary knowledge.

Methodology

Baseline information (screening for 'best bets')

This study is being carried out in two phases: (1) screening for 'best bets' and (2) scientific validation and techno-blending. This paper presents the results from the first phase. This involved screening of all EVK practices among the Samburu community to identify those the pastoralists were confident would be effective. The socio-economic aspects relating to the use of these practices were also studied (Wanyama 1997). Based on previous work of ITDG (Iles 1994), a methodology was developed which used social science techniques such as:

• One-to-one interviews.
• Focus group interviews based on an open semi-structured question list.
• Success ranking to screen the ethnoveterinary practices and understand the socio-economic aspects relating to their application among Samburu pastoralists.

The study was conducted among six Samburu communities in two geographical areas, namely the highlands and lowlands.

The study was conducted in five steps.

Step 1: Generation of disease list and selection of key informants

A group of pastoralists, both men and women, were brought together in each of the six selected communities and asked to name all livestock diseases that occurred in their areas regardless of the species affected. They did so in their local language. From this a list of disease names was compiled for each of the six study communities. The different disease lists were consolidated into a single list containing 60 diseases or conditions. Where possible, disease names were translated from local to scientific equivalents. This was based on the clinical signs described by the pastoralists, the information local animal health personnel had on these diseases, and the study of available literature.

At the same time, each group was asked to select four to five key informants who they thought had good knowledge of traditional treatments and would be willing to share their knowledge with the researchers. Thus a total of 12 women and 18 men were selected as key informants.

Step 2: Ranking of the diseases

All key informants were asked to rank the diseases identified during the previous step. This was done with a card sorting technique: each disease name was written on a single card. Each informant was then asked to arrange these cards into piles on the ground according to how confidently he or she treated the disease recorded on the card with traditional treatments. Each ranking session resulted into several piles of cards on the ground. For example, if the resultant piles of card were three, pile number one would represent all those diseases that were most confidently treated traditionally, pile number two would represent all those diseases not so confidently treated, and pile three would represent those diseases not treated traditionally at all. The results from the ranking exercise for each informant in each of the six study communities were recorded on the back of the cards as described for wealth ranking (Grandin 1988). For example, if one informant put a card with 'foot-and-mouth disease' on pile number one, then the result for that particular ranking exercise and disease would be recorded as '1/3' (i.e., the card was in pile number one out of three piles). Similarly, if another informant placed the same card on pile number two of the same number of piles, the result would be recorded as '2/3'. This exercise was repeated with all 30 informants in all six study communities and the ranking results for all diseases and informants were recorded. Table 1 shows an example.

All the individual ranking results per community were converted into decimal point figures and averaged. The resultant averages were used to rank each disease; the greater the number, the less confident were the informants of the efficacy of traditional treatments for the disease in question. This resulted into a single disease lists for each of the six communities ranked according to how, on average, confidently the diseases were treated.

From each of these lists, the 'top ten' most confidently treated diseases were selected. The researcher then calculated how frequently these diseases were ranked 'top ten' in all communities. This resulted in a single consolidated list of ranked diseases (see Table 2).

Step 3: Detailed interviews with key informants

The key informants selected, see Step 1, were individually interviewed on the 'top ten' diseases of the consolidated list of ranked diseases. The interviews were conducted in the local language by local enumerators using a semi-structured question

Table 1. Ranking card for 'foot-and-mouth disease' with tabulated ranking results.

Disease names (Samburu, Turkana and Scientific): Lkulup (foot-and-mouth disease)
Study community	Name of informant and disease ranks1				Average
Latakweni	Leiron 5/8 (0.6)	Esitet 4/8 (0.5)	Lketilo 5/9 (0.7)	Nesikwan 6/8 (0.7)	0.6
Ngilai	Lesayon 6/10 (0.6)	Letukei 5/8 (0.6)	Lolkipayangi 6/8 (0.75)	Masianai 5/8 (0.6)	0.7
Nachola	Lekayo 7/9 (0.8)	Juliata 7/10 (0.7)	Veronica 7/10 (0.7)	Ekath 7/10 (0.7)	0.7
Mbukoi	Epur 6/10 (0.6)	Alice 6/10 (0.6)	Ngidony 5/10 (0.5)	Antonela 6/10 (0.6)	0.6

¹Example: Leiron = first name of an informant

5/8 (0.6) = ranking result for Mr Leiron, expressed as the pile number to which the card belonged over the total number of piles in the ranking exercise. The number in brackets contains the (rounded) quotient of both numbers.

 

Table 2. Diseases Samburu informants most frequently ranked 'top ten'.

English and Samburu disease name

Disease ranked 'top ten' in 6 communities

Total

Rank

1

2

3

4

5

6

Retained placenta (nkubooto e mudong')

*

*

*

*

*

*

6

1

Fleas (loisusu)

*

*

*

*

*

*

6

1

Calf rejection (nkibata e lashe)

*

*

*

*

*

*

6

1

Streptothricosis (lmongoi)

*

*

*

*

*

5

4

Louse infestation (lashei)

*

*

*

*

4

5

Fracture (nkilata e loik)

*

*

*

*

4

5

Eye infections (moyan e nkonyek)

*

*

*

3

7

Leeches (lmolog)

*

*

*

3

7

Tumour (ntubui/naremi)

*

*

*

3

7

Dystocia (nkitarounoto e lashe)

*

*

*

3

7

Coccidiosis (nadotuli)

*

*

2

11

Key: * = The disease was ranked "top ten" in study community.

1, 2, 3.. = Study communities.

_____ = Cut-off line for the top ten confidently treated diseases.

list (see Box 1). It probed for details on remedy composition, methods of administration, precautions and toxicity, efficacy, availability of main ingredients etc. A total of 20 key informants were interviewed. Where possible, informants were asked to show the researcher the medicinal plants mentioned during the interviews. The plants were photographed and samples taken to the East African Herbarium for botanical identification.

Box 1: Ethnoveterinary question lists Technical information Ingredients: get a list of plants and other remedies used. Preparation: ask for description of the preparation procedures. Administration: ask for description of routes and form of administration. Dosages: ask number of times, interval, and amounts. Recovery: ask how long the animal takes to recover. Do all animals recover? What factors affect recovery? Does the treatment tackle the cause or only alleviate the symptoms? Side effects: ask whether any precautions are required. Availability of plants: ask in which area found, seasonality, whether common, and how easily found. Use in humans: ask whether the same treatment is used in humans. If so, for what is it used? Storage: in case of a herb, when is it harvested and can it be stored? Sampling: where possible, ask to be shown the plants or remedies. Take photographs (slides) and preserve plant specimens. Veracity: randomly stop passers-by and ask them the same questions. Socioeconomic information Who of the following groups in your community uses traditional treatments and why – men and women, wealthy and poor, young and old, educated and uneducated, any other groups? Who among the above groups has more knowledge? Why? What are some of the benefits of having increased ethnoveterinary knowledge? How do people learn about EVK (transfer of knowledge)? Why do some people seem to know more than others? Which of the ten diseases that are effectively treated with EVK are actually treated? Rank according to those actually treated. If your animal had a disease, which you could treat effectively either with EVK or modern treatments, which treatment would you use? And why? Do you feel that people should use traditional treatments more than they are presently doing? If not, why not? If yes, how can we promote the use of traditional treatments?

 

Step 4: Analysis of the most commonly cited remedies

Initially it was expected that the treatments would be a combination of more than one plant ingredient. As it turned out, however, the Samburu respondents described single herbal preparations rather than compound concoctions. It was therefore possible to make a list of plants, herbs, and procedures for each of the overall 'top ten' confidently treated diseases. It was also found out that for any particular disease, more than one plant or procedure was known but these were prepared and applied separately. The remedies used for each of the 'top ten' diseases were ranked by the researcher according to how frequently they were mentioned in all the study communities (for an example, see Table 3). The top two or three most commonly mentioned remedies were selected and detailed information was collected on their ingredients, preparation, administration, dosage, effectiveness, side effects, availability, storage, and possible use in humans. This information was analysed and compiled into a report. Using available literature, the local names of some of the medicinal plants were translated into their botanical equivalents (Beentje 1994, Heine et al. 1988).

Table 3. Remedies used for 'retained placenta', ranked according to how frequently they were cited.

Remedies		Number of informants who mentioned the remedy in 6 communities												Totals		Rank
PLANT NAMES	1 n=5			2 n=4		3 n=2		4 n=3	5 n=4		6 n=4		n=22
Sekotei (Salvadora persica)	5			4		2		3	4		1		19		1
Lardenyei (Odontella fischerii)	3			0		2		3	0		2		10		2
Lekuru (Solanum reschi)	1			1		2		0	0		0		4		3
Lmaraga (Blepharis linarifolia)	1			0		0		0	2		0		3		4
Manual removal	1			0		2		0	0		0		3		4
Snake's moult (?)	0			1		1		0	1		0		3		4
Lgirigiri (Acacia brevispica)	0			0		2		1	0		1		3		4
Lopeleshi (?)	1			1		0		0	0		0		2		8
Lg'eriyoi (Olea africana)	0			0		0		0	2		0		2		8
Ndupai (Sanseviera intermidia)	0			1		0		0	0		0		1		10

Step 5: Study of socio-economic aspects of the use of EVK

With a semi-structured question list (see Box 1 above), information on socioeconomic aspects was collected during focus groups discussions.

Results

The survey revealed that:

• The Samburu people have a vast amount of ethnoveterinary knowledge. They named and described up to 60 livestock diseases and conditions for all the livestock species. Their disease nomenclature is mainly based on clinical signs and symptoms. Except for dosage rates, there was great consistency in the preparation and administration procedures.
• Unlike other communities, the Samburu use single rather than compound plant preparations. This is unusual compared to ethno-pharmaceutical knowledge worldwide. It may mean that these pastoralists have been able to link specific therapeutic actions to specific disease problems (McCorkle 1994).
• For any particular disease, more than one remedy is known to treat it confidently. However, some remedies are used more commonly than others.
• Most of the treatments are plant-based. A total of 41 plants and nine non-plant-based or manipulative-based remedies were described as most confidently used. Most plant-based preparations involve crushing the principal ingredient (pulverisation) and giving the product by mouth or through the nose when dry or after soaking it in water, urine, or milk. The infusion may or may not be boiled as well. Dosage rates vary and are usually estimated using units such as 'human arm length' or 'palm sizes'.
• In general, this knowledge is shared and used freely and widely amongst different groups of the Samburu community. However, poor, uneducated, and unemployed members of the community have and need this knowledge most. In case of manipulative procedures such as bone-setting and relieving of dystocia, a few individuals among the community have become specialists and are often consulted by the rest of the community.
• Although women use this knowledge, especially when men are not at home and their small stock is sick, their role is seldom recognised by their male counterparts.
• Old people, both men and women, are custodians of ethnoveterinary knowledge and pass it on to the younger generation by word of mouth. Being away from pastoral life such as going to school, being employed, or due to natural calamities like droughts and insecurity, alienates one from practising ethnoveterinary knowledge.

Promotion

The EVK Project work is primarily based in Samburu District but draws from and feeds into the EVK work of other projects in Kenya. This research intends to move beyond just primary descriptive analysis of ethnoveterinary knowledge, to responsible recommendations on strengthening and reapplying valuable ethnoveterinary knowledge. To do this, the project is promoting the valuable EVK research results within and beyond the project area through: providing feedback to the source people and informing and influencing the policies of the government and other development organisations in favour of EVK research and development.

Providing feedback to the source people

There are a number of methods by which research and development can provide feedback of useful ethnoveterinary knowledge and practices to the source people.

Participation in the validation and value-adding of EVK

For effective promotion of ethnoveterinary practices, it is important that the treatments and practices are scientifically validated and improved ('value added') in one way or another. The process of validation and value-adding depends on the community in question. Among the Samburu, during the baseline survey local experts have selected those treatments that are recognised as effective. The project has now embarked on scientifically validating and adding value to these treatments. The fact that Samburu people use single rather than compound preparations, and are ready to share this information with others freely, makes it possible to conduct scientific validation and add value to this information in a participatory manner. The process of value-adding started with the baseline survey. During this, the key informants were provided with feedback which in turn they confirmed. This helped them gaining insight into their own knowledge. This reinforced their confidence in their healing knowledge. During scientific validation and value-adding the traditional healers are involved in the design and carrying out of field trials and experimentation. Through this they are getting an immediate feedback of the results from the validation and value-adding process.

Incorporation into decentralised animal health training programmes

ITDG together with its partners and other development organisations is involved in setting up Community-based Animal Health Care Programmes (CBAHCP) in Kenya. These programmes involve the training of community-selected representatives on basic animal health problems and setting up a local commercial drug supply system. In Samburu, in collaboration with other development organisations, the value-added EVK is being taken back to the source people by integrating it into the animal health training manuals used by the different programmes. In addition, the Samburu experience is being used to develop similar projects in other parts of Kenya.

Provision of opportunities for different communities to share their knowledge

There are differences in ethnoveterinary knowledge and its practices between different ethnic groups. Comparison between the Samburu and other pastoralists, for example, has shown that there are some practices, which are known only by the Samburu. In fact some of the remedies that are confidently used are considered dangerous by other pastoralists. The project is therefore attempting to enrich the Samburu and other communities' ethnoveterinary knowledge by bringing them together through workshops and learning visits to share and exchange their expertise.

Working with schools

Since the school system in Kenya is one of the factors responsible for the breakdown of the transfer of traditional knowledge from young to old people, the project is working with local secondary schools to compile information on confidence or consensus ethnoveterinary practices. This information will be availed to local schools in form of printed material for inclusion into the school curriculum.

Informing and influencing

The greatest hindrance to the wide application of EVK by conventional veterinary services is the policy environment that does not favour EVK and the scepticism from veterinary professionals towards EVK. To change this, the project is working with development organisations interested in community-based animal healthcare programmes to encourage them to incorporate EVK into their projects. Through regular workshops, awareness is being raised amongst government and other development organisation officials on issues related to decentralised animal healthcare and ethnoveterinary knowledge. One such workshop was organised in collaboration with the International Institute for Rural Reconstruction. This brought together 'modern' veterinary professionals and 'ethnoveterinarians' to write and produce a manual on ethnoveterinary knowledge in Kenya (ITDG and IIRR 1996). In addition, the workshop allowed these two groups of animal healthcare practitioners to share and appreciate each other's expertise. This was a peculiar workshop in that it brought together people who before could not come to into agreement on aspects of their practice. After the end of the workshop, one modern practitioner expressed that he was glad he had attended the workshop.

The results of the work in Samburu have also been compiled and will soon be published in another book. In addition this information is being presented in various conferences and seminars.

Due to the unrivalled reputation in community-based animal health programmes and ethnoveterinary research and development in Kenya, ITDG provides information through its Decentralised Animal Health Support Unit. Through these consultancies, EVK experiences from Samburu and elsewhere, are being disseminated widely. A number of organisations have already been assisted to start their ethnoveterinary knowledge research and development projects. To carry out scientific validation and value-adding, the project is collaborating with a national research institution, the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI). By carrying out this collaborative work and providing information through publications and consultancies, the project is ensuring wide application of its approach. This should eventually lead to policy change amongst research institutions and development organisation in Kenya and beyond in favour of EVK. KARI has already recognised the importance of EVK research and development and has prioritised it as one of its research themes in its current research programme.

Conclusions

The Samburu community is finding it increasingly difficult to access the much needed modern veterinary services. As a result, EVK has become an affordable alternative. But the lack of scientific studies of these practices makes it difficult to integrate these practices into modern veterinary programmes. This research is trying to identify, validate, and improve promising practices and take them back to the source people. In the process it is hoped that an appropriate approach to EVK research and development will be developed, tested, and shared with other research and development agencies for wide application. Samburu provides an ideal area to carry this out. The remedies and practices have already been screened to get the 'best bets' (McCorkle 1994). The research has moved into the scientific validation of and adding value to these selected 'best bets' in collaboration with the community and national research institutions. The results are being compiled and feedback is provided to the source community through community training and working with local schools. In order to influence policy, the project is disseminating its experience widely through publications and consultancies.

References

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Grandin, Barbara E. 1988. Wealth Ranking in Smallholder Communities: A Field Manual. Intermediate Technology Publications, London.

Heine, Bernd, Ingo Heine, and Christa Chinwag. 1988. Plant Concepts and Plant Use; An Ethobotanical Survey of the Semi-Arid and Arid lands of East Africa; Part V, Plants of The Samburu (Kenya). Verlag Breitenbach, Saarbrücken, Germany.

Iles, Karen. 1990. Oxfam/ITDG Livestock Project, Samburu - report of base-line study, and implications for project design. Unpublished report, IT Kenya, Nairobi, Kenya.

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ITDG and IIRR. 1996. Ethnoveterinary Medicine in Kenya: A Field Manual of Traditional Animal Health Care Practices. Intermediate Technology Group and International Institute of Rural Reconstruction, Nairobi, Kenya.

McCorkle, Constance. 1994. Ethnoveterinary medicine R & D and gender in the ITDG/Kenya RAPP. Unpublished consultancy report. IT Kenya, Nairobi, Kenya.

McCorkle, Constance and Evelyn Mathias-Mundy. 1992. Ethnoveterinary medicine in Africa. Africa 62(1): 59-93.

Politz, Joachim and Jackson Lekileley. 1988. Knowledge of Samburu on animal diseases and their traditional treatments. Internal report, IFSP/GTZ, Wamba, Kenya.

Wanyama, Jacob B. 1997. Confidently used ethnoveterinary knowledge among pastoralists of Samburu, Kenya. Book 1: Methodology and results. Book 2: Preparation and administration. Intermediate Technology Kenya, Nairobi, Kenya.