EFFICACY OF SELECTED
KENYAN MEDICINAL PLANTS
USED IN THE TREATMENT
AND MANAGEMENT
OF TYPE II DIABETES
Community-Based
Domestication and Commercialisation of the Traditional Medicinal and
Insecticidal Plant, Ocimum kilimandscharicum, Adjacent to Kakamega
Forest
Executive Summary
This is a community-based initiative that is undertaken by the Muliru
Farmers Conservation Group (MFCG) adjacent to Kakamega Forest. It seeks to
conserve Kakamega Forest and its biodiversity through promotion of alternative
income-generating activities among the forest-adjacent communities. The
initiative combines the following: an indigenous medicinal and mosquito
repellent plant; traditional knowledge and practices of the local community;
modern science and technology; and partnership between the rural community,
advanced research and development institutions and the private sector.
Ocimum kilimandscharicum is a wild indigenous medicinal plant. The local community living
adjacent to Kakamega Forest uses it traditionally for treatment of colds, flu
and cough. The plant is also used for repelling mosquitoes and protecting
stored grains. To treat colds, flu and cough, community members traditionally
immerse the leaves of Ocimum kilimandscharicum in boiled water
in a pot or saucepan to generate an aroma. The patient is made to inhale this
aroma.
Using modern science and technology, a new brand of medicines called
Naturub® was developed by the Applied Bioprospecting Programme
and its partners from purified extracts of Ocimum kilimandscharicum based
on the traditional knowledge and practices. Naturub® is
registered as a medicine. It is used for alleviating flu, cold, chest
congestion, aches and pains, insect bites and muscular pain. Members of the
local community living adjacent to Kakamega forest have been assisted to
domesticate O. kilimandscharicum and to cultivate and process
it on commercial basis for manufacture of Naturub® products.
Medicinal Plants and Traditional Medicine in Africa: Constraints and
Challenges
Under-threat
medicinal plants panacea to drug shortages
TANDO Mapungwana learned to crack the dry bark of the khaya, a type of mahogany
tree, deep in Chipinge district when he was just eight years old.
Tonderayi Matonho
Tonderayi Matonho
From that, he made some traditional medicinal lime-water to cure
abdominal pains and colds.
He has also gathered enough experience in turning the pulp from
the hacha fruit (parinari curatellifolia) into a tasty but effective
mukandabota, a kind of medicinal porridge.
Mapungwana has also discovered that he can earn a living from
indigenous trees and wild fruits around the thick and pristine 940-hectare
Chirinda Forest, now domesticated around his homestead.
However, the khaya and many other indigenous plants and trees
are under threat from extinction due to bio-piracy and global warming and
Chirinda Forest, where it is mostly found, under threat.
“Global warming, leading to climate change, bio-piracy, illegal
harvesting and trading in plant and animal species are exerting a heavy toll on
Zimbabwe’s natural resources. There is need to strengthen national laws and
promotion of small grains in dry areas of the country which are most
vulnerable,” Environmental Management Agency (EMA) spokesperson Steady Kangata
said during a national biodiversity media tour in Chipinge recently.
Drugs at the local clinic and hospital in Chipinge town have
become scarce, joining other health institutions countrywide operating “with
less than 50% of the required drugs due to inadequate funding”.
“There is a lot of value in rediscovering traditional medicine,
its pharmacological importance and preserve local knowledge in the face of new
diseases emerging,” a development consultant and executive director of
Community Technology Development Trust (CTDT), Andrew Mushita, said in an
interview.
Vince Musewe, a renowned development economist, says:
“Traditional medicine is a case of us Africans failing to develop our own drugs
and marketing them. Just as we call for value addition to minerals, we have
failed to develop and package our own traditional medicine.
“The West has just managed to invest money in research and taken
our intellectual capital on medicines and packaged it.
“We must emulate the Chinese who invest and believe in their own traditional medicines.”
“We must emulate the Chinese who invest and believe in their own traditional medicines.”
Zimbabwe is, meanwhile, on high alert over diseases such as
Ebola, measles, cancer, cholera and typhoid.
According to medical experts, Ebola kills up to 90% of those
infected and there is no cure or vaccine for it yet.
Special health experts say human consumption of equatorial
animals in Africa in the form of bush meat is said to have caused spread of
diseases to humans.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has warned that the West
African Ebola epidemic is an “extraordinary event” and now constitutes an
international health risk as the virus was moving faster than expected.
David Parirenyatwa, the Minister of Health and Child Care, said:
“There is no outbreak in the country and the Sadc region. The risk is there (of
Ebola), but we have deployed contingency plans that cover most areas.
“What is important is that we vigorously educate the population
on the symptoms and what to do if you do contract it.”
Rutendo Bonde of the Zimbabwe Association of Doctors for Human
Rights says Zimbabwe’s emergency preparedness depends on support from
partnerships and that should not be autonomous drawing lessons learnt from the
cholera outbreak of 2008 particularly in the area of disease surveillance and
local level epidemiology.
Media reports say that the health ministry requested
$10 million from treasury which will be disbursed to NatPharm, the major drug manufacturing firm.
$10 million from treasury which will be disbursed to NatPharm, the major drug manufacturing firm.
But NatPharm has only received $3 million.
Deputy minister of Health Paul Chimedza says that the government
has failed to provide money for NatPharm to buy resulting in shortages at
government hospitals around Zimbabwe.
“So we are looking at a different situation on how we can solve
the problem. One of them is to engage companies that supply drugs so that they
can create credit facilities or lines of credit through NatPharm which can
procure the drugs that we want and then distribute them to the hospitals,”
Chimedza said.
‘Rediscover traditional
medicine’
However, experts assert that another way “to solve the problem”
is to rediscover and bring on board traditional medicine.
“The knowledge, practice and use of traditional medicine have
increased and what is required is to incorporate traditional practitioners so
that they can share their intellectual knowledge, innovations and practices on
traditional medicine,” Mushita, an advocate in indigenous knowledge systems,
said.
“This is further evidenced by the emergence of this medicine in
China and the whole of the Asian region which is resorting to this knowledge
and practice,” he said.
From the interior region of Chipinge district, Mapungwana, now
preserving most of these plants and trees on a small forest plot on the fringes
of Chirinda Forest, claims that this knowledge and practice on traditional
medicine was handed down through family generations.
“With other interested villagers using inherited knowledge on
plant species, we have formed cooperatives and demarcated some parts of the
forest land containing indigenous trees such as mahogany, figtree and mutohwe,
for example, and tending them”.
“There are a number of such cases in Chipinge, Chibhememe
community in Chiredzi and the Chimanimani Rural District Council has formed
partnerships and contractual arrangements with local stakeholders who are
custodians of such information.
Such communities are farming wild fruits and traditional
medicinal plants, fencing off areas where indigenous plants grow.
In Buhera district, Manicaland Province, the University of Zimbabwe’s Department of Biochemistry, is spearheading a project to promote utilisation of wild plant foods for their nutritional and medicinal value.
In Buhera district, Manicaland Province, the University of Zimbabwe’s Department of Biochemistry, is spearheading a project to promote utilisation of wild plant foods for their nutritional and medicinal value.
“In this project we are creating awareness on the value of
indigenous wild plant foods as a survival strategy and documenting how the
foods are prepared and preserved as well as their nutritional and medicinal
value.
“There is no comprehensive referenced database or information
source focusing on ‘non-domesticated’ or ‘wild food plants’ either for
developed or developing countries,” Maud Muchuweti, a biochemist in the
department, said in one of the daily papers recently.
Mutuso Dhliwayo, another development consultant and director of
the Zimbabwe Environmental Lawyers’ Association, advocating for community
rights in equitable natural resources exploitation said “civil society
organisations need to lobby and advocate for the enactment of the Access to
Benefit-Sharing (ABS) policy and legal frameworks”.
“Through ABS, there is need to start building a strong local
value chain before moving on to outlets further afield but the key challenge is
to avert the risk of successful local ventures being taken over by larger
entities and companies and bypassing the local poor communities,” Dhliwayo
said.
According to Food Plants International, a non-profit
organisation covering more than 18 000 edible plant species, indigenous and
medicinal plant resources are crucial for the future of medical and
pharmaceutical science for the well-being of communities who are custodians of
the knowledge and victims of seemingly incurable diseases.
The humid tropical forests are the world’s richest regions in
terms of biodiversity, but they are also the most threatened.
In order to counter the threats of plant extinction, in Kenya, for instance, some local farmers and nomads have demarcated land containing indigenous fruit plants, though this sometimes triggers conflict.
In order to counter the threats of plant extinction, in Kenya, for instance, some local farmers and nomads have demarcated land containing indigenous fruit plants, though this sometimes triggers conflict.
Many rural dwellers tend the wild fruit farms like any other
cultivated crop, weeding and clearing spaces between trees and bushes.
Harvesting is often carried out by women and the fruits and plants sold to
middlemen, then transported to local markets and major towns.
The Food and Agriculture
Organisation (FAO), a United Nations agency, notes that wild
plant foods in Tanzania can now be found in 32% of all meals while the Wollo people in Ethiopia use wild plant foods as an important part of their survival strategy of last resort.
Organisation (FAO), a United Nations agency, notes that wild
plant foods in Tanzania can now be found in 32% of all meals while the Wollo people in Ethiopia use wild plant foods as an important part of their survival strategy of last resort.
Bio-piracy threatens indigenous
plants
However, another major challenge and threat to plant extinction is bio-piracy, the illegal trade in plants, involving the pillaging of millions of species each year.
However, another major challenge and threat to plant extinction is bio-piracy, the illegal trade in plants, involving the pillaging of millions of species each year.
Bio-piracy is now estimated to be the world’s third biggest
criminal activity, after arms and drug smuggling.
The growing market for natural remedies is fostering an alarming
growth in illegal plant harvesting.
One species, a special root, for example, used for centuries by
the Basarwa or Bushmen of southern Africa, to cure wounds and intestinal
disorders is under threat through bio-piracy.
The past two decades have seen a growing interest on the part of
researchers, international organisations, governments and NGOs in protecting
intellectual property rights and sharing knowledge and benefits on
biodiversity.
However, it has proved difficult to create adequate cross-border
and cross-cultural agreements.
Legal systems are complex and sometimes inadequate.
“Therefore, there is need to consolidate agreements for
knowledge-sharing by supplementing them at each stage, with more specific
accords and strategies that are adapted to specific cultural contexts so that
local capacities are rewarded and the people involved receive fair recompense,”
Dhliwayo said.
EMA spokesperson Kangata said efforts to push for a Bill on
Access to Benefit–Sharing in Parliament are under way and will help curtail
bio-piracy and unsustainable forest practices and dry areas such as Nyanyadzi
and Matabeleland North need promotion of small grains to adapt to climate
change and unsustainable forest practices.
Ministry of Environment, Water and Climate head of biodiversity,
Dr Chipangura Chirara, said traditional knowledge systems, especially in
relation to medicinal plants, is becoming more and more widely recognised and
as a result bio-piracy will be discouraged.
“We can assist by way of moving towards the domestication of and
realisation of the provisions of the international environmental instruments which
governments in the region, including Zimbabwe, have signed and ratified.
Study of biological active principles from Kenyan medicinal plants
Plant Species in the Folk medicine of Kit Mikayi Region, Western Kenya
Arwa S. Phanuel, Nyunja R.O. and Onyango J.C.
Department of Botany and Horticulture, Maseno University
P.O. BOX 333-40105, Maseno, Kenya
Issued: July 1, 2010
Abstract
An ethnobotanical survey of medicinal plants used in Kit Mikayi area of
Western Kenya was carried out in 2007.
The area is adjacent to Lake Victoria, the second largest fresh water
lake in the world. Being a shrine,
an ethnobotanical survey was conducted with the aim of documenting the
local plants of economic value which
have over time attracted both local and foreign visitors. Thirty-seven
species were documented, and their use
values and informant consensus factors were determined. The results were
considered as important in
defining conservation priorities as well as for further investigation of
the identified plants for possible
pharmacological applications.
The Contribution of Traditional Herbal Medicine
Practitioners to Kenyan Health Care Delivery
Results from Community Health-Seeking Behavior Vignettes
and a Traditional Herbal Medicine Practitioner Survey
John Lambert, Kenneth Leonard with Geoffrey Mungai, Elizabeth
Omindi-Ogaja,
Gladys Gatheru, Tabitha Mirangi, Jennifer Owara, Christopher H.
This study examines the role that Traditional Herbal Medicine
Practitioners (THMPs) play in
Kenya in the context of its Human Resources for Health Crisis. Two
surveys were carried out to
obtain evidence. The first documented the choices and perceptions of
households in 36
communities on seeking medical assistance for eight common illnesses.
The second survey asked
258 THMPs in five provinces to identify their knowledge sources,
training, common illnesses
treated, forms of payment, challenges, and concerns.
Community-derived data show that households make reasonable decisions
when faced with
difficult circumstances: they prefer hospitals when these are affordable
and seek care at clinics
and health centers when hospitals are too far away. There is significant
self-care and use of
pharmacies, although THMPs are preferred for worms and lower respiratory
problems. In
general, THMPs provide an important though diminishing role in the
provision of health care;
they are not sought out in situations when inadequate care is dangerous,
specifically infant
diarrhoea and potential TB.
Medicinal Plants of Kakamega Forest
Prepared by
Dr. Mark Lung, Executive Director
Eco2librium LLC
Not only will loss of
biodiversity influence the fundamental biota and processes
of Kakamega Forest, but also effect the natural resources that are
important to the
livelihoods of local people. The Luhya people, who live adjacent to the
forest, still rely
heavily on the forest for their basic needs such as fuel wood, timber,
medicine, and food.
Numerous plants from the Kakamega Forest have been traditionally used
for their
medicinal value. Some of these are shown and described in the table
below. The
description includes the local name, scientific name, parts of the plant
used, how they are
prepared for use, and their use in the Kakamega area. Also included under
“other
comments” is information about the medicinal uses of the plant in other
parts of the
world and scientific tests done.
Protecting Traditional Health Knowledge in Kenya:
The role of Customary Laws and Practices
This report presents the findings of community level research on
customary laws and practices for the
protection of traditional health systems in Kenya. It also explores the
protection of community rights over
traditional knowledge and Collective Biocultural Heritage within Kenya’s
policy and legislative framework.
There is a new policy framework on traditional medicine and medicinal
plants in Kenya; medicinal plants
represent a sector with an established economic value, and related
practices constitute part of a living culture
among the Kenyan population. However, traditional health knowledge and
healthcare is now facing significant
threats. Given the lack of existing legal protection for the
intellectual rights of traditional healers in Kenya, this
study addressed the urgent need to develop a sui generis system for
protecting the rights of communities
over TK and related biological resources (BRs).
The study aimed to contribute to the formulation of laws and policies
for the protection of Traditional
Knowledge and Collective Biocultural Heritage (CBCH) of indigenous
people and local communities at national
and international levels; especially noting that modern Intellectual
Property Rights (IPR) may not be appropriate
for protecting the distinct knowledge systems and needs of traditional
knowledge holders. The study explored
customary protection systems for TK and BRs, including traditional
values, ownership rights, transmission
modes, and access and benefit-sharing. It sought to inform the
development of Prior Informed Consent (PIC)
and benefit-sharing mechanisms for improved livelihoods; and strengthen
customary resource management
systems that sustain TK and biodiversity. It also examined existing
national policy and legal frameworks with
an impact on TK systems and the interplay between traditional protection
systems and national policies.
The study involved ethnic groups of extreme disparity in terms of
socio-cultural background and geographical
position to establish outmost similarities and differences for safe
generalisation on the mid-way ethnic groups
and to understand the range so it can be accommodated in national law.
Two categories of ethnic groups
including the Bantus represented by the Mijikenda and Nilotes
represented by the Maasai were selected
for this study. While the Mijikenda who are located adjacent to coastal
forests have a comparatively diluted
cultural system, the Maasai who live in the savanna grasslands of the
rift valley region have a more intact
cultural system. While the Mijikenda are largely sedentary
agriculturalists, the Maasai are largely nomadic
pastoralists. The following communities were involved: the Digo in Kwale
County, the Chonyi and Giriama in
Kilifi County, and Maasai in Kajiado County (171 respondents in total,
including elders, healers, women and
youth). Semi-structured interviews, open-ended discussions and focused
group discussions were facilitated
by researchers from the communities.
WHO monographs on selected medicinal plants
Volume 4
Conserving
useful plants with local communities in Kenya
Alex Hudson
26 March 2014
Blog
team:
In a recent trip to Kenya the Useful Plants Project (UPP) team
reviewed the community-based conservation activities being carried out in
country under Kew’s Millennium Seed Bank Partnership (MSBP). Project Officer,
Alex Hudson, outlines what he and the Scientific Coordinator, Efisio Mattana,
discovered.
In
November 2013 we travelled to Nyamira and Siaya in western Kenya to visit
communities supported by the UPP. Both regions have hot and relatively wet
climates with two short rain seasons a year characterised by sudden downpours
of powerful water droplets which pummel the dry earth. Of the two, Nyamira is
wetter, more tropical, and hillier with a larger population pressure.
With high
population densities, much of the land is used to cultivate crops, such as
corn, millet and tea. A patchwork landscape is produced together with
fast-growing, exotic species which are used for timber or firewood. Eucalyptusspecies and Grevillea robusta (Silky Oak) were introduced
from Australia in the early 20th century by British rulers to provide
fuelwood for the Kenya to Uganda railway and are still favoured because they provide a quick and
reliable source of income.
Herbal Remedies of the Luo of Siaya District,
Kenya: Establishing Quantitative
Criteria for Consensus
TIMOTHY JOHNS, JOHN O. KOKWARO, AND EBI K. KIMANANI
Data based on independent interviews with 45 herbalists of the Luo of
Siaya District, Kenya,
comprised 1129 remedy reports and related to 330 species of plants.
While 49% of the remedies
were encountered only once we list here 66 remedies (49 taxa) that were
confirmed through
independent reports from three or more individuals. A log-linear model
was applied to these data
in order to establish criteria for evaluating the likely efficacy of
specific remedies. A quantitative
interaction effect was calculated for each remedy as a measure of its
degree of confirmation. The
validity of the values derived from the mathematical model is considered
in relation to classical
criteria for evaluating ethnomedicinal reports.
The
potential of anti-malarial compounds derived from African medicinal plants.
Part I: A pharmacological evaluation of alkaloids and terpenoids
Traditional medicine caters for about 80% of the health care needs
of many rural populations around the world, especially in developing countries.
In addition, plant-derived compounds have played key roles in drug discovery.
Malaria is currently a public health concern in many countries in the world due
to factors such as chemotherapy faced by resistance, poor hygienic conditions,
poorly managed vector control programmes and no approved vaccines. In this
review, an attempt has been made to assess the value of African medicinal plants
for drug discovery by discussing the anti-malarial virtue of the derived
phytochemicals that have been tested by in vitro and in vivoassays. This survey was
focused on pure compounds derived from African flora which have exhibited
anti-malarial properties with activities ranging from “very active” to “weakly
active”. However, only the compounds which showed anti-malarial activities from
“very active” to “moderately active” are discussed in this review. The activity
of 278 compounds, mainly alkaloids, terpenoids, flavonoids, coumarines,
phenolics, polyacetylenes, xanthones, quinones, steroids, and lignans have been
discussed. The first part of this review series covers the activity of 171
compounds belonging to the alkaloid and terpenoid classes. Data available in
the literature indicated that African flora hold an enormous potential for the
development of phytomedicines for malaria.
Keywords:
Africa; Malaria; Medicinal plants; Natural products;
Traditional medicine
Microbial contamination of herbs marketed to HIV-infected people
in Nairobi (Kenya)
Herbal
products are used by human immunodeficiency virus (HlV)-infected individuals
regardless of safety or efficacy concerns. In this study, we examined the
microbiological quality of herbal preparations marketed to HIV-infected
individuals. A convenience sample (N = 24) of herbal products was obtained from
retailers in Nairobi, Kenya in 2007. Petrifilm plate count methods were used to
estimate total aerobic bacteria (APC), coliform,Escherichia coli,
Staphylococcus aureus and yeast and mould
counts. APC counts ranged from an estimated 1.5 x 101 colony forming units (CFU)/g to 7.1 x 108 CFU/g. Total and faecal coliform counts ranged from an estimated
<10 CFU/g to 3 x 106 CFU/g. E. coli load ranged from <10
CFU/g to 5 x 101 CFU/g and S. aureus counts ranged from an
estimated <10 CFU/g to 2.5 vx 103 CFU/g. Yeast and mould counts ranged from an estimated <10 CFU/
g to 9 x 104 CFU/g. An evaluation using
the World Health Organization limits for medicinal herbs found a percentage of
samples to contain microorganisms above allowable limits: 33% (APC), 50%
(coliforms) and 33% (yeast and moulds). A total of 67% of samples contained S. aureus loads above the United
States Pharmacopeia standard. We suggest that the introduction of
quality-control measures and safe handling practices for the selling of
medicinal herbs and botanicals in Kenya would be beneficial in reducing the
potential health risks for immunocompromised consumers of these products.
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