Promoting African medicinal plants through multi-stakeholder meeting-HerbFEST

IF you are reading this, then you either know or have parents who know what we are all missing in refusing to use our available locally grown (behind the house little garden) plants. For most, when they see or hear of “medicinal plants” they see native doctors or plants made for those who cannot afford the orthodox medicine. I often find this amusing especially coming from learned people who should understand that most medicines did not fall from the skies or are products of chemical analysis but rather are plant based. 

     Granted, there is a recent increase in the interest and use of natural products and herbal supplements/teas, but this is often just a faze which is ignited when a multi-level marketing international company storms the market with products, and which naturally losses momentum after a given number of users have tried it out. Another indication of the fact that Nigerians are ready to embrace the herbal trend is the increasing preference for green teas. Now, my question is this: Which country or continent is/has more green than us? Why do we then prefer imported “green” is what I don’t know. I for one, believe that nature has provided each country what they need to sustain their health and wellbeing and it just behooves on us to cash in on this divine benevolence!

      The indigenous flora of Africa has historically supported healthcare delivery, food security, as well as cosmetics and beauty products manufacturing. No matter how hard we try, we cannot be more “oyibo” than the “oyibo” (no offense meant). We need to come to realization that our medicinal plants (oh yes our “common” moringa, bitter kola, ginger, okro, bitter leaf etc) as well as our traditional health practices and formulations have a significant role to play in tackling our present health challenges as well as bridging health inequalities. We should not continue to struggle to have completely-accessible national healthcare delivery systems amidst very rich biodiversity ecosystems. Talk about fetching water with a spoon when there’s a bucket right in front of you!

       So you have heard that in Africa (Nigeria inclusive), more than 80% of the rural population use medicinal herbs or indigenous systems of medicine. You go like “really? Who uses local products and visits traditional practitioners?” Yes “really”! Even you reading this will most likely refer anyone who has bone fracture to a traditional bone-setter or refer a sick relative to India where most infusions and products are medicinal plants based and locally produced!  Attending the upcoming HerbFEST 2014 will not only improve our healthcare but will help us in achieving both our Health and Economic Millenium Development Goals. A comprehensive review of African Medicinal Plants (See, Iwu, M.M. 1993, 2014: Handbook of African Medicinal Plants) listed more than 2,000 plant species that are used in traditional medical practice in various parts of the continent. Notwithstanding this rich array of plant species, Nigeria, like most other African countries, play very insignificant roles in the estimated herbal medicine global trade worth over USD$100b.

       Tropical and subtropical Africa contains between 40- 45.000 species of plant with a potential for development and out of which 5.000 species are used medicinally. It must be emphasized also that the continent already contributes nearly 25 per cent of the world trade in biodiversity. Still there is a paradox: in spite of this huge potential and diversity, the African continent has only contributed 83 of the 1100 blockbuster drugs globally.

      There are a lot of stakeholders involved in the process of firmly implanting our medicinal plants and natural products into our healthcare system, and adopting it as a wealth creation strategy, away from the oil sector. Each of these stakeholders need to be strengthened and their capacity built, as is done during the HerbFEST. The farmers need to know how to plant organically to avoid chemicals which only deteriorate the efficacy of the plants or even contaminate them. They equally need to know how/when to harvest, store, transport etc. In all, Good Agricultural Practices have to be imbibed. 

       The research institutes and Academia need support to carry out extensive research work. They mustn’t wait for foreign grants or outbreaks such as the recent: Ebola Outbreak” to get support/finance to carry out research work! Entrepreneurs and natural products producers need funding and to know how to get the quality right in order to be widely accepted locally and internationally. Government Agencies need to come together to synchronize activities and move it forward to the next phase. 

      Plant-based Clinical research has made particularly rewarding progress in the important fields of antimalarial (example artemisinin), anticancer (example taxoids and camptothecins) and metabolic disorder (includes diabetes etc.) therapies, and these are the leading causes of death in West Africa. Natural products can make substantial contributions to health care delivery and general wellness. Their use in the former has however met with various challenges bothered on acceptability, failed perception, quality control and dosage.  HerbFEST aims to bridge these gaps, tackle such challenges and as well showcase our rich biodiversity and research results.

     As with all “made in Naija” goods, the small population of Nigerians who use natural products and dietary supplements would rather buy the same product but made in other countries. And the doctors? That is more like the proverbial “camel passing through the eye of a needle”. And can they be really blamed? Not exactly! Few plant species that provide medicinal herbs have been scientifically evaluated for their possible medical applications. Even if they recognise the efficacy of herbal remedies, both the general consumer and health care professionals need up to date, authoritative information on the safety and efficacy of medicinal plants. And Assurance of safety, quality and efficacy of medicinal plants and herbal products has now become a key issue in industrialized and developing countries. 

      With a view to help stimulate the natural products and bio-business industrial sub-sector and improve the health sector in Nigeria and the ECOWAS sub-region, Bioresources Development and Conservation Programme (BDCP), a non-governmental non-profit organization, in collaboration with the Nigeria Natural Medicine Development Agency (NNMDA), a parastatal of the Federal Ministry of Science and Technology, the Federal Institute of Industrial Research, Oshodi (FIIRO), also a parastatal of the Federal Ministry of Science and Technology, and the International Centre for Ethnomedicine and Drug Development (InterCEDD), a private research and development Centre, are organizing a natural products expo, HerbFEST 2014. HerbFEST 2014 which is taking place from the 25-27th of November 2014 at NNMDA premises Lagos, which promises to promote our herbs, health foods and natural products.

• Ngozi James wrote from Bioresources Development and Conservation Programme, Abuja

http://www.ngrguardiannews.com/features/natural-health/187164-promoting-african-medicinal-plants-through-multi-stakeholder-meeting-herbfest