Quantifying the domestic market in herbal medicine in Benin, West Africa

Quiroz, Diana; Towns, Alexandra M.; Legba, Sènan Ingrid; Swier, Jorik; Brière, Solène; Sosef, M.S.M.; Andel, Tinde van

doi:10.1016/j.jep.2013.12.019

Cited by 70 publications

(52 citation statements)

References 16 publications

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“…The medicinal value (MV) was computed as the sum of the scores associated with plant part sold: roots (5), stem (4), bark (3), leaves (2) and seed/fruit (1), according to the degree of sensitivity of the species to harvesting of these organs (Dzerefos and Witkowski, 2001;de Oliveira et al, 2007). The medicinal tree species in which products are sold were retrieved from the list realized by Legba et al (2012) and Quiroz et al (2014). Concerning the other use value (OV), scores were attributed to five non-medicinal use categories as the following: technology (5), construction (4), food (3); fodder (2) and others -fuel, charcoal, craft … (1).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…If the medicinal uses of these tree species were limited to autoconsumption in rural areas, there would be little concern about harvest sustainability. However, from the most reported species, the following were said to be highly marketed: S. latifolius, K. senegalensis, L. lanceolata, Bridelia ferruginea, M. excelsa, P. kotschyi, P. suberosa, P. crassipes, V. paradoxa, P. biglobosa, S. longipedunculata, P. erinaceus, Prosopis africana, and K. africana (Vodouhê et al, 2008;Quiroz et al, 2014). In this regard, it is relevant to improve the capacity of their natural populations to meet the growing market demand through plantations.…”

Section: Medicinal Uses Of Tree Speciesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The most important factors that may have a negative impact on these species are human practices that result in the harvesting of fruits and leaves in combination with climate change (Bourou et al, 2012;Sanou et al, 2014). Concerning S. longipedunculata, no other use was reported apart from the medicinal use for which their roots were sold expensively at 140.80 US$/kg with a small bulk offered for sale daily (34 kg) on the market in Southern Benin (Quiroz et al, 2014). In Ghana, where it is also perceived as a rare species (van Andel et al, 2012), S. longipedunculata's roots were offered daily for sale in big bulk (561 kg), and sold at 47.8 US$/kg.…”

Section: Factors Driving Conservation Status Of Priority Medicinal Trmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Prioritization of useful medicinal tree species for conservation in Wari-Maro Forest Reserve in Benin: A multivariate analysis approach

Yaoïtcha

Houéhanou

Fandohan

et al. 2015

Forest Policy and Economics

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Medicinal Uses Of Tree Speciesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Factors Driving Conservation Status Of Priority Medicinal Trmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Prioritization of useful medicinal tree species for conservation in Wari-Maro Forest Reserve in Benin: A multivariate analysis approach

Yaoïtcha

Houéhanou

Fandohan

et al. 2015

Forest Policy and Economics

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“…The Afro-Surinamese plant names in the Natrapland database were then compared with local names in Amerindian and European languages from the same region (37,70,72) and African names for botanically related taxa (on family, genus, and species levels) documented from the principal geographical sources of Surinamese slaves, by using Burkill's compendium on useful plants of West Tropical Africa (73); literature from the Prelude Medicinal Plants Database (74); a revision on sesame use (75); and literature from Benin (76,77), Ghana (78), Nigeria (62), Cameroon (79), Gabon (80,81), Congo (82,83), and Angola (60,84). Our comparison also included African plant names documented during recent fieldwork by the authors in Ghana (47), Benin, and Gabon (85)(86)(87)(88). We excluded African languages that were not widely represented in the transatlantic slave trade, such as Sahelian and Pygmy languages.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Local plant names reveal that enslaved Africans recognized substantial parts of the New World flora

Andel

Klooster

Quiroz

et al. 2014

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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How did the forced migration of nearly 11 million enslaved Africans to the Americas influence their knowledge of plants? Vernacular plant names give insight into the process of species recognition, acquisition of new knowledge, and replacement of African species with American ones. This study traces the origin of 2,350 Afro-Surinamese (Sranantongo and Maroon) plant names to those plant names used by local Amerindians, Europeans, and related groups in West and Central Africa. We compared vernacular names from herbarium collections, literature, and recent ethnobotanical fieldwork in Suriname, Ghana, Benin, and Gabon. A strong correspondence in sound, structure, and meaning among Afro-Surinamese vernaculars and their equivalents in other languages for botanically related taxa was considered as evidence for a shared origin. Although 65% of the Afro-Surinamese plant names contained European lexical items, enslaved Africans have recognized a substantial part of the neotropical flora. Twenty percent of the Sranantongo and 43% of the Maroon plant names strongly resemble names currently used in diverse African languages for related taxa, represent translations of African ones, or directly refer to an Old World origin. The acquisition of new ethnobotanical knowledge is captured in vernaculars derived from Amerindian languages and the invention of new names for neotropical plants from African lexical terms. Plant names that combine African, Amerindian, and European words reflect a creolization process that merged ethnobotanical skills from diverse geographical and cultural sources into new Afro-American knowledge systems. Our study confirms the role of Africans as significant agents of environmental knowledge in the New World.

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“…Melegueta pepper (Aframomum melegueta) is commonly traded throughout West and Central Africa for their use in spice and medicine (Andel et al 2012c;Quiroz et al 2014;. In Suriname, the seeds are no longer known as spice, but used by both Maroon groups in (ritual) herbal medicine.…”

Section: Other Old World Cropsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The ‘Botanical Gardens of the Dispossessed’ revisited: richness and significance of Old World crops grown by Suriname Maroons

Andel

Velden²,

Reijers³

2015

Genet Resour Crop Evol

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Old World crops entered the Americas as provision on slave ships and were planted by enslaved Africans in their home gardens, known as the 'Botanical Gardens of the Dispossessed'. Escaped slaves who settled in Maroon communities in Suriname's forested interior practiced shifting cultivation for centuries with seeds they brought from their home gardens. After the abolishment of slavery, Creoles largely abandoned agriculture and farming became the activity of Asian wage laborers. Maroon agriculture has never been studied in detail. The recent discovery of African rice (Oryza glaberrima) in a Maroon garden initiated this ethnobotanical study on Old World crops grown by Maroons, and their motivations for maintaining this agrodiversity. In 2013, we collected crop cultivars and landraces and interviewed 16 Aucan and Saramaccan Maroon farmers. The greatest richness was encountered in bananas, taro, okra and rice. Most crops were used for food, but sesame, melegueta pepper and African rice largely lost their food function and served mainly for rituals. Farmers exchanged seeds and tubers with family members and other ethnicities in both urban and forest communities. Spending time in the capital during childbirth or illness resulted in the loss of typical Maroon crops (e.g., Bambara groundnut), as seeds lost viability during the farmer's absence. Motivation to grow specific crops and cultivars varied from tradition, food preference, seasonal spreading, rituals and traditional medicine. Documentation of specific landrace properties, storage of seeds in germplasm centers and in situ conservation are urgently needed to safeguard these previously undocumented Maroon landraces.

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Quantifying the domestic market in herbal medicine in Benin, West Africa

Cited by 70 publications

References 16 publications

Prioritization of useful medicinal tree species for conservation in Wari-Maro Forest Reserve in Benin: A multivariate analysis approach

Prioritization of useful medicinal tree species for conservation in Wari-Maro Forest Reserve in Benin: A multivariate analysis approach

Local plant names reveal that enslaved Africans recognized substantial parts of the New World flora

The ‘Botanical Gardens of the Dispossessed’ revisited: richness and significance of Old World crops grown by Suriname Maroons

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