Indigenous knowledge and practices on medicinal plants used by local communities of Gambella region, south west Ethiopia was conducted to investigate those potential and popular medicinal plants used for the treatment of various diseases in Gambella region. A total of 100 purposively selected inhabitants were employed in the study of which 84 were male and 16 were females. A traditional use of plants information was obtained by semi structured oral interviews from experienced rural elders, Focus group discussion and through questionnaire administered to traditional herbal medicine practitioners of the study area. 81 medicinal plants were identified for the traditional treatment of both human (25) and animal (16) disease. The highest numbers of medicinal plants for traditional uses utilized by this community were belonging to shrubs 30(37.03%) followed by trees (32.10%). The result reviled that 15.2% of the remedies are prepared from root part and squeezing accounts 17(20.99%) followed by chewing 14(17.28%). The major routs of administration of traditional medicines were reported oral 50(61.73%). Urine, placental retention and milk let down accounts higher informants’ consensus factor value (0.96). The findings showed that sheferaw and leele have higher fidelity level which is 100 and 92 respectively. Various factors were recorded as the main threats of medicinal plants in the study area. In conclusion, the community carries a vast knowledge of medicinal plants but this knowledge is also rapidly disappearing in this community. Such type of ethno-botanical studies will help in systematic documentation of ethno-botanical knowledge and availing to the scientific world plant therapies used as antivenin by the Gambella community and further research on plant species identification and chemical extraction is recommended.

This study was designed to assess the state of cattle production and the contributions that cattle production makes to enhance the livelihoods, food security, and nutrition of refugees and the host community in the Gambella region in southwest Ethiopia. Two hundred fifty-five cattle owners were purposefully chosen for the study, and information was gathered through questionnaires, focus group discussions, and key informant interviews. The average number of animals per household (sd; +0.002 range: 1 to 490) was 32.37. The study observed a total of 8,258 cattle of which 8,146 belonged to the Nuer breed and 112 to the Felata breed. The reason for maintaining cattle varies statistically across the host community, re-settlers, and refugee communities (x2=50.358; p-value =0.000). According to the current study, 92.5% (236/255) of cattle owners used a free-grazing system, and the mean daily milk yield per cow during the dry and rainy seasons, respectively, was 1.35L and 2.09L. All respondents (100%) agree that there exist cattle diseases in the research area, and 79.6% of cattle owners employed traditional medicine to prevent and treat cattle diseases. Some of the potentials for cattle production in the study areas were cultural value, the existence of disease-tolerant breeds, the availability of manpower, and local expertise. Therefore, it is highly advised that a thorough analysis of the various agro-ecologies in the area be necessary to understand the reproductive and productive performance of cattle.