Background: A lot of emphasis is often placed on modern governance systems and little or no attention is given to traditional governance practices which remain largely undocumented. The study aimed at finding out important traditional and modern governance practices that regulate traditional medicine sector in Western Kenya. Materials and methods: The study was carried out in selected market centres of Western Kenya where the identified traditional medicine practitioners (TMPs) sell their traditional medicine. All consenting TMPs and professional experts were interviewed with the aid of a semi-structured questionnaire. Purposive sampling design with elements of snowball techniques was employed in tracing competent traditional medicine (TM) experts and relevant professional experts. The data collected was processed in Microsoft Excel and descriptive statistics performed. Pearson's chi-square statistics was carried out to determine the significance of the traditional and modern governance data sets using the STATA software. Results: Modern governance practices were not significantly different in all the market centres surveyed (p = 0.080). Equally, the traditional governance practices were also not significantly different in all the selected market centres (p = 1.000). Conclusions: Traditional governance practices play an important role in the governance of traditional medicine and are shaped by the socio-cultural beliefs of the local communities. Modern governance practices, on the other hand, are widely perceived as top downregulation of the traditional medicine growing industry.

Background: There exist vast traditional medicine and herbal remedies prescribed for diseases and socio-cultural ills that are sold in local medicine markets.Objectives: To assess the common traditional medicine traded in the local medicine markets and used for treating common diseases.Methods: The study was carried out in nine purposively selected medicine markets spread out in seven administrative counties of Western Kenya. Purposive sampling with elements of snow ball method was employed in the identification of willing respondents.In addition, face to face interviews were conducted with the aid of a pre-tested semi-structured questionnaire that sought to extract a targeted and expertise information from the respondents.Results: The survey recorded 45 commonly traded plant families composed of 78 genera and 87 medicinal plant species. Meliaceae, Apocynaceae and Fabaceae were leading plant families whereas Trichilia emetica, Azadirachta indica, Dregea schimperi and Aloe spp. were commonly traded.Conclusion: Traditional medicine traded in the local medicine markets continue to play a significant role in the treatment of common diseases. Frequently traded medicinal plant species should be prioritized for conservation.Keywords: Traditional Medicine; Common disease treated; Medicine markets.

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Background A lot of emphasis is often placed on modern governance systems and little or no attention is given to traditional governance practices which remain largely undocumented. The study aimed at finding out important traditional and modern governance practices that regulate traditional medicine sector in the Western Kenya. Materials and Methods The study was carried out in selected market centres of Western Kenya where the identified Traditional Medicine Practitioners (TMPs) sell their traditional medicine. All consenting TMPs and Professional Experts were interviewed with the aid of a semi-structured questionnaire. Purposive sampling design with elements of snow ball techniques was employed in tracing competent traditional medicine (TM) experts and relevant professional experts. The data collected was processed in Microsoft Excel and descriptive statistics performed. The Pearson’s Chi square statistics was carried out to determine the significance of the traditional and modern governance data sets using the STATA software. Results Modern governance practices were not significantly different in all the market centres surveyed (p=0.080). Equally, the traditional governance practices were also not significantly different in all the selected market centres (p=1.000). Conclusions Traditional governance practices play an important role in the governance of traditional medicine, and are shaped by the socio-cultural beliefs of the local communities. Modern governance practices, on the other hand, are widely perceived as top down regulation of the traditional medicine growing industry.

BackgroundA lot of emphasis has always been placed on modern governance systems and little or no attention is given to traditional governance practices which remain largely undocumented. This study aimed at finding out important traditional and modern governance practices that regulate traditional medicine sector. There is a growing demand for traditional medicine in urban settings in spite of its proximity to conventional health care centres and access to modern medicine. However, questions about their safety and efficacy still remain to be adequately addressed Materials and Methods The study was carried out in selected market centres in the Western part of Kenya where the identified traditional medicine practitioners sell their traditional medicine and treat patients who come for medication. All the identified Professional Experts upon attaining an oral prior informed consent were interviewed at their offices in Nairobi, Kenya. The market centres were located at Eldoret, Kitale, Moi’s Bridge, Makutano, Arror, Kakamega, Luanda and Yala which are actually spread out in eight different administrative counties. Purposive sampling design with elements of snow ball techniques were employed in tracing competent traditional medicine ‘experts’ and relevant professional experts. Interviews were conducted upon obtaining prior oral informed consents using semi structured questionnaires. The data collected was entered in Microsoft Excel where descriptive statistics namely, averages/mean, frequencies and percentage descriptive statistics were conducted. The Pearson’s Chi square statistics was performed on the traditional and modern governance data sets using the STATA software and data presented using tables, bar and column graphs. Results Modern governance practices were not significantly different in all the market centres surveyed (p=0.080). Equally, the traditional governance practices were also not significantly different in all the selected market centres (p=1.000). Most traditional medicine practitioners (65%) purely survived on traditional medicine as a source of livelihood with few practitioners (35%) selling beads, calabashes, tobacco and even sweets/candy alongside traditional medicine. There was low level of (27%) awareness on the existing laws and policies despite having high levels of compliance on county by-laws (100%) and payment of charged market fees (96%). Conclusions Traditional governance practices are as important as the modern governance practices and should receive heightened attention and interest both by the national and county systems of government. In most cases, the traditional governance practitioners determine eligibility for traditional medicine practice even before the practitioner acquires a formal certificate of recognition or registration. The traditional governance practices are closely guided by the socio-cultural beliefs of the local communities. Modern governance practices are often seen as top down regulation of the traditional medicine sector where the traditional medicine practitioners feel alienated from the making of laws that affect them directly. Good laws and policies are not enough, education awareness campaigns to increase awareness among the traditional medicine practitioners and gather feedback is much needed in order to meet their needs and aspirations and ultimately grow the traditional medicine sector.