Medicinal Plant Use and Health Sovereignty: Findings from the Tajik and Afghan Pamirs

Abstract

Medicinal plants are indicators of indigenous knowledge in the context of political volatility and sociocultural and ecological change in the Pamir Mountains of Afghanistan and Tajikistan. Medicinal plants are the primary health care option in this region of Central Asia. The main objective of this paper is to demonstrate that medicinal plants contribute to health security and sovereignty in a time of instability. We illustrate the nutritional as well as medicinal significance of plants in the daily lives of villagers. Based on over a decade and half of research related to resilience and livelihood security, we present plant uses in the context of mountain communities. Villagers identified over 58 cultivated and noncultivated plants and described 310 distinct uses within 63 categories of treatment and prevention. Presence of knowledge about medicinal plants is directly connected to their use.

Capturing Indigenous Knowledge on Medicinal Plants Use: Case Study of Selected Communities in Old Oyo National Park, Nigeria

“…Another reason given for the increased level of patronage being enjoyed by the herbal vendors includes bottleneck and bureaucratic procedures; associated with contemporary medical consultant and nurses in public hospitals as compared to the easily accessible herbal vendors and traditionalists. All the reasons provided support the findings of Kassam et al (2010) that heavy reliance on plant medicine or self-treatment may be the major option and local knowledge of medicinal plants might save lives due to their relative accessibility, low prices, general acceptance by local communities and the inadequacy of health centers especially in rural areas. The challenges occasionally faced by patients include long queues at the points of collection of patient cards and at the places that are set up for meeting the doctors.…”

“…The researchers carried out modifications and additions to the categories of Kassam et al (2010) in order to reflect the context specificity of medicinal uses described by the host communities of Old Oyo National Park. Three categories were modified and ten new medicinal plant uses were added for treatment and prevention based on the context of the host communities of Old Oyo National Park.…”

“…To describe the concept denoting this link, the term biocultural diversity was introduced (Posey 1988). Indigenous knowledge of medicinal plant use is context specific as it is related to, and contained within, a group of people who live in a defined geographic region (Kassam et al 2010). Knowledge in this context is derived from a web of interactions among humans, plants, animals, natural forces, and land forms.…”

A participação das ciências sociais na produção de conhecimento sobre mudanças climáticas

“…A partir dos poucos artigos encontrados, Governança ambiental e seus desdobramentos parece ser o tema de entrada da antropologia e sociologia no debate sobre mudança climática (BACON, 2010;FOLKE et. al, 2011;GUNDERSON, 2010;JORGENSON, 2011;KASSAM et. al, 2010;LEONETTI;CHABOT-HANOWELL, 2011;LOCKWOOD et.…”

Practicing food sovereignty: Spatial analysis of an emergent food system for the Standing Rock Nation

“…Food as a volume satisfies important metabolic needs, while food as a manifestation of culture and ecology reinforces the vital structure of communities (Kassam & The Wainwright Traditional Council, 2001). Recent revisions of the food security concept have included considerations of cultural food preferences and ecological sustainability (e.g., FAO, 2006), but still do not recognize the rights of nations and communities to determine their own food systems based on their ecological knowledge and with respect to their core cultural values (Kassam, Karamkhudoeva, Ruelle, & Baumflek, 2010;United Nations, 2008). …”