admin | October 13, 2023
News Brief
Aisha Rashid Lukwago sits in her office, a kiosk along one of the busiest streets in Namasuba, a neighbourhood in central Kampala, Uganda. Outside, a line of patients waits to consult her on a range of health issues: from ulcers to high blood pressure, diabetes, and hair loss. Although her practice is thriving, Mrs. Lukwago says that, in recent years, getting access to the medicinal plants she needs to treat her patients has become increasingly difficult. She explains, “When I was starting, forests were free, and we could just go to someone’s forest and collect the herbs. But these days, one must pay even if it’s just to get mango tree leaves.” Herbalists say, that because the plants have become increasingly scarce, private forest ownership has increased, driven by the realization that owners could profit from growing demand. As a result, medicinal herbs don’t often come cheap.
Aisha Rashid Lukwago grew up around medicinal plants. Her father was a prominent herbalist in the 1980s, known for his work treating patients with symptoms linked to HIV and AIDS when Uganda was among the countries in Africa hardest hit by the disease.
Today she sits in her office, a kiosk along one of the busiest streets in Namasuba, a neighbourhood in central Kampala. Outside, a line of patients waits to consult her on a range of health issues: from ulcers to high blood pressure, diabetes, and hair loss. Although her practice is thriving, Mrs. Lukwago says that, in recent years, getting access to the medicinal plants she needs to treat her patients has become increasingly difficult.
She explains, “When I was starting, forests were free, and we could just go to someone’s forest and collect the herbs. But these days, one must pay even if it’s just to get mango tree leaves.”
In Uganda, 60% of the population still relies on traditional medicine for day-to-day health care because it is cheaper and more accessible than Western medicine. But the country’s widespread deforestation, resulting from agricultural encroachment, firewood production, and urban development to accommodate a growing population, has led to an extensive loss of medicinal plants and herbs.
Herbalists say that, because the plants have become increasingly scarce, private forest ownership has increased, driven by a realization that owners can profit from growing demand. As a result, medicinal herbs often don’t come cheap.
This has led Mrs. Lukwago to grow her own. Five years ago, she bought a piece of land in Mukono district, about 30 kilometres from her private practice. She planted a five-acre botanical garden that she now uses for her practice’s herbal supply.
But, unlike Mrs. Lukwago, many herbalists do not have enough land to grow their own plants.
Mathias Nakedde has been a traditional healer for over 20 years. He says that, until a few years ago, he spent 30,000 Ugandan shillings ($8 US) for a two-week supply of herbs. Today, the cost has risen to 80,000 shillings (about $21), as he now must buy the herbs from private forest owners.
Because most local forest land has either been cleared or privatized, Mr. Nakedde has to travel longer distances to access the plants he needs. Other tree species, like Prunus africana, used to treat symptoms of prostate cancer, are now impossible to find.
From 2001 to 2021, Uganda lost 967,000 hectares (2.4 million acres) of tree cover. The vast majority is the result of the country’s expanding agriculture.
Scarcity means prices go up. Sixty-two-year-old Peter Wandera has relied on herbs to manage symptoms of his prostate cancer for two years. He says, “I was using Western medicine before, but it became so expensive.”
Ugandans are not alone in their widespread use of medicinal plants. According to a report by the government, “nearly 80% of the populations in developing countries” use traditional medicine as a first line of treatment before visiting a health facility.
Yahaya Sekagya is the founder of the Dr. Sekagya Institute of Traditional Medicine and head of Prometra, a company dedicated to the preservation and restoration of African traditional medicine and indigenous science. He worries that a lack of government interventions, such as investing in research and preserving medicinal plants, will hurt traditional medicine in Uganda.
In recent years, the Ugandan government has tightened security in most forest reserves to crack down on deforestation. As part of these efforts, it has also restricted herbalists’ access to forests, saying they contribute to the loss of trees.
Mr. Nakedde believes that plant scarcity and higher prices will push an increasing number of traditional practitioners out of business. He says, “I will do my part and plant the few plants I can just to ease the financial burden on myself.”
This story is adapted from an article written by Patricia Lindrio for Global Press Journal, called “As Uganda’s Tree Cover Disappears, So Do Its Medicinal Plants.” To read the full story, go to: https://globalpressjournal.com/africa/uganda/ugandas-tree-cover-disappears-medicinal-plants/