Original Research
Ethnoveterinary medicine practices among Tsonga speaking people of South Africa
Onderstepoort Journal of Veterinary Research | Vol 73, No 2 | a156 |
DOI: https://doi.org/10.4102/ojvr.v73i2.156
| © 2006 D. Luseba, D. Van der Merwe
| This work is licensed under CC Attribution 4.0
Submitted: 13 September 2006 | Published: 13 September 2006
Submitted: 13 September 2006 | Published: 13 September 2006
About the author(s)
D. Luseba,D. Van der Merwe,
Full Text:
PDF (209KB)Abstract
Rapid Rural Appraisal methods were used to collate and code the indigenous knowledge on animal healthcare of Tsonga speaking people of South Africa. There was a rapport between local disease names as described by their clinical signs by the farmers and the local veterinary services important disease list. The perceived causes of diseases were physico-biological elements and no reference to ancestral guidance was recorded. Males and old people were more knowledgeable but females and young people did show a certain degree of confidence during general discussions. Plants were more frequently used than other non-conventional remedies with cattle being the most treated animals. Farmers reported using 19 plant species belonging to 12 families. Plants were collected from the wild when needed and no specific storage system was used. They were administered as decoctions or infusions of single plants. These remedies were used not only as alternatives to expensive pharmaceutical products but also because in certain diseases or chronic cases, they were thought to be more efficacious.
Keywords
No related keywords in the metadata.
Metrics
Total abstract views: 5582Total article views: 8090