Identification of Ethno-veterinary Practices for Animal Diseases in Assosa Zone, Benishangul-Gumuz Region.

Abstract

Ethno-veterinary medicine is the use of traditional knowledge, theory, and skill to mitigate animal diseases. The study was conducted to document veterinary use of medicinal herbs in Assosa Zone, Ethiopia, from September 2022 to July 2023. Data collected from individual based field interviews using a semi-structured questionnaire. Most of the respondents were males in the age group of 40 to 60 years old. By educational status, most of the respondents were illiterate and Muslims by religion. Around 68.6% of respondents acquire their traditional knowledge from family, and most respondents prepared remedies from plants 73 (71.6%). In this investigation, 71 plant species from five districts were identified. Those plants were used against 68 types of animal diseases. Those plants were distributed across 43 families. Data from this study revealed that the large number of plant species found in the Solanaceae and Fabaceae families is followed by Combretaceae and Asteraceae. Most respondents explained that the medicinal plants were found from the forest (42.25%), followed by both backyard and forest (35.21%) and only backyard (21.13%). Majorities of respondents explained that the root part of the medicinal plant is used for medicinal value (25.35%), followed by leaf and seed (22.54%) and bark (8.45%). The study revealed that the local healers in the districts have been heavily dependent on traditional animal health care for the treatment of a variety of animal diseases. Thus, it should recommend that medicinal plants used for the treatment of diseases should be tested on phytochemical screening, antioxidant activity and antimicrobial effects. In addition, conservation activities for medicinal plants and governmental encouragement of traditional healers should be conducted.