Medicinal Plant Use in and Around Kibangu Forest Kinondoni District Dar-es-salaam, Tanzania.

ABSTRACT This study examines medicinal plants and the extent to which they are used in meeting heath care needs in Kinondoni District, Kibangu Forest reserve in Tanzania. It aimed at documenting the most common Medicinal Plants (MP) in order to generate necessary data on knowledge, beliefs and accessibility of the community to assess whether they may be among the determinants for using medicinal plants. A questionnaire survey, market survey, literature review and observations were used to collect information from the. people and the field. A total of twelve (12) Medicinal Plants where identified. Many of the Medicinal remedies were double therapies preparations. Analytically, qualitative and quantitative data was done using software which included MS Excel and contents method in which only ideals were recorded and put into meaning in accordance to the study. Quantitative data was tested using Chi-square to test its efficacy. The study shows that most people in the area have no knowledge on collection, preparations, dosage and identification of the most Medicinal plant remedies where by 68 respondents had knowledge while 205 respondents had no knowledge of medicinal plant use. The community members believe in the power of Medicinal plants in preventing and controlling diseases and infections. The study concluded that, medicinal plants play an important role in providing primary healthcare to the rural communities and poor urban people; however community knowledge on the medicinal plant use was cited as the hindrance to the full utilization of the medicinal plants in the study area. It is recommended that in achieving the use of medicinal plants available, communities adjacent to the forest reserve should be sensitized on the importance of sustainable use of medicinal plants through seminars, workshops, drama, music or video shows and establishment of small scale industrial development organizations to process medicinal plant products.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Declaration ii

Approval iii

Dedication iv

Acknowledgement v

Tableof contents vi

List of figures ix

Listof tables x

Acronyms used xi

Abstract xii

CHAPTER ONE

1.0 Introduct~on,,,,,,,,,,,,.,,,,.,,,.,,...,,,.,,,,,.,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,.,,., 1

1.1 Background of the study 1

1.2 Problem Statement 5

1.3 Purpose of the study 6

1.3.1 General Objective 6

1.3.2 Specific Objectives 6

1.4 Research questions and hypothesis 7

1.5 Scope of the study 8

1.6 Significance of the study 8

vi

CHAPTER TWO

2.0 Rev~ew of re’ated Uteratures,,,,,,,,,,..,,,.,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, 9

2.1 Conceptual Framework 9

2.2 Medicinal plant and associated traditional community knowledge on

their use 10

2.3 Public beliefs on plant medicine utilization 15

2.4 Accessibility of the community to medicinal plants 17

CHAPTER THREE

3.0 Methods and viiateria~s ..................................~ 20

3.lStudyArea 20

3.2 Research Design 21

3.3 Dissemination of information 22

3.4 Information gathering on medicinal plants and their identification 22

3.5 Sample size population and sampling procedures 23

3.6 Instruments used 23

3.6.1 Reasons for choosing questionnaire methods 24

3.7 Procedure 24

3.7 Statistical data analysis and testing 25

3.8 Validity and reliability of the instruments 26

3.8.1 The reliability of an instrument 26

3.9 Ethical considerations 26

3.10 Limitations 27

3.11 Problems encountered in the study but they were resolved 27

CHAPTER FOUR

4.0 Data anallysis, interpretation and presentation~ 28

4.1 Overview 28

4.1.2 Biographic presentations 28

CHAPTER FIVE

5.0 Discussion, condusion and recommendations~ 43

5.1 Discussions 43

5.2 Medicinal plant and associated traditional knowledge of the

community on their use 43

5.1.3 Public beliefs by respondents on medicinal plant utilization 46

5.1.4 Accessibility and availability by respondents in terms of

medicinal plants in the study area 48

5.2 Conclusion 49

5.3 Recommendations 51

References 55

Appendices 59