Repository logo

Publications

Permanent URI for this collection

https://hdl.handle.net/10217/195546

Browse

Browsing Publications by Author "Bussmann, Rainer W., author"

Now showing 1 - 2 of 2
  • Thumbnail Image
    ItemOpen Access
    Local knowledge of plants and their uses among women in the Bale Mountains, Ethiopia
    (Colorado State University. Libraries, 2013) Luizza, Matthew W., author; Young, Heather, author; Kuroiwa, Christina, author; Evangelista, Paul, author; Worede, Aserat, author; Bussmann, Rainer W., author; Weimer, Amber, author; Botanical Research Institute of Texas, publisher
    Women's local ecological knowledge (LEK) is noted by many scholars to be unique and important for local conservation and development planning. Although LEK integration is inherent to ethnobotanical research, in Ethiopia, the knowledge-gender link has not been fully explored, and few studies focus on women's distinct plant knowledge. We catalogued rural women's knowledge of a wide range of plant uses in south-central Ethiopia, conducted through picture identification of 337 local plants. Fifty-seven plant species were identified, constituting 38 families, with the top five families being Lamiaceae, Solanaceae, Asteraceae, Rosaceae, and Pteridaceae. An array of uses were identified ranging from food, livestock and wildlife forage, to honey production and cosmetics. The most prevalent use noted (nearly 70%) was human medicine. This study reveals the important contribution of rural women's plant knowledge in the Bale Mountains, and the potential benefits of including this gender-distinct understanding of local flora in community-based conservation planning.
  • Thumbnail Image
    ItemOpen Access
    Plant use in Odo-Bulu and Demaro, Bale region, Ethiopia
    (Colorado State University. Libraries, 2011) Bussmann, Rainer W., author; Swartzinsky, Paul, author; Worede, Aserat, author; Evangelista, Paul, author; BioMed Central, publisher
    This paper reports on the plant use of laypeople of the Oromo in Southern Ethiopia. The Oromo in Bale had names/uses for 294 species in comparison to 230 species documented in the lower reaches of the Bale area. Only 13 species was used for veterinary purposes, or as human medicine (46). Plant medicine served mostly to treat common everyday ailments such as stomach problems and diarrhea, for wound treatment and as toothbrush-sticks, as anthelmintic, for skin infections and to treat sore muscles and. Interestingly, 9 species were used to treat spiritual ailments and to expel demons. In most cases of medicinal applications the leaves or roots were employed. Traditional plant knowledge has clearly declined in a large part of the research area. Western style health care services as provided by governments and NGOs, in particular in rural areas, seem to have contributed to a decline in traditional knowledge, in part because the local population simply regards western medicine as more effective and safer.