Herb Sellers’ Knowledge on Climate Change and Attitudes toward Sustainable Herbal Harvesting in Nigeria

Abstract

Herbal sellers play a functional role in providing qualitative health care at the primary health care level in Nigeria. However, their attitudes and those of other stakeholders toward sustainable herbal harvesting in the light of the growing effects of climate change may threaten the functional roles of herb sellers and the traditional medical system as a whole. This study explored herb sellers’ knowledge on climate change, attitudes toward sustainable herbal harvesting, and the networking strategies of herb sellers in sourcing for herbal resources in the midst of supply shortages. This was with a view to providing a situational analysis through which herb sellers could be empowered and encouraged into biodiversity and sustainable herb farming at the grassroots. Relevant data were captured using a video vignette on climate change and environmental consequences in eight focus group discussion sessions with wholesalers and retailers of herbal plants in Oyingbo and Mushin Markets in Lagos State. Findings showed low level of knowledge on threats of climate change on herbal plants and lack of commitment to herbal farming, but many of the participants expressed high concern on the dwindling rate of herbal plants in southwestern Nigeria. In this setting, biodiversity culture and herbal farming could be encouraged and adopted as poverty alleviation strategies among this populace, and thus contribute to mitigating the consequences of climate change on herbal plants and boosting health care delivery in Nigeria.