Ethnobotanical study of medicinal plants and fishing activities in Estumit Kebele, North Achefer District, Amhara Region, Ethiopia

WONDWOSEN, BEKELE

dc.contributor.author	WONDWOSEN, BEKELE
dc.date.accessioned	2021-03-03T12:07:50Z
dc.date.available	2021-03-03T12:07:50Z
dc.date.issued	2021-03-03
dc.identifier.uri	http://ir.bdu.edu.et/handle/123456789/12020
dc.description.abstract	An ethnobotanical study of medicinal plants along with fisheries study were conducted in Estumit Kebele - North Achefer Woreda from December 2019 to May 2020. Information was gathered from local people, local healers and fishermen of the study area. 90 informants (76 male and 14 female) aged between 20 to 65 years were sampled from study sites. Of these 12 knowledgable traditional healers and 7 experianced fishermen (key informants) were systematically selected by the help of local administrator, local elders and Development Agents; whereas the other 71 general informants were selected with random sampling technique. Ethnobotanical information was collected by using a variety of methods such as semi-structured questionnaire guided by a mix of closed and open-ended questions, direct field observation, walk-in-the-woods, market survey and group discussions for cross-checking and verifying the information that has been gathered from individuals by semi-structured interview were used. For the fishery study, information was collected using semi-structured questionnaire, field observation and market survey. For the ethnobotaniocal assessment simple discriptive statiscts, preference ranking, paired comparison, informant consensus, informant consensus factor, fidelity level and similarity index such sorensen‟s similarity were used for data analysis where as for the fishery study simple discriptive statiscts were utilized. Based on local claims of medicinal values a total of 24 plant species were reported for their medicinal use in the study area. 12 species (50%) were collected from cultivated field, 8 species (33.3%) were obtained from the wild whereas 4 species (12.5%) occur both in the cultivated field and in the wild. About 10 (41.7%) of medicinal plants were reported to be used for treatment of human ailments, while 6 (25%) were used for treating livestock where as 8 (33.3%) were reported to be used for treatment of both human and livestock. The plant species are used as a cure for 25 ailiments where 13 diseases are human‟s and the other 12 are livestocks. In the study, the 24 medicinal plants were distributed in 24 genera and 20 families based on local claims of medicinal value. The leading plant families that encompass large medicinal species were Euphorbiaceae (3 species) followed by Acanthaceae and Solanaceae, (2 species each), the rest 17 families were each represented by one, one species each. Shrubby habits were the major growth form accounting 50% while herbaceous and tree habits accounted for 41.6 % and 8.3% respectively. The study showed that the most frequently used plant parts for the preparation of traditional medicine were leaves (43.3%) followed by roots (26.1%). These medicinal plant parts were processed in various ways of which the major ones included crushed (26.1%), squeezed (21.7 %), pounded (21.7%) and chewed (13%). The most common route of administration was oral (45.8% %) followed by dermal (41.6%). The status of traditional medicinal plants in the study area is less abundant (17speceies, 70.88%) rare (5 speceies, 20.8%) and very rare (2 species, 8.3%) based on the degree of abundance as perceived by informants. Informant consensus showed Sida tenuicarpa & Verbascum sinaiticum as the most frequently reported medicinal plant cited by 6.9% of informants each followed by Acanthus polystachius, Rumex nervosus, Calotropis procera & Grewia ferruginea cited by 6.3% informants each. Preference ranking, paired comparison and fidelity level index showed the efficacy, popularity and preference people have for some species over the other in treating ailments. Deforestation and agricultural expansion were reported to be the major threats to medicinal plants. The effort of local people in conserving medicinal plants is nil. Three species used for medicinal purpose before were reported to be locally extinct now. Documenting the eroding plants and associated indigenous knowledge can be used as a basis for developing management plans for conservation and sustainable use of medicinal plants in the study area. Fishery investigation conducted revealed that large Laborbes fish species (“Nech Assa” or “Belcha”) are the most known and most cited fish species followed by (O. niloticus)” Koroso or Karia” and (C. garipineus) “Ambaza or Key Assa” that are reported by 89%,80% and 71% of fishery respondants respectively; whereas (V. beso) “Yebaria Assa or Tikure Assa” were the least known and least cited species that is reported by 21% of fishery informats. Majority (95%) of fishery respondants reported use undersized monofilament gillnet (“Machine”) followed (5%) “Yekere Mereb”. Preferred place of fishing of fishery respondants indicated majority (61%) indicated preference of fishing between the Lake and river mouth, (31%) prefer to fish at Lakeshore (littoral) sites of the Lake and remaining (8%) indicated their preference of fishing at offshore of the Lake This interest has also a direct implication on fish biology and presence of aggregated commercially important fishes in the water bodies of the study area. Two season-based post harvest handling methods were reported to be utilized by local fishermen. Marketing assessment of fishery reveled dry fish has a higher demend at local markert mainly at Easter - “Fasika”. Dry fish collectors who pays tax to the government for collecting and exporting it to Sudanes market, usually disturbs at local market places saying that dry fish should only be sold for us; not for the local community, as we collectors are “legal government tax payers”; hence local fishermen usually take dry fish to the local market with fear. Dry fish collectors collect the dry fish at village level through moving door to door at lower prices.Life span of locally made “Tanqua” ranges from 2 weeks to maximum of 2 months for fulltime fishermen and 3 month to 6 month for part-time fishermen though 2 year life span was reported in other studies.Fishermen of the study area donot use any aquatic life for food except fish though other studies confirmed group of ethenic community around Lake Tana called “Negede Woite” use Hippo (Hippopotamus amphibious) as food. The output of this fishery study can be used as an input for designing context specific fishery strategy to attain sustainable utilization and management of fishery resources for water bodies of the study area and other areas with similar context and setting. Keywords: Conservation, indigenous knowledge, threat, T	en_US
dc.language.iso	en	en_US
dc.subject	BIOLOGY	en_US
dc.title	Ethnobotanical study of medicinal plants and fishing activities in Estumit Kebele, North Achefer District, Amhara Region, Ethiopia	en_US
dc.type	Thesis	en_US