Ethnoveterinary knowledge of sheep and goat farmers in Benin (West Africa): effect of socioeconomic and environmental factors
Esaïe Tchetan,
Abiodoun Pascal Olounlade,
Thierry Dehouegnon Houehanou,
Erick Virgile Bertrand Azando,
Josette Afiavi Kaneho,
Marcel Romuald Benjamin Houinato,
Sylvie Mawule Hounzangbe-Adote,
Joëlle Quetin-Leclercq,
Fernand Ahokannou Gbaguidi
Affiliations
Esaïe Tchetan
Laboratoire d’Ethnopharmacologie et de Santé Animale, Faculté des Sciences Agronomiques, Université d’Abomey-Calavi, 01 BP 526 Cotonou, Benin; Laboratoire de Biotechnologie et d’Amélioration Animale, Faculté des Sciences Agronomiques, Institut des Sciences Biomédicales Appliquées (ISBA), Université d’Abomey-Calavi, 01 BP 526 Cotonou, Benin; Laboratoire de Pharmacognosie/Centre Béninois de la Recherche Scientifique et Technique (CBRST)/ UAC, 01 BP 06 Oganla Porto-Novo, Benin; Université catholique de Louvain, Louvain Drug Research Institute, Pharmacognosy Research Group, Avenue E. Mounier, B1.72.03, B-1200 Brussels, Belgium
Abiodoun Pascal Olounlade
Laboratoire d’Ethnopharmacologie et de Santé Animale, Faculté des Sciences Agronomiques, Université d’Abomey-Calavi, 01 BP 526 Cotonou, Benin; Laboratoire de Biotechnologie et d’Amélioration Animale, Faculté des Sciences Agronomiques, Institut des Sciences Biomédicales Appliquées (ISBA), Université d’Abomey-Calavi, 01 BP 526 Cotonou, Benin; Laboratoire des Sciences Animale et Halieutique (LaSAH), Unité de Recherches Zootechnique et Système d’élevage, Ecole Doctorale des Sciences Agronomiques et de l’Eau, Université Nationale d’Agriculture, 01 BP 55 Benin; Corresponding author.
Thierry Dehouegnon Houehanou
Laboratoire d’Ecologie Appliquée, Faculté des Sciences Agronomiques, Université´ d’Abomey-Calavi, 01 BP 526, Cotonou, Benin; Laboratoire d’Ecologie, de Botanique et de Biologie Végétale, Faculté d’Agronomie, Université de Parakou (FA/UP), 03 BP 125, Parakou, Benin; Laboratoire de Biomathématiques et d’Estimations Forestières, Faculté des Sciences Agronomiques, Université d’Abomey-Calavi, 04 BP 1525, Cotonou, Benin
Erick Virgile Bertrand Azando
Laboratoire d’Ethnopharmacologie et de Santé Animale, Faculté des Sciences Agronomiques, Université d’Abomey-Calavi, 01 BP 526 Cotonou, Benin; Laboratoire de Biotechnologie et d’Amélioration Animale, Faculté des Sciences Agronomiques, Institut des Sciences Biomédicales Appliquées (ISBA), Université d’Abomey-Calavi, 01 BP 526 Cotonou, Benin; Laboratoire d’Écologie, de Santé et de Productions Animales, Département des Sciences et Techniques de Production Animale et Halieutique, Faculté d’Agronomie, Université de Parakou, 01 BP 2115, Cotonou, Benin
Josette Afiavi Kaneho
Laboratoire d’Ecologie Appliquée, Faculté des Sciences Agronomiques, Université´ d’Abomey-Calavi, 01 BP 526, Cotonou, Benin
Marcel Romuald Benjamin Houinato
Laboratoire d’Ecologie Appliquée, Faculté des Sciences Agronomiques, Université´ d’Abomey-Calavi, 01 BP 526, Cotonou, Benin
Sylvie Mawule Hounzangbe-Adote
Laboratoire d’Ethnopharmacologie et de Santé Animale, Faculté des Sciences Agronomiques, Université d’Abomey-Calavi, 01 BP 526 Cotonou, Benin
Joëlle Quetin-Leclercq
Université catholique de Louvain, Louvain Drug Research Institute, Pharmacognosy Research Group, Avenue E. Mounier, B1.72.03, B-1200 Brussels, Belgium
Fernand Ahokannou Gbaguidi
Laboratoire de Pharmacognosie/Centre Béninois de la Recherche Scientifique et Technique (CBRST)/ UAC, 01 BP 06 Oganla Porto-Novo, Benin
Sheep and goats are two of the main animal species raised in Benin and one of the main sources of income for people living in rural areas. Faced with the inaccessibility of synthetic veterinary products and their low purchasing power, the majority of breeders use ethnoveterinary practices to treat small ruminants diseases. The specific objectives of the current study were (1) to document the traditional knowledge regarding the disorder groups treated and the medicinal plants used in the health and zootechnical management of small ruminants in Benin and (2) to assess the effect of gender, ethnicity, agro-ecological zone and herd size associated with them. To achieve these objectives, an ethnoveterinary survey was conducted in different agro-ecological zones from September 2018 to February 2019. A questionnaire was administered to 506 breeders. The data were analyzed through calculation of the Fidelity Level (FL), Cultural Importance Index (CI) and Informant Consensus Factor (ICF). Ten disorder groups were treated by the people surveyed. These were mainly digestive disorders (D) and reproductive disorders (W), both presenting a ICF value of 0.8. A total of 101 medicinal plants belonging to 42 families and 90 genera were recorded. Spondias mombin, Zanthoxylum zanthoxyloides and Khaya senegalensis were the most important plants with CI values of 0.208, 0.125 and 0.121, respectively. Gender, ethnicity, agro-ecological zone and flocks size were the socioeconomic and environmental factors that significantly influenced the level of ethnoveterinary knowledge. Chemical and biological analysis are needed on less studied plants such as, Striga hermonthica, Crossopteryx febrifuga, Elaeis guineensis and Momordica charantia.
