The World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates that around 80% of the population in Africa uses traditional medicines. In Sub-Saharan Africa there is one traditional healer for every 500 people, whereas there is only one medical doctor for every 40,000 people. It has been estimated that 70% of the South African population consult traditional healers and that the whole industry is worth well over R250 million.
Tuberculosis and HIV prevalence rates vary in the Province but are generally unacceptably high. With regard to formal health care, the Eastern Cape has half the number of medical officials available per thousand people (0.3) than the national average (0.6 per 1000). This is felt most acutely in rural areas where over half the population (58 percent) is more than 5km away from the nearest clinic, a situation which is exacerbated by poor roads and lack of transport.
With approximately 27 million indigenous medicine consumers and around 700 plant species actively traded in South Africa, with over 200,000 practicing traditional health practitioners (THPs) in the country and together with increase demand brought on by HIV/AIDS, this brings a great deal of pressure to bear on wild populations of plants, threatening the survival of many species, and the integrity of wild systems in this biodiversity hotspot.
The goal of the Africulture Programme is the conservation of biodiversity through the development of alternative supply of natural resources and local resource use practice. Since 2003 Umthathi have been developing the Africulture Programme in response to the heightened HIV/AIDS crisis, the threat to biodiversity and to promote the sustainable management of indigenous botanical resources - for medicine, food and other economically beneficial activities. We aim to achieve this by training traditional suppliers of plant derived medicines with training in the cultivation of medicinal plants in an attempt to secure a sustainable supply. These cultivated materials will form an essential part of the start-up stock for the development of Micro-Nurseries in rural areas that would allow individuals to create their own businesses while supporting a health care system currently under threat due to dwindling natural resources. A supportive relationship with Traditional Healthcare Practitioners allows the shift from using unsustainably harvested to cultivated plants - the important beginnings of saving the threatened wild plants in this biodiversity hotspot.
The Programme revolves around the development of a productive training nursery with the aim of ensuring that dwindling stocks of culturally valuable medicinal species are made more available through cultivation - taking the strain off endangered wild populations. This is an important dual strategy, both as a tool for enabling livelihood opportunities, and for encouraging dialogue between traditional health practitioners, and the research community – at the level of health, environmental education, and bio-cultural conservation – all of which impact upon the delivery of effective and safe interventions at community level.
