Economic relevance of ethnomedicinal plants to national food security

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Periodical article

Title:	Economic relevance of ethnomedicinal plants to national food security
Author:	Osunwole, S.A.
Year:	1999
Periodical:	The Nigerian Journal of Economic History
Issue:	2
Pages:	56-67
Language:	English
Geographic term:	Nigeria
Subjects:	food policy medicinal plants
Abstract:	The dual use of some plants as food and medicine and their income-generation potential for Nigerians indicate the economic relevance of ethnomedicinal plants to national food security. Ethnomedicinal plants include fruits, vegetables, spices and tubers, and they are present in Yoruba, Igbo and Hausa pharmacopoeia. Such plants form the raw materials of pharmaceutical and food companies. Unfortunately a good deal of the plants' products are wasted during the wet season because of inadequate storage facilities. There is need for a sustainable indigenous communication system that educates the peoples of Nigeria on the significance of culture-bound traditional food and medicine. Bibliogr. [ASC Leiden abstract]