Abstract

Namibia has over 4,334 different plant taxa. Although, some of these plants may potentially be used as herbal medicines, there is limited knowledge about their efficacy and safety. This is partly due to the fact that screening of plants for pharmacological activity and characterization of their active chemical compounds is expensive. In order to circumscribe this problem, this paper presents data on the putative medicinal properties of plants surveyed in the Kavango region, Namibia. The data were mined from electronic search engines. The search results showed that 48 plant species from 22 families were known to treat several diseases including malaria, diarrhea, sexually transmitted infections and tuberculosis. Data from this study will be used by community forestry officers to educate the local people about the possibility of using indigenous plants for medicinal purposes.

Key words: Namibia, medicinal plants, reverse bioprospecting, green bio-economy.

Abbreviation

ABS, Access and benefit sharing; THMPD, traditional herbal medicinal products directive; IK, indigenous knowledge; IP, intellectual property; LDC, livestock development centre; HIV/ AIDS, human immunodeficiency virus; acquired immune deficiency syndrome.