Wisdom and Practices of Indigenous Herbalists of Rural Areas of North East Africa

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For a long time in the Northeastern part of Africa, most of the population relied on indigenous herbs and had many beliefs and faith in the wisdom of the local traditional healers. It is believed that the ability to diagnose an illness of an herbalist/practitioner is god-gifted and knowledge passed on by their forefathers. Traditional African medicine system involves conventional medical practitioners, midwives, herbalists, and diviners. They use many indigenous herbs or medicinally important plants available locally to cure various ailments. Their indigenous knowledge majorly depends upon the herb's color and special features of the plant like fragrance and animal behavior towards the plant. This chapter describes the role and wisdom of traditional healers or practitioners, various approaches to cure diseases, people's faith in the herbs, important herbs, and their indications. This chapter will also focus on the various dosage forms of herbs and preparation methodologies.