South Africa
Paul Kirk
A new survey of the muti industry shows that trade in traditional medicines tops R500-million a year and concerns 27-million South Africans.
The study, by the Institute of Natural Resources, found that in KwaZulu-Natal alone more than 4E000 tons of indigenous plants are traded a year, while the value of the muti trade in the province is equal to a third of its maize crop. The study will be used in a collaborative venture with the University of Stellenbosch to find ways of adding value to the industry and promoting sustainable harvesting of traditional medicines.
The uMuthi investigation found that most users of traditional medicine did not feel that uMuthi was inferior to Western medicine in any way, and said that regardless of their future income their consumption of uMuthi would either remain stable or increase. uMuthi is normally a more expensive option than a visit to a state-sponsored clinic or a doctor that is paid for by medical aid.
The survey found that regardless of price increases, muti users would continue to use uMuthi as Western medicines were not an alternative when it came to healing certain ailments.
One of the more striking findings was that many traditional healers advertise that they are able to treat HIV/Aids with uMuthi. The study concluded that such claims will fuel consumption of uMuthi.
A trip to the main uMuthi market in Durban reveals that most of the traders have welcomed the study. As the chair of the market committee, Ma Dlamini, says: “Anything that will help our market we are glad for.”
One man at the market gets the lion’s share of the business. He claims to be able to cure HIV/Aids and has customers coming from far and wide to consult him. Although unable to give the names of his patients he assures the Mail & Guardian that he has enjoyed considerable success in using his uMuthi to help those afflicted with HIV/Aids.
Dlamini points out that this healer is one of two in Durban reputed to be able to treat HIV/Aids with his special uMuthi.
Most medicinal plants are harvested in a manner that is not sustainable. Healers as well as those who deal in uMuthi find themselves having to travel further and further in search of uMuthi plants.
Harvesters do not plant crops to replace what they harvest and as a result some medicinal plants retail at more than R500/kg for wild ginger – inflation brought about by the localised extinction of some species of plants.
As Myles Mander of the Institute of Natural Resources points out, the way the products are retailed also does not help. “Most uMuthi is sold in markets where there is no refrigeration or storage and conditions are poor. The result is that a lot of uMuthi spoils in the market. This leads to a high rate of wastage and exacerbates the undersupply of uMuthi.”
Should the uMuthi market be damaged it is not only the consumers who will suffer.
Mander says the industry employs 20E000 to 30E000 people in KwaZulu-Natal alone. “Most of these people are rural black women who are the most marginalised of groups in our society. The uMuthi market plays a critical role in empowering a large number of rural women.”
Mander says that if the current status quo is allowed to continue it will lead to a situation where large commercial farmers will seize the opportunity and begin to cultivate high-value uMuthi plants, leaving rural black women with only a minute share of the market they currently dominate.
Back at the market, Dominique Mitchell, a consultant employed to facilitate the project, confirms that the uMuthi touted as an Aids cure is to be tested as part of the project. He also makes a graphic point about the value of the uMuthi market.
While emergent African farmers may be struggling to eke out a living, the top herbalist in the country is rumoured to be looking to buy another light aircraft. Which is perhaps not surprising when the wild ginger plant – the most expensive of uMuthi plants – is worth more than 800 times its weight in maize.