Medicinal Plants Used in Ethnoveterinary Practices in Adea Berga District, Oromia Region of Ethiopia

In Ethiopia, locally available materials, mainly medicinal plants, are commonly utilized to manage livestock diseases. However, this practice is currently being threatened by several factors including loss of traditional knowledge and depletion of plant resources. This calls for an urgent need to document the ethnoveterinary knowledge in the country and conserve the associated medicinal plants. The purpose of this study was, therefore, to document traditional knowledge on use of medicinal plants in the Adea Berga district, Oromia region of Ethiopia, to manage livestock ailments. Ethnobotanical data were collected largely through semistructured interviews conducted with purposively selected traditional healers of the district. The study identified 59 medicinal plants used in ethnoveterinary practices in the district. The great majority (90.4%) of the medicinal plants were used in fresh forms, which were mainly administered orally. The majority (65.4%) of the medicinal plants were gathered from the wild. Data revealed that yoke sore (wound) had the highest informant consensus factor (ICF) value (1.00), followed by leech infestation (0.92) and endoparasite infections (0.90). The highest fidelity level (FL) (100%) and rank order priority (ROP) (100%) values were obtained for the plants Nicotiana tabacum, Malva parviflora, and Calpurnia aurea that were used to treat leech infestation, retained placenta, and snake poisoning, respectively. Priority for further pharmacological and phytochemical investigations needs to be given to the aforementioned three plants with the highest FL and ROP values as such values may indicate their higher potency against the respective ailments.


Introduction
Ethiopia is one of the leading countries in the world and the first in Africa in terms of livestock population. However, livestock productivity is far below the possible expectations and, as a result, the country could not fulfill its local demands and hence imports animal products from other countries. One of the major challenges of livestock production in the country is the high prevalence of different diseases affecting domestic animals [1]. As most modern drugs are expensive and not affordable for the majority of Ethiopian farmers and pastoralists, disease control measures largely depend on traditional medicine, which mainly involves the use of medicinal plants [2]. According to estimate of Abebe and Ayehu [3], 95% of traditional medical preparations in Ethiopia are of plant origin.
However, despite the huge contribution of medicinal plants in the Ethiopian animal healthcare system and rich traditional medical knowledge, little effort has so far been made to properly document ethnoveterinary-related knowledge and conserve the associated medicinal plants in an effort to ensure their better and sustainable uses. As a result, the majority of the knowledge has been left undocumented being exposed to serious depletion due to acculturation and expansion of modern education. It is worth noting that in the Ethiopian traditional medical system, knowledge is handed down from generation to generation largely by word of mouth with little culture of documentation and as a result there is high probability that a portion of it could be lost in the process. e continuation of the practice is also negatively affected by the depletion of medicinal plants used in the system mainly due to agricultural expansion and deforestation. erefore, there is an urgent need for conducting more ethnoveterinary surveys in different parts of the country to save the traditional knowledge and the associated medicinal plants from further loss.
Some ethnobotanical surveys have so far been conducted in the Oromia region of Ethiopia, including that in Borana [2], Bale Mountains National Park [4], Chiro district [5], the Dabo Hana district of Illubabor zone [6], four districts of Jimma zone [7], selected districts of East Wollega zone [8], Horro Gudurru district [9], Yabelo and Liben districts [10], the Melkabello district of East Hararghe zone [11], the Midakegn district of West Shewa zone [12], Eastern Shewa and Arsi zones [13], Kelem Wollega zone [14], the Dale Sadi district of West Hararghe zone [15], the Berbere district of Bale zone [16], Wolmera district [17], and Ambo district [18], with the purpose of documenting knowledge exclusively focused on medicinal plants used to control livestock ailments. However, to the knowledge of the authors, there is no study conducted in the Adea Berga district to document medicinal plants traditionally used to manage livestock ailments. e purpose of this study was, therefore, to document traditional knowledge on the use of medicinal plants by people in the Adea Berga district, West Shewa zone, the Oromia region of Ethiopia, to manage livestock ailments.

Description of Study District.
Ethnoveterinary study to document medicinal plants used to manage livestock diseases was conducted in the Adea Berga district, West Shewa zone, the Oromia regional state of Ethiopia. e Adea Berga district is located between 9°12′ and 9°37′N latitude and 38°1 7′ and 38°36′E longitude [19] at 70 km west of Addis Ababa and 35 km northwest of the Holeta town. e district shares borders with the Walmera district in the south, Ejerie district in the southwest, Meta Robi district in the west, and the Muger River in the north and east. Enchni is the administrative town of Adea Berga district. e district has altitudes that range between 1371 and 3169 meters above sea level [20]. In the district, rainfall ranges between 800 and 1400 mm and temperature between 10°C and 29°C [19]. e district is divided into 34

Selection of Study Sites and Informants.
A reconnaissance survey was conducted in the Adea Berga district in November 2018 with the purpose of identifying study sites and identification of informants. Accordingly, nine subdistricts distributed in three agroecological zones of the district were identified for the study with the recommendation of elders and local authorities. ese were Bishaan Diimoo, Kaaloo, Haroo Lemman, Oddoo Modjo, Iluu Kitabaa, Caancoo Birrattee, Adadaa Soddolbee, Iluu Coqorsaa, and Odaa Dalotaa. e elders and local authorities also assisted in the purposive sampling of 63 traditional healers from the nine subdistricts of the Adea Berga district to be involved in interviews.

Data Collection.
Ethnoveterinary survey was conducted between November 2018 and March 2019, and data were mainly collected through semistructured interviews conducted with the selected traditional healers following the method of Martin [21]. e interview was based on a checklist of questions prepared in English and later translated to Afaan Oromoo, the local language in the study district. During interviews, data mainly regarding demographic characteristics of respondents, local name of medicinal plants employed in the practice, plant part used, remedy preparation methods, route of administration, disease treated, dosage regimen, remedy storing options, and habitat of medicinal plants used were gathered.

Collection, Preparation, and Identification of Plant
Specimens. After every interview, walks were made with each informant to gather specimens of the claimed medicinal plants.
e collected specimens were properly pressed and dried and later identified by their scientific name with the help of botanists at the Aklilu Lemma Institute of Pathobiology (ALIPB), Addis Abba University (AAU), and the National Herbarium (AAU), and vouchers were deposited in a mini-herbarium at ALIPB.

Data
Analysis. Ethnoveterinary data were tabulated in Microsoft Excel spreadsheets and analyzed using SPSS version 20 software. e most useful information gathered on medicinal plants was summarized using descriptive statistical methods such as frequencies and percentages. e fidelity level (FL) value was computed for every medicinal plant reported by three or more informants, which is a measure of the degree of agreement among informants in the selection of a given medicinal plant to treat a given ailment, an indication of the possible level of efficacy. e fidelity level value was calculated using the formula FL � Ip /Iu × 100, where Ip is the number of informants who reported the utilization of medicinal plants against a specific ailment and Iu is the total number of informants who mentioned the same plant against any ailment [22]. However, plants with similar FL values but known to different numbers of informants may vary in their healing potential. us, a correlation index known as relative popularity level (RPL) is additionally needed to be computed, and the rank order priority (ROP) value is determined by multiplying FL value by RPL value to differentiate the healing potential of plants of similar FL values [22,23]. e RPL values range between 0 and 1. e plants are categorized into "popular" (RPL � 1) and "unpopular" (RPL < 1) groups. In this study, popular plants were those cited by more than half of the highest number of informants who cited a plant against an ailment, which is 27. Accordingly, medicinal plants cited by 14 or more informants were considered popular and were assigned with an RPL value of 1, whereas medicinal plants that were mentioned by less than 14 informants were considered unpopular and were assigned with RPL values less than 1 and were determined by dividing the total number of informants who mentioned the plant against a given ailment by 14.
Informant consensus factor (ICF) values were computed to determine the level of agreement of informants in the district on use of medicinal plants to treat a given ailment category. Informant consensus factor values may help in the selection of medicinal plants for phytochemical and pharmacological studies [24]. Informant consensus factor values were calculated using the formula ICF � (nur − nt)/(nur − 1), where nur is the number of usereports for a particular use category and nt is the number of taxa used for a particular use category by all informants [25].

Demographic Characteristics of Informants.
Out of the total 63 informants who were identified for the interviews, 51 (80.95%) were males and 12 (19.05%) were females. e majority (53.73%) of the informants were illiterate (Table 1).

Medicinal Plants Reported and Ailments Treated.
e study recorded a total of 59 medicinal plants (distributed in 35 families) used in the Adea Berga district to treat 35 livestock ailments, of which 55 were identified to a species level, three to a genus level, and only one to a family level (

Medicinal Plant Parts Used and Methods of Preparation.
Most remedies in the district were prepared from leaves accounting for 54.24% of the total medicinal plants reported, followed by plants that were harvested for their root (11.86%) and seeds (10.17%) (Figure 1). e most employed method of remedy preparation was crushing and squeezing or squeezing, accounting for 36 (61.02%) of the total preparations, followed by chewing, which accounted for 7 (11.86%) of the preparations. Seven (11.86%) medicinal plants are used in unprocessed form. Other methods of remedy preparation methods included grinding, chopping, roasting, and smoking.

Habitat of Medicinal Plants.
As revealed by the study, most (59.32%) of the medicinal plants used in remedy preparation in the study district were gathered from the wild only. Some (22.04%) were harvested from homegardens only, and other few were harvested from the wild or homegardens and from the wild or cultivation fields ( Figure 2).

Medicinal Plants Used and Ailments Treated.
Livestock keeping is one of the most important economic sources of rural community in the Adea Berga district. Farmers in the district not only depend on plants to get fodder for their animals but also for their use as medicines to manage various livestock ailments as revealed by results of the current study. e study showed the use of 59 medicinal plant species distributed across 35 families to treat 35 livestock ailments. e highest number of medicinal plants used in remedy preparations belonged to the family Asteraceae, and this may be attributed to its dominance in terms of species diversity in the Ethiopian flora. Other studies conducted elsewhere in Ethiopia also reported the highest contribution of Asteraceae to the medicinal flora of the country [38,47,48]. e fact that herbs were the most frequently used growth forms in the preparation of remedies could be related to their relatively better abundance in the study district (as also witnessed by the investigators) and also due to their ease of preparation. Many other studies conducted elsewhere in the country also indicated the dominance of herbs in remedy preparations [8,9,12,41,[49][50][51][52].

Parts Used and Methods of Remedy Preparation and Routes of Administration.
e fact that the leaf was the most commonly used medicinal plant part in remedy preparations in the district could be related to its better availability and ease of processing. It could also be due its richness in secondary metabolites [60]. e dominance of leaves in remedy preparations were also reported by studies conducted elsewhere in the country [61,62]. e great majority of the remedies were claimed to be prepared from fresh plant materials, which might be attributed to the year-round availability of the same in the immediate environment. e better preference for fresh plant materials in the preparation of remedies was also reported by studies conducted elsewhere in the country [63]. A large proportion of the remedies in the study district were prepared by crushing or squeezing, which could be attributed to its ease of processing. Other studies [18,31,33,40,64] conducted elsewhere in the country also reported crushing as the commonly used method in the preparation of remedies. Availability and its property in dissolving many active compounds could be the reasons for the common use of water as diluent in the preparation remedies in the district as it is also the case in other parts of the country [18,65,66].
Oral is the most frequently employed route of remedy administration in the study district, and this could be related to its environment's suitability for rapid physiological reaction [7,67]. Other studies conducted elsewhere in the country also reported the common use of oral route in administration of herbal preparations [4,62].

Informant Consensus Factor, Fidelity Level, and Rank Order Priority Values.
e fact that Nicotiana tabacum scored the highest FL and ROP values for its use to treat leech infestation, an ailment that scored the second highest ICF value, may indicate the high preference among informants in the study district for the plant to treat the ailment. Medicinal plants used to manage ailment categories of high ICF values and those of high FL and ROP values are expected to demonstrate good potency and thus are considered to be good candidates for further pharmacological and phytochemical investigations [22,25]. Nicotiana tabacum is also used elsewhere in Ethiopia for treating leech infestation [6,26]. In vitro investigation of leaf extracts of Nicotiana tabacum demonstrated activity against leeches [54,55,68], which could be attributed to the presence of nicotine in the leaf extract that interacts with nicotinic acetylcholine receptors to cause muscle weakness [55]. e other plant Calpurnia aurea that scored the highest FL and ROP values for its use to treat snake poisoning in the study district is also used elsewhere in the country against same ailments [27].

Comparison of Medicinal Plant Knowledge between Different Social Groups.
Results of the present study indicate that the great majority of respondents selected for interviews in the study district were males. is may reflect the fact that males are the most favored by practitioners in the district in the transfer of traditional medical knowledge across generations. Other studies conducted elsewhere in the country also showed the dominance of males in traditional medical practices [7,18,69]. e majority of the participants selected for participation in ethnoveterinary study in the district were illiterate. is may reveal the fact that illiterate people are more knowledgeable as they are less exposed to cultural change compared with literate ones. Other studies carried out in other parts of the country also revealed that illiterate people held better traditional medical knowledge than literate ones [7,27].

Habitats of Medicinal Plants.
As shown by the study, the majority of the medicinal plants used in remedy preparations in the study district were harvested from the wild, an indication of the little practice of cultivating medicinal plants in the study district. e common use of plants harvested from the wild was also reported by other studies conducted elsewhere in the country [31,47,62,70,71].

Conclusion
e results of the present study revealed the high dependence of people in the Adea Berga district in the use of medicinal plants to manage livestock ailments, which could be due to the high prevalence of different diseases, limited access to modern veterinary care facilities, high prices of modern drugs, and diversity of local flora. Based on the demographic characteristic of people who participated in the study, knowledge on herbal medicine is mainly held by males and illiterate people. Priority for further pharmacological and phytochemical investigations needs to be given to the plants Nicotiana tabacum, Malva parviflora, and Calpurnia aurea that scored the highest FL and ROP values for their uses to treat leech infestation, retained placenta, and snake poisoning, respectively, as such values may indicate their higher potency against the respective ailments. Urgent action is needed to conserve Aloe pubescens, an Ethiopian endemic plant that has been included in the IUCN Red List as "near-threatened" species. Aloe pubescens is among the five medicinal plants in the study area that scored the highest FL value.

Data Availability
Ethnoveterinary data were stored in a computer available at the Aklilu Lemma Institute of Pathobiology (ALIPB), Addis Ababa University (AAU), and the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Hawassa University. Readers may request the institutions for permission to get access to the data.

Conflicts of Interest
e authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.