ICTs for Enhanced Use of Indigenous Medicinal Plants by the Ashante Speaking People of Ghana

Nana Adu-Pipim Boaduo (Nana Adu-Pipim BoaduoUniversity of the Free State, South Africa) and Nana Kwaku Kyei Boaduo (Nana Kwaku Kyei BoaduoMedical University of South Africa, South Africa)
Copyright: © 2012 |Pages: 24
EISBN13: 9781466602137|DOI: 10.4018/978-1-60960-117-1.ch002
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Abstract

Knowledge, over the centuries, has been recognised as power when acquired and used to resolve pertinent human problems. It helps to develop and advance communities in the environment they reside. Knowledgeable communities manage to elevate themselves from diseases and other catastrophes. It does not matter whether people are knowledgeable in the indigenous African ways or in the Western ways of knowing. What matters most is that the knowledge, skills, attitudes and values embedded in their social contexts are not only essential for their advancement and development, they are also critical for their survival. Knowledge acquisition through education enables communities to emancipate themselves from ignorance and poverty and raise themselves above all the challenges that may impinge negatively on their general and specific well-being. There is urgent need to gather together the indigenous wisdom of different ethnic groups around the world, especially the knowledge of indigenous medicinal plants and their uses for treatment and healing. This paper proposes to make a contribution in this respect by providing the basis of some of the IKS of the Akan ethnic group of Ghana, the Asantes, related to indigenous medicinal plants application for the treatment of a multiplicity of ailments. Recommendations regarding how this IKS can be preserved and commercialized through the application of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) to benefit the indigenous Asante speaking people of Ghana are provided.
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