socioeconomic characteristics of respondents
A total of 506 phytotherapists, traditional healers and small ruminant breeders were surveyed. They belong to 09 sociocultural groups of Benin. They are Fon (24.90%), Otammari (15.42%), Peulh (12.45%), Sahouè (12.25%), Adja (12.06%), Dendi (9.49%), Wama (4.94%), Natimba (4.55%) and Bariba (3.95%). The average age of the respondents is 49 ± 16 years. The respondents were categorized into 4 age groups. The majority of the people surveyed are men (72.87%) and illiterate (67.19%) (Table 2). The average size of the small ruminant flock per respondent is 10 ± 11.
Table 2
Socioeconomic characteristics of respondents.
Variables
|
Description
|
Relative Frequency of Citation
|
Sex
|
Male
|
366 (72.33%)
|
Female
|
140 (27.67%)
|
Sociocultural groups
|
Fon
|
126 (24.90%)
|
Otammari
|
78 (15.42%)
|
Peulh
|
63 (12.45%)
|
Sahouè
|
62 (12.25%)
|
Adja
|
61 (12.06%)
|
Dendi
|
48 (9.49%)
|
Natimba
|
23 (4.55%)
|
Wama
|
25 (4.94%)
|
Bariba
|
25 (3.95%)
|
Age
|
[20 40[
|
141 (27.87%)
|
[40 60[
|
220 (43.48%)
|
[60 80[
|
108 (21.34%)
|
[80 100[
|
37 (7.31%)
|
Religion
|
Animist
|
241 (47.63%)
|
Christian
|
144 (28.46%)
|
Muslim
|
121 (23.91%)
|
Level of education
|
Illiterate
|
340 (67.19%)
|
Alphabet in local language
|
34 (6.72%)
|
Primary level
|
80 (15.81%)
|
Secondary level
|
40 (7.91%)
|
University level
|
12 (2.37%)
|
Main activity
|
Agriculture
|
369 (72.92%)
|
Breeding
|
54 (10.67%)
|
Craft
|
43 (8.30%)
|
Phytotherapy
|
41 (8.10)
|
Diversity of known medicinal species
A total of 101 species of medicinal plants belonging to 42 families and 90 genera were inventoried during the survey. Forty-three point ninety percent (43.90%) of families are represented by more than one species. The richest families are Leguminosae (22 species, 21.57%), Euphorbiaceae (7 species, 6.86%), Combretaceae (5 species, 4.90%), Rubiaceae (4 species, 3.92%), Moraceae (4 species, 3.92%), Meliaceae (4 species, 3.92%) and Asteraceae (4 species, 3.92%). The Generic Coefficient is about 1.13, which indicates the high diversity of medicinal species used to treat small ruminant’s diseases. This mean that there are genera with more than one species. The genera with the largest number of species are Ficus (4 species), Acacia (3 species), Sena (3 species), Cissus (2 species), Euphorbia (2 species) and Vigna (2 species). The most cited species are Zanthoxylum zanthoxyloides (Lam.) Watermann, Khaya senegalensis (Desr.) A. Juss, Striga hermonthica (DeliIe) Benth. and Adansonia digitata L., 1753. On the other hand, Ximenia americana L., Senna siamea (Lam.) H. S.Irwin & Barneby. and Rourea coccinea (Thonn, ex Schumach.) Benth are rarely cited.
Main diseases groups of small ruminants
In general, respondents do not know how to make a differential diagnosis of diseases. They are therefore based on the symptoms observed on animals to offer traditional treatments. The symptoms encountered were classified into ten disease categories using the second version of the International Classification of Primary Care (ICPC). These are mainly disorders of the digestive system (D) (diarrhea, indigestion, anorexia, gastrointestinal parasitic infection) cited by 49.34% of respondents. This group of disorders is followed respectively by diseases related to pregnancy and parturition (W) (dystocia, mastitis, agalactia, increase in milk production, retained placenta), general and non-specific disorders (A) (fever, stinging hairs) and respiratory system disorders (R) (cough, nasal discharge) cited respectively by 20.15%, 10.57% and 7.16% of the respondents. Skin disorders (S) (wound, crust, scab), metabolic and nutritional diseases (T) (vitamin deficiency, dwarfism, growth acceleration), blood and hematopoietic organ disorders (B) (blood non-coagulation, blood infection), disorders related to the musculoskeletal system (L) (fracture), eye diseases (F) (tearing, watering) and neurological disorders (N) (agitation, nervous disorders, nervousness) are rarely mentioned (Fig. 2). The calculation of the Consensus Factor of the Informer (CFI) gives 84.12%; 81.87%; 80%; 75%; 70.53%; 70% and 62.50% respectively for group disorders D; W; B; L; A; T and R. This indicates the high degree of consensus between the respondents in relation to the plants used to treat these different categories of disease. On the other hand, the CFI of disorders of groups N; S and F are very low (≤ 50%), so the respondents do not agree too much on the plants used to treat these disease group.
Fig. 2 Relative Frequency of Citation of disease groups encountered in small ruminant flocks in Benin.
Legend: A: general and non-specific disorders; B: blood and hematopoietic organ disorders; D: disorders of digestive system; F: eye diseases; L: disorders related to the musculoskeletal system; N: neurological disorders; R: respiratory system disorders; S: skin disorders; T: metabolic and nutritional diseases and W: diseases related to pregnancy and parturition.
Plants used to treat different groups of small ruminant disorders
A total of 72 medicinal plant species are listed to treat disorders of the digestive system against 34 for diseases related to pregnancy and parturition. Neurological diseases are treated with 2 species of medicinal plants. An additional table file shows this in more detail [See Additional file 1]. The determination of the Fidelity Level (FL) made it possible to identify 20 plants most indicated to treat the disorders of the digestive system. These are: Zanthoxylum zanthoxyloides (Lam.) Watermann; Striga hermonthica (DeliIe) Benth.; Khaya senegalensis (Desr.) A.Juss.; Adansonia digitata L., 1753; Morinda lucida Benth.; Spondias mombin L.; Elaeis guineensis Jacq.; Caesalpinia bonduc (L.) Roxb.; Azadirachta indica A. Juss; Newbouldia laevis (P. Beauv.) Seem; Carica papaya L; Momordica charantia L., 1753; Anogeissus leiocarpa (DC.) Guill. & Perr.; Vitex doniana Sweet, 18271; Crossopteryx febrifuga (Afzel, ex G. Don) Benth; Parkia biglobosa (Jacq.) R. Br. Ex G. Don; Mitragyna inermis (Willd.) Kuntze; Ximenia americana L.; Bridelia ferruginea Benth. and Vitellaria paradoxa CFGaertn., 1807. These different plants have a Fidelity Level between 52.73% and 96.83%, which indicates a high degree of consensus among the respondents to use these plants to treat diseases of the digestive system. On the other hand, the determination of the Fidelity Level allowed the identification of 7 plants which are unanimous among the respondents to treat disorders related to pregnancy and parturition. They are: Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp. (100%); Rhodognaphalon brevicuspe (Sprague) Roberty (93.33%); Solanum dasyphyllum Schumach. & Thonn (92.86%); Cissus populnea Guill. & Perr (85.71%); Ficus sycomorus L., 1767 (76.92%); Spondias mombin L. (75.24%) and Annona senegalensis Pers (66.67%).
Recipe preparation
The majority of the recipes proposed are composed exclusively of plants. The leaves (64.17%), the barks (17.20%) and the whole plant (7.28%) for the herbaceous plants are the main parts used (Fig. 3). In addition, some recipes are obtained from a combination of two or more parts of the same or different plants. An additional table file shows this in more detail [See Additional file 2]. The majority of recipes are in the form of fresh leaves to be grazed by small ruminants (45.20%). The other methods of preparation encountered are as follows: maceration (21.50%), decoction (10.80%), pounding (8.71%), powder (6.95%) and trituration (6.84%) (Fig. 4).
Fig. 3 Percentage of plant parts used for recipes preparation.
Fig. 4 Percentage of preparation modes of remedies.
Influence of socioeconomic and environmental factors on traditional knowledge of plants use to treat small ruminants diseases
Results from the decision tree-based classification analysis show that the size of the small ruminant livestock (P <0.01), the sex of the respondent (P <0.05), the agro-ecological zone (P <0.01) and the respondent’s ethnicity (P <0.05) significantly influenced knowledge on the plants use to treat small ruminant diseases (Fig. 5). On the other hand, religion, age, educational level, main activity, household size and source of knowledge do not significantly influence (P > 0.05) knowledge on the plants use to treat diseases of small ruminants.
Fig. 5 Decision tree showing the socioeconomic and environmental factors that influence plant knowledge used to treat small ruminant diseases.
Influence of herd size on the knowledge of the plants used
Analysis of the variance showed that the number of plants used varied significantly (P <0.05) depending on the size of the herd. In fact, the larger the size of the herd, the lower the number of plants used (Fig. 6). For the small flock class (1 ≤ Chep1 <10), respondents use an average of 3 plants compared to 1 for the large flock (60≤Chep7 <70).
Fig. 6 Evolution of the relative plant frequency used to treat small ruminant diseases as a function of herd size.
Class of herd size: 1 ≤ Chep1 <10; 10 ≤ Chep2 <20; 20 ≤ Chep3 <30; 30 ≤ Chep4 <40; 40 ≤ Chep5 <50; 50 ≤ Chep6 <60; 60 ≤ Chep7 <70.
Influence of sex on the knowledge of the plants used
The results showed that the sex influenced plant knowledge used to treat small ruminant diseases (P <0.05). Indeed, men know more plants (on average 3 plants) than women (on average 2 plants) as part of the treatment of small ruminant diseases.
Influence of sociocultural groups on the knowledge of the plants used
The number of plants used to treat small ruminant diseases varies significantly (P <0.01) according to sociocultural groups. The structuring of the average made it possible to identify three categories. The first concerns Dendi and Fulani who have a strong knowledge (on average 3 plants per respondent) on plants used to treat small ruminant’s diseases. The second groups Sahouè, Fon and Bariba who have average knowledge (on average 2 plants per respondent). The third category has low knowledge (on average 1.5 plants per respondent) on plants used to treat small ruminant diseases. These are Adja, Wama, Otammari, Natimba.
Influence of the agroecological zone on the knowledge of the plants used
The knowledge of the plants used to treat small ruminant diseases varies very significantly (P <0.01) according to the agroecological zones. Zone 1 (Karimama) respondents have a strong knowledge (on average 3 plants) of the plants used to treat small ruminant diseases (Fig. 7). They are followed by those in zone 8 (Bopa), which use an average of 2.5 plants (Figure 7). In addition, the persons surveyed in zone 6 (Covè, Za-kpota), zone 7 (Lalo) and zone 3 (N’Dali) have the same level of knowledge (on average 2 plants). The respondents in zone 4 (Toucountouna and Boukombe) have little knowledge (on average 1.5 plants) on the plants used to treat small ruminant diseases.
Fig. 7 Variation in the level of knowledge on plants used to treat small ruminant diseases according to agroecological zones.
Legend
Zone 1: Zone of the extreme north of Benin
Zone 3: Food zone of South Borgou
Zone 4: West Zone-Atacora
Zone 6: Area of bar ground
Zone 7: Zone of depression
Zone 8: Fishery area
Discussion
The use of medicinal plants to treat and improve the productivity of farmed animals appears today as the only promising alternative in view of the limits that the use of synthetic drugs and the low purchasing power of breeders present. Although some studies have addressed the inventory of plants used to treat diseases of small ruminants in southern Benin [8, 12], this study updates and extends the inventory throughout the national territory and identifies socioeconomic and environmental factors that are related.
Socioeconomic characteristics of the respondents
Our results showed that the average age of the respondents is 49 ± 16 years old and the majority of them are male. This would be due to the choice of respondents who are mostly heads of households. These results corroborate those who concluded that small ruminants are mostly breeding by men [6, 8, 20, 31]. Indeed, for cultural reasons, women are not called upon to speak publicly, especially about traditional knowledge. The interview with the women in the context of this work took place in case of absence of the husband (head of the household) or with the widows. Most of those surveyed are uneducated and had agriculture and livestock as their main activities. These results confirm the observations of Ogni et al. [16]; Usha et al. [15]; Ouachinou et al. [19] who showed that the breeding is mainly done by uneducated people. In fact, the rearing of small ruminants is mainly done in rural areas, which concentrate the majority of the uneducated [2], although more and more sheep and goats farming is noticed in the periphery of urban area [5]. In average, those surveyed have 10 ± 11 heads of small ruminants. This average is relatively high compared to that found by Hounzangbé-Adoté [8] and Lakew et al. [6]. This would be related to the choice of the study environment. Indeed, our work has been conducted in agroecological zones where small ruminants breeding is predominant.
Diversity of inventoried medicinal species
A total of 101 species of medicinal plant belonging to 42 families and 90 genera were inventoried during the survey. The diversity of species used to treat small ruminants is very high compared to those obtained by Tamboura et al. [11]; Hounzangbé-Adoté [8]; Yineger et al. [13]; Dassou et al. [20]; Usha et al. [15], Ahoyo et al. [32] but weak compared to those obtained by Dassou et al. [17]; Ouachinou et al. [19]. This difference would be justified by the probable variation of knowledge between the sociocultural groups but especially by the inequality between the sizes of the sample. The high diversity observed in this study also testifies to the importance of ethnoveterinary in the health care of sheep and goats. Indeed, herbal remedies are first offered to animals after observations of pathological signs and it is after the failure of these that the breeders call on the veterinarian or technician in breeding.
Ethno veterinary knowledge and main diseases groups of small ruminants
Of the ten disease categories identified in our survey, diseases related to the digestive system are the most common. The main symptoms encountered are diarrhea, indigestion and bloating of abdomen. These results corroborate those of Hounzangbé-Adoté [8], Dossa et al. [4], Ogni et al. [16], Lakew et al. [6] who found that the main pathologies encountered in small ruminant farms are diarrhea, anorexia and digestive parasitosis, which lead to high mortality. These diseases are more common in the rainy season and are probably related to moisture that promotes the development of pathogens. Diseases related to pregnancy and parturition are the second category of disorders that were frequently cited by respondents. Ogni et al. [16] and Dassou et al. [17] made the same observations in some Beninese farms. Indeed, this category of disorders includes cases of dystocia, mastitis, and agalactia. This is probably due to the lack of hygiene in the farms, which promotes the development of infectious agents and contamination of reproductive organs such as udders. In addition, uncontrolled reproduction between different breeds may be the basis of cases of dystocia observed.
Plants used to treat different groups of disorders
The results show that there is a strong correlation between the Relative Frequency of Citation for each disease group and the number of plants cited for their treatment. In fact, the groups of diseases most frequently encountered, such as disorders of the digestive system (D), disorders related to pregnancy and parturition (W), and general non-specific diseases are treated respectively by 72, 34 and 29 medicinal plant species. On the other hand, the disorders related to the musculoskeletal system (L), the disorders of the eye (F) and the neurological disorders (N) are treated respectively with 6, 5 and 2 species of medicinal plants. Whatever the category of disease, the main plants inventoried in this study are: Spondias mombin L.; Zanthoxylum zanthoxyloides (Lam.) Watermann; Khaya senegalensis (Desr.) A. Juss; Morinda lucida Benth.; Moringa oleifera Lam; Striga hermonthica (DeliIe) Benth.; Adansonia digitata L.1753; Ocimum gratissimum L.; Caesalpinia bonduc (L.) Roxb.; Elaeis guineensis Jacq. and Azadirachta indica A. Juss. These different species were previously inventoried during ethnobotanical surveys [8, 12, 17, 19, 33]. Most of the listed plants are used to treat two or more disease categories. Thus, their Fidelity Level was put to contribution to clear the most indicated plants to treat each category of diseases. For the treatment of diseases of the digestive system for example, among the 72 plants used, twenty were selected which worth further research. It is mainly Zanthoxylum zanthoxyloides (Lam.) Watermann; Striga hermonthica (DeliIe) Benth.; Khaya senegalensis (Desr.) A. Juss.; Adansonia digitata L., 1753; Morinda lucida Benth.; Spondias mombin L.; Elaeis guineensis Jacq.; Caesalpinia bonduc (L.) Roxb.; Azadirachta indica A. Juss; Newbouldia laevis (P. Beauv.) Seem; Carica papaya L; Momordica charantia L.1753; Anogeissus leiocarpa (DC.) Guill. & Perr.; Vitex doniana Sweet, 18271; Crossopteryx febrifuga (Afzel, ex G. Don) Benth; and Parkia biglobosa (Jacq.) R. Br. ex G. Don. Several previous studies have already shown that these plants are used to treat digestive disorders in domestic animals [8, 12, 13, 15, 19, 333, 34]. In addition, chemical and biological studies have been conducted and confirmed the in vivo and in vitro efficacy of some of these plants [35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40]. Nevertheless, Striga hermonthica; Momordica charantia L., 1753 and Elaeis guineensis Jacq. are less studied. Some medicinal species have been versatile and therefore well-suited for the treatment of several disease categories. Thus, Adansonia digitata L. is also indicated for the treatment of diseases related to metabolism and nutrition (T). Similarly, Spondias mombin L. can be used to treat diseases related to pregnancy and parturition. This corroborates the results of Adedokun et al. [41], Gbolade and Adeyemi, [42] who respectively found that the plant can be used in the treatment of diseases related to pregnancy and parturition and digestive parasitic infection.
Influence of socioeconomic and environmental factors on traditional knowledge of plants used to treat small ruminants
The analysis of the results shows that the size of the small ruminant livestock, the sex of the respondent, the agroecological zone, and the ethnicity of the respondent significantly influence the knowledge of the plants used to treat small ruminant diseases. These results corroborate those of Dassou et al. [22] who showed that agroecological and phytogeographic zones, ethnicity and educational level influence knowledge in traditional veterinary medicine in Benin. Respondents from agroecological zone1 (Karimama) have a high level of knowledge compared to other zones considered in our study. This would be justified by the lack of money, the absence of veterinary services and the inaccessibility to sanitary products in the municipality of Karimama. Thus, to cope with the sanitary management of the animals, populations are forced to turn to ethnoveterinary practices. Le Gall and Leboucq [2] have shown that the absence of veterinary services and the inaccessibility of health products are the main constraints to livestock development in sub-Saharan Africa. In addition, our work has revealed that the practice of ethnoveterinary in small ruminant farms depends on the size of the herd. In fact, the larger the livestock size, the less the breeders use the plants to treat small ruminants. This could be justified by the fact that breeders who have a large flock may have difficulty in preparing plant-based recipes for all animals. Similarly, these farmers would have more financial capacity than those who have a small flock and therefore able to buy veterinary products and pay veterinary service. Although several ethnobotanical surveys have been conducted to evaluate the effect of certain factors on the level of knowledge, the present work remains the only one to prove that there is a link between the size of the herd and the level of knowledge in ethnoveterinary [19, 22, 43, 44]. Like herd size, ethnicity is also linked to the knowledge of the plants used to treat small ruminants. These results are consistent with those of Assogbadjo et al. [23]; Kouchade et al. [44] and Loko et al. [24] who found that traditional knowledge varies according to sociocultural groups in Benin. Indeed, Dendi and Fulani have a strong knowledge compared to other sociocultural groups involved in this study. This can be linked to the fact that these two sociocultural groups are herders of origin and therefore attach a price to the welfare of their animals.