The African Herbal Pharmacopeia – Challenge and Potential

The African continent with an estimated 216 634 000ha of closed forest area encloses some 40–45.000 higher plant species that present enormous industrial potential. Africa contributes 25% of the global pool of plant genetic resources currently being traded. While over 5.000 plants are known to be used medicinally, few have been described and studied. This groß under-utilisation is further challenged with massive loss of biodiversity. The African continent is known to have the highest rate of deforestation in the world (1% loss compared to the global rate of 0.6%).

In spite of these challenges, Africa has contributed to the world's leading commercial medicinal plants, albeit on the low side (83 out of the 1100). Among them are the following: Madagascan Periwinkle (Catharanthus roseus), Devil's Claw (Harpagophytum procumbens), Rauwolfia (Rauwolfia vomitoria) amongst others. With so much potential and diversity, why is African 'absent' on the international scene. It is becoming increasingly clear that the potential for the business and agricultural sectors is enormous unless African countries prepare internationally recognised medicinal plant standards. The absence of the latter is a major barrier to regional and international trade. It could also explain why African Herbal Medicine has not been mainstreamed in the countries health system.

The preparation and publication of the African Herbal Pharmacopeia by the Association of African Medicinal Plant Standards (AAMPS; http://www.aamps.org) proposes to help address some of these lacunae. Over 50 important medicinal African plants have been described and all the relevant data has been incorporated to promote the cultivation and trade of these important medicinal plants.

The present paper will elaborate on the challenges in documenting and studying African medicinal plants and the potential they represent for the continent in terms of trade and business.