The focus of this theme in 2007 has been on identifying and developing components of a large, Africa-wide project on medicinal plants, covering aspects of their occurrence, indigenous knowledge, taxonomy, active ingredients, analytical organic chemistry and laboratory analysis, seed science, harvesting in the wild, cultivation, livelihoods of rural communities, the production and use of medicinal plant products, quality control of plant products, marketing and export, and their conservation c.q. the conservation of their habitats.
The Dreyer Foundation (based in München, Germany) is a partner of UNU-INRA in the GLOWA project and has expressed an interest in developing c.q. funding activities in the field of medicinal plants in Ghana and Burkina Faso. The activity in Ghana would relate to the strengthening of the capacity of the Centre for Scientific Research into Plant Medicine (CSRPM) in Mampong, in particular their analytical and IT-service infrastructure. The activity in Burkina Faso relates to the reforestation of the Dano Hills adjacent to the Scientific Research Station of the Dreyer Foundation in Dano, Burkina Faso.
Mr Gisbert Dreyer and Ms Regina Schuh, the Chief Executives of the Dreyer Foundation, visited UNU-INRA to discuss collaboration in the field of reforestation and medicinal plants between the Dreyer Foundation, UNU-INRA, the University of Ghana, and the CSRPM in Mampong. UNU-INRA is expected to play a coordinating role in this collaborative project, which will initially be funded by the Dreyer Foundation. If successful, this project could possibly be linked to the research that has been done, or proposed by the Operating Units in Namibia and Cameroon:
(1) Development of technologies for the domestication, cultivation and value addition of the Devil's Claw (Harpagophytum procumbens) for raising income and sustainable development of rural communities in Namibia (OU-Namibia)
(2) Establishment of a Namibian traditional herbal medicinal knowledge management system of desert plants for screening purposes (OU-Namibia)
