Sustainability and Social Justice
Document Type
Article
Abstract
Medicinal plants are indicators of indigenous knowledge in the context of political volatility and socio-cultural and ecological change in the Pamir Mountains of Afghanistan and Tajikistan. Medicinal plants are the primary health care option in this region of Central Asia. The main objective of this paper is to demonstrate that medicinal plants contribute to health security and sovereignty in a time of instability. We illustrate the nutritional as well as medicinal significance of plants in the daily lives of villagers. Based on over a decade and half of research related to resilience and livelihood security, we present plant uses in the context of mountain communities. Villagers identified over 58 cultivated and non-cultivated plants and described 310 distinct uses within 63 categories of treatment and prevention. Presence of knowledge about medicinal plants is directly connected to their use. © 2010 The Author(s).
Publication Title
Human Ecology
Publication Date
12-1-2010
Volume
38
Issue
6
First Page
817
Last Page
829
ISSN
0300-7839
DOI
10.1007/s10745-010-9356-9
Keywords
Afghanistan, food security, food sovereignty, health security, health sovereignty, Indigenous knowledge, medicinal plants, Pamir Mountains, Tajikistan
Repository Citation
Kassam, Karim Aly; Karamkhudoeva, Munira; Ruelle, Morgan; and Baumflek, Michelle, "Medicinal Plant Use and Health Sovereignty: Findings from the Tajik and Afghan Pamirs" (2010). Sustainability and Social Justice. 353.
https://commons.clarku.edu/faculty_idce/353