Personal Details |
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Name | : Ketema Tolossa Gutu |
Email address | : C. ketema_tolossa@yahoo.com |
Nationality | : Ethiopian |
Position | : PhD student |
Ethiopia has diverse agro-ecology and biological resources and is home to a diverse mix of ethnic, cultural and linguistic groups. This combination of diverse social and cultural backgrounds contributed to the existence of rich indigenous knowledge in the management and use of medicinal plants against human and livestock ailments. Helminthosis is one of the major constraints affecting livestock production in the country. As a result, farmers and pastoralists in Ethiopia often use herbal remedies as an alternative plant- based parasite control strategy. However, the potential of such plant-based parasite control and health care strategies is not adequately understood. Thus, phyto-chemical study, screening and anti-parasitic evaluation of claimed medicinal plants against economically important parasites could offer possible alternatives that may be both sustainable and environmentally acceptable, and overcome the problems of conventional drugs such as non-availability in developing countries, cost, and risk of misuse leading to drug resistance, environmental pollution and food residues. The first step in discovering a new lead compound with the desired pharmacological potential against parasites is screening of a number of plant extracts based on their long history of medicinal applications by healers and local communities. Therefore, the overall objective of this PhD proposal is to validate anti-parasitic properties and study the phytochemical constituents of selected indigenous medicinal plant(s) of Ethiopia as alternative plant based livestock parasite control strategy.
Research funding: BBSRC, DFID (UK aid) and SG and SAC (currently SRUC) postgraduate studentship