PhD

Conservation of traditional knowledge of human health has recently
become a global concern. Medicinal plants and herbs are being lost due to lack of
awareness and deforestation. In Kerala, the diversified system of traditional
practices based on their ethnic medicine knowledge has prevailed among the tribal
communities since time immemorial. Medicinal plant collection is one of the
major livelihood avenues for the tribespeople. They are being exploited by the
external tradesmen in medicinal plants trade, which push them to further
economic backwardness.
The study was conducted at Malappuram district of Kerala. Three major
tribal communities viz., Paniyans, Aranadans and Kattunaikkans were selected.
The study followed ex-post facto research design conducted among 180 tribal
respondents. Thirty members were selected randomly from different stakeholders
for perception study.
The study revealed that only 36.96% of the elderly tribespeople, 27.54%
of the middle aged tribespeople and 26.15% of the young tribespeople had ethnic
medicine knowledge. Ethnic Medicine Knowledge Score (cumulative sum of
citation, knowledge use pattern and knowledge use frequency) was used to
measure the ethnic medicine knowledge of the tribespeople in the study. The
mean Ethnic Medicine Knowledge Scores of the young, middle and elderly age
categories of the tribespeople were 6.41, 5.16 and 7.94 respectively. Further, a chi
square test was performed and found that there is a significant relation existing
between age and ethnic medicine knowledge. The relationship between the
Knowledge Use Behaviour and the age was compared by using Kruskal-Wallis
test. It was found that there is significant difference in Knowledge Use Behaviour
among the three age categories.
The study also documented the ethnic medicine knowledge of the tribal
respondents in three age groups. It was found that the elderly, middle aged and
young tribespeople knew the usage of 75, 42, 30 medicinal plants respectively.
The three tribal communities viz., Paniyans, Arandans and Kattunaikkans shared
their knowledge about 61, 37 and 47 numbers of medicinal plants respectively. A
chi square test was done and found that knowledge of three communities differs
significantly. The mean Ethnic Medicine Knowledge Scores of the respondents of
Paniyans, Aranadans and Kattunaikkans tribal communities were 6.85, 6.45 and
6.62 respectively. The study found that only 24 (29.27%) of the tribesmen and 29
(29.57%) of the tribeswomen had ethnic medicine knowledge. The mean Ethnic
Medicine Knowledge Scores of the tribesmen and tribeswomen were 5.79 and 7
respectively. Out of 72 tribespeople depending on the medicinal plant collection,
only 15 (21.13%) are women, the rest of the 56 (78.87%) people are men. But in
case of number of Vaidyas in selected colonies, the number of women Vaidyas are
more (15) compared to male Vaidyas(11). The weighted mean knowledge use
behaviour score was 2.77 and mean ethnic medicine knowledge score was 6.45,
which means the use of knowledge is lower compared to their actual knowledge.
Categorical Principal Component Analysis (CATPCA) of the three tribal
communities was carried out separately. Twenty four variables were reduced into
2 factors which explain 61%, 61% and 60% of the total variance of the data for
Paniyans, Aranadans and Kattunaikkas respectively. In case of Paniyans, the
variables were grouped into Natural resources dependency factor and
Cosmopoliteness and social connectivity factor. For Kattunaikkans, the variables
were grouped into Personal empowerment factor and Social empowerment factor.
For Aranadans, the variables were grouped into Economic activities factor and
Cosmopoliteness and social connectivity factor. Binary logistic regression was
performed to calculate the relationship between the natural resources utilization of
the tribespeople for their livelihood requirement and the independent variables.
This test revealed that the variables such as age, number of income sources,
medicinal plant collection experience, and leadership quality had positive and
significant effect on the natural resources utilization among the tribespeople.
Ethnic medicine value chain with the involvement of tribespeople was
studied. The major marketing channel was the channel involving primary
collectors, commission agent, wholesalers, Ayurvedic Medicine Manufacturing
Units (AMMUs), retailers and consumers. All the marketing channels of the
ethnic value chain involving tribespeople were figured out. Share of the primary
collectors (tribespeople) in the value chain was found out for the major 12
medicinal plants. Low price for the medicinal plant sold was major constraint in
marketing and the unavailability of the produce was the major constraint in the
collection as perceived by tribespeople.
To measure the perception of the stakeholders and to identify the
constraints of tribespeople, Kendall`s coefficient of concordance was used.
According to the stakeholders, “middlemen selling these products for a huge sum
of money to wholesalers while tribespeople are not paid enough for their effort”
and “awareness on importance of value addition activities is very low among the
tribal people” were the major constraints experienced by the tribespeople in ethnic
medicine trade. Multi dimensional analysis diagram for a problem viz., lower
return in ethnic medicine trade by tribespeople was developed by using RAAKS
(Rapid Appraisal of Agricultural Knowledge System) framework. A focused and
participatory approach by understanding the essence of tribal culture and their
actual need is the actual solution of the existing problems. Value-based training
on the importance of the tribal culture and its unique relationship with the forest,
skill-based training on the identification of medicinal plants, and scientific
plucking procedures of the plant parts can be imparted to tribespeople.