Experts Urge Nigeria to Harness $7trn Herbal Medicine Market
Experts have said Nigeria is endowed with over 10,000 species of medicinal plants, urging the country to harness the market potential of herbal medicine projected at seven trillion dollars by 2050.
Specifically, the Minister of State for Health, Adeleke Mamora, stated this at a conference on Traditional, Complementary and Alternative Medicine (TCAM), organized in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Health, in Abuja.
He explained that the country has good arable land and climatic conditions needed to promote the cultivation and utilization of medicinal plants as raw materials for the pharmaceutical, food and cosmetic industries.
Mamora pointed out that Nigeria and other African countries are currently benefiting minimally from the global herbal medicine market, adding that the market had been dominated by China, India, US, Germany and Thailand.
He said, “Significantly, the cultivation of medicinal plants and commercialization of herbal medicines will attract huge economic benefits to Nigeria. Especially in the following areas: increase foreign exchange earnings and wealth creation, alleviate poverty through the creation of job opportunities in areas of cultivation and conservation of medicinal plants in Nigeria.”
Also, Mamora assured that his ministry would remain committed to the development and promotion of traditional, complementary and alternative medicine in Nigeria.
On his part, a professor of Phytomedicine from the University of Benin, Prof. MacDonald Idu, said if properly harnessed, the value of traditional medicinal plants in Nigeria would hit one trillion naira by 2025.
According to him, the current market value of traditional medicinal plants stands at about N200 billion, saying not much attention has been paid to harness the sector.
His words: “We talked about $200 billion. It is conservative. I’m serious. Other forms of literature that I have also read, we are going to hit about N1 trillion by 2025. I know what that means. That’s a lot of money. Nigeria I’m sorry, we don’t walk the talk. We talk a lot, but we don’t walk the talk. So my point of interest is to drag the hearts of our people to realize that we should diversify our economy. We don’t have any reason to be poor. That’s the real truth. We don’t have any reason to import everything that we need to survive. It’s already here. Why do you have them here?. So, I believe that if we’re able to set up that platform again, and then we’re able to organize ourselves and organize the traditional medicine practitioners and producers, we should be able to raise enough money for this country to move forward,” Idu added.
Remarking, the First Lady of Nigeria, Mrs Aisha Buhari, expressed regret over the low level of utilization of over 10,000 species of medicinal plants in the country. She said in spite of the country’s huge need for the production of drugs, cosmetics and other essential products, it still records low participation in growing medicinal plants.
However, the First Lady noted President Muhammadu Buhari administration’s commitment to boosting the commercial cultivation of medicinal plants for the health, economic and social benefits of Nigerians, adding that the development would also open new areas for wealth and job creation for the teeming youths in the country.
Agro Nigeria
