Role and commercialisation of indigenous knowledge in the control of Covid-19 pandemic

Abstract

Coronavirus has been one of the most feared, and dangerous diseases, which killed thousands of people, if not millions, across the world. The disease caused many challenges such as low economic growth, deaths, closure of schools, and even worsened poverty and vulnerability across the globe. The disease is caused by a virus and has no cure yet. In an effort to mitigate health challenges indigenous knowledge systems have been reached out to as a panacea to control the pandemic; witnessing a paradigm shift from scientific to indigenous systems. It has been proven in many African countries like Cameroon, Madagascar, Zambia, and Zimbabwe to be one of the best ways to control coronavirus given the high recovery rates from those infected. Therefore, the paper's objective is to assess the role and commercialisation of indigenous knowledge in controlling the Covid-19 pandemic. A comprehensive search of the literature was undertaken to come up with a published paper on indigenous knowledge used to control Covid-19. Interviews and questionnaires were also used to collect data on indigenous knowledge by local people. The results show that Zumbani (Lippia Javanica) use became popular in countries like Zimbabwe, with almost everyone using it either in tea, drinks, porridge or steaming in an effort to control the disease. It is believed that Lippia Javanica contains high zinc content that fights against the virus, reduces viral replication, and boosts the human immune system. Other common trees include Sclerocarya birrea due to its high vitamin C content in fruit skin and Moringa (Moringa oliefera), an immune booster. Several people were using indigenous knowledge in fighting against Covid-19 with few in rural areas adopting the use of scientific methods. It can be concluded that the indigenous knowledge system was highly adopted by people in fighting against Covid-19.