Local knowledge and socio-economic determinants of traditional medicines' utilization in livestock health management in Southwest Nigeria

The Nigerian livestock industry is performing below expectation in its role of providing adequate animal proteins for the growing population. While annual population growth rate is about 3.0%, the estimated annual growth rate of the outputs of the major livestock products is nearly stagnant. Also, the contribution of the livestock sub-sector to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) has been declining [1-3]. This poor performance of the Nigerian livestock industry is in spite of an estimated livestock population of about 600 million [1]. The per capita animal protein intake is below 7.0 g per day [4-7]. With reference to the 35.0 g of animal protein per caput per day recommended by FAO, the shortfall in minimum protein requirements is about 89.0% [7,8]. In fact, by the year 2020 when the Nigerian population is expected to be about 230 million, a quantum leap in livestock production is required if the seemingly formidable problem of protein malnutrition is to be surmounted.It is a general consensus that the generic problem of low productivity of the existing livestock population is the factor responsible for Nigeria meeting just about 50.0% of her per capita demand for animal proteins from domestic sources [6]. Associated with this generic problem are specific constraints which include the traditional animal rearing system characterized by low productivity, high mortality rate, low growth rate, prevalence of pests and diseases and other factors which render efficient use of resources impossible [2,6].The problems of pests and diseases and high mortality rates necessitate that health issues in traditional livestock management be tackled decisively for a successful livestock development programme in Nigeria. This is necessary because researchers have found out that healthcare expenses constitute close to 20% of the production cost of livestock in Nigeria [2,7]. Since the massive devaluation of the Nigerian naira in June, 1986, the currency has been losing value leading to in