People in rural Ghana rely on traditional plant knowledge for three reasons: Accessibility, cost, and familiarity
Originally published on Global Voices
Vendor Yaa Akpe sells a branch of African Rosewood (Latin name Dalbergia Saxatilis) at her stall in Accra, Ghana. Photo by Jeslyn Lemke. Used with permission.
This post is part of Global Voices’ August 2026 Spotlight series, “Indigenous Rights.” This series offers insight into the lives and experiences of Indigenous peoples to build connections across regions, center Indigenous experiences, and share the stories of leaders, activists, community members, and more. You can support this coverage by donating here.
The traditional medicine market in Ghana, West Africa, is thriving, offering countless cures passed down by generations of Indigenous Ga and Twi tribes. As prices for Western pharmaceuticals and Western medical care rise, Ghanaians are relying on the medical remedies they have always turned to: plants.
Dr. Kofi Donkor, deputy director of the Center for Plant Medicine Research, and an expert on the medical benefits of many traditional Ghanaian plants, noted:
The traditional medicine practitioners themselves, for them, it is a profession. It is something that has been passed down from generation to generation to them. So they know how to use plants properly. Indeed, let me admit that for us in research, our primary source of knowledge, and in botanical research is from the traditional medicine practitioners. It is the knowledge from the practitioners that we try to validate using scientific methods. What we are doing in research is basically trying to validate the traditional knowledge that we get.
Plant-based medicine is a big business in Ghana
In rural Ghana, women start picking medicinal herbs from both the bush and cultivated plots early in the morning to sell fresh in the capital city of Accra. By mid-morning, they’ve set up their booths piled high with fresh vines, leaves, stems, and bark to sell to customers.
Plant-based medicine is a big business in Ghana. The Center for Plant Medicine Research, created by the Ghanaian government in 1976, works with raw plant material to create natural products and treat patients. Their outpatient clinic sees roughly 16,000 patients a month.
About 60 to 70 percent of the Ghanaian population depends on traditional medicine markets for their medical care, according to a 2023 study in Frontiers in Pharmacology.
Donkor says many people in rural Ghana rely on traditional plant knowledge for three reasons: Accessibility, cost, and familiarity. In an interview with Global Voices, he explained:
Indeed the data shows that in most developing countries, in rural communities, traditional medicine forms 80 percent of primary health care… It actually contributes largely to us trying to meet the goals of universal health care.
The deep green forests and meadows of rural Ghana have been home to rural villagers for many years, so many villagers are already familiar with the various plants that can heal a disease. Living near these forests makes plant-based medicine an easy, cheaper option for treating disease in rural Ghana, when Western pharmacies are too expensive or far away.
Donkor said many rural Ghanaians already know the right plants to treat a problem, and may only visit an herbal practitioner when a more complicated disease is present. He said:
So sometimes when you are sick you don’t necessarily have to go to the traditional medicine practitioner in the community to get medication. You just go to your backyard and you know this herb is for malaria, this herb is for typhoid, this herb improves your hemoglobin levels, and you just pluck some, you boil, and you drink.
Ongoing research on West African plants
Botanical researchers at the Center for Plant Medicine Research are currently studying a full panel of West African plants for their ability to cure diseases, including a green shrub that has shown promising treatment against prostate cancer (croton membranaceous).
When asked whether consumers can trust the plants sold in Accra’s open-air markets, Donkor cautioned that though vendors are probably selling the right plants, the dosage is really important. If a practitioner knows what they are doing and prescribes the right amount of a plant, it can be a powerful cure for the client.
Featured in the above video is Patience, a plant healer who lives in Accra and regularly treats friends and family with traditional plants for many illnesses, including malaria, yeast infections, and colds. Patience shows how the common mother-in-law tongue plant (Dracaena trifasciata) can be prepared as a cold bath. She advises users to make a tea bath from the plant’s leaves, and then let it soak into the skin without drying oneself. She says the botanical brew calms anxiety and helps with good sleep. Spiritually, Patience says this plant can keep bad people away from one’s home if you keep it by the door.
The scientific research at the Center for Plant Medicine Research, which draws on traditional medicine knowledge, adds legitimacy and international attention to the deep Indigenous knowledge of these plants. As Western drug costs and gas prices continue to rise in Ghana and across West Africa, the traditional medicine market can provide a sustainable source of natural healing for the population.