**4. Boosting African economies through medicinal plant cultivation and biodiversity conservation**

The cultivation and commercialisation of medicinal plants provide an economic resource for Africa's pharmaceutical industries, which opens business and investment opportunities. There is a need for strong collaboration between the pharmaceutical industry and the academia/research institute to promote sustainable economic growth through the utilization of medicinal plant resources in Africa for drug development and commerce [18].

Several Africans are living in abject poverty who needs to be fed, clothed, housed and employed. The commercialisation of African medicinal plants can be seen as an opportunity to benefit the people on the continent. The industry will create work for the rural and peri-urban unemployed people [18]. This will help the poor to secure a regular income, which in turn helps them to maintain a healthy living condition. Commercial laboratories also play a role in creating, among their employees, an awareness of Africa's rich biodiversity [18]. Cultivation of medicinal plants reduces the pressure on plants in the wild, thereby protecting the diverse flora. Techniques for commercialisation of medicinal plants requires advanced technology and this will encourage collaboration and sharing of ideas in science and technology programmes among African countries. Street and Prinsloo [11] stated that around 80% of South Africans depend on traditional medicine for their primary healthcare needs. They however stated that only a few of the South African medicinal plants have been

#### *Cultivation and Conservation of African Medicinal Plants for Pharmaceutical Research… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.102637*

exploited for their full potential in terms of commercialization. They stated that the exploitation of the South African medicinal plants for the development of new pharmaceutical remains untapped. Marula et al. [3] also reported 78 South African medicinal plants belonging to different plant families currently sold in informal markets which serves as a major source of income to the vulnerable groups living in peri-urban, rural, and marginalized areas. Medicinal plant cultivation if properly harnessed could serve as a major source of income to many Africans.

In Nigeria, in the year 1990, the estimated monetary value of benefits realized from conservation was put at well over \$6 billion. In the year 2002, due increase in bio-prospecting and bio-discovery activities and the growth in biotechnology-related industries that utilize indigenous genetic materials as feedstock, the year 2002 estimated benefits of biodiversity to Nigeria was over \$8 billion per annum [19]. According to Ibrahim et al. [20], the expected annual profit from the production of 840 liters of eucalyptus oil per annum was N2,273,508.00 and profit after tax of N1,818,806.40 at 20%. This figure indicates how viable medicinal plants can boast the African economy if carefully exploited.

In Ghana, an estimated 951 tons of crude herbal medicine were sold at Ghana's herbal markets in 2010, with a total value of around US\$ 7.8 million [21]. In Africa, about 75% of people living with HIV/AIDS patronize Complementary and Alternative Medicine [22]. Cumulatively, the yearly market value of herbal drug products is nearly, USD 43 billion which is far above the total annual budget of several African countries [22]. According to Ndhlala et al. [23], the production of herbal mixtures from medicinal plants has resulted in the growing herbal medicine industry with about 50 to 100 private entrepreneurs in the informal market and has also contributed to the creation of numerous jobs in South Africa. Eziacka et al. [24] reported that the value of the traded medicinal plants has been estimated to be US\$300,000 in Johannesburg; US\$7.8 m in Ghana; US\$1.5 in Gabon and Kenya was US\$25,900 [25, 26]. In Tanzania, at Kariakoo Market in Dares Salaam, the value was estimated to US\$200,000 [27].

Evidence from outside Africa has shown that medicinal plant can be a huge source of income. In the USA, more than 1500 herbal drugs worth billions USD were sold yearly. In the UK, the yearly expenditure on Complementary and Alternative Medicine was 2.3 billion US dollars [2]. Furthermore, over USD 2.4 billion Traditional Chinese Medicines (TCM) have been sold and USD 400 million worth of TCM have been exported out of China in 1993 [2]. Also, about USD 60 million was realized from the sale of herbs in 1996 in Malaysia and in Europe, North America [22, 28].
