**1. Introduction**

The Sub-Saharan Africa is the geographical area and regions of the continent of Africa that lies south of the Sahara. These regions which include East Africa, West Africa, Southern Africa and Central Africa have witness increased population growth over the last decades. This population increase has necessitated increased demand for food (animal protein) of which poultry meat has contributed a greater percentage in meeting this need. A greater percentage of poultry production in Sub-Saharan Africa is still on an extensive management system except for a few large commercial farms. One of the greatest limitations to poultry production is poultry diseases. Diseases can wipe out a whole farm in a few days so farmers spend a fortune in vaccinating poultry birds against disease infection and in treatment of those infected already to reduce mortality. The impact of poultry diseases on poultry production cannot be over emphasized as it greatly increases the cost of production through cost of medication and losses incurred due to infections [1] estimated that the mortality of indigenous chickens up to 4 weeks old under extensive management system has been estimated

to be 53%. To reduce the cost of production, small holder farmers use herbal trees as antibiotics alternatives [2].

The small scale production and level of poverty in this region has encouraged the use of traditional medicine in managing the health challenges of these poultry birds. The use of traditional medicine to meet human and livestock health care challenges in Sub-Saharan Africa has being from time immemorial with various degrees of successes. It was estimated by [3] that about 80% of the people living in Africa depend on traditional medicine for themselves and their livestock. The recent campaign for the exclusion of antibiotics and hormone growth promoters in livestock production has lead to the increase in research and the use of ethnoveterinary medicine in livestock production [1, 4] reported that the use of ethnoveterinary medicine for smallholder poultry production in Sub-Saharan Africa is economical, culturally acceptable and ecologically sound since the natural products used are locally available. Furthermore, [5] confirmed that over the last 3 decades, researches have being conducted to developing antibiotics alternatives for maintaining the health of animals as well as their performance. There is therefore a need to make these medicinal plants, preparation and administration procedures available to other poultry farmers.
