Climatic Change and Female Reproductive Health: The Case of Traditional Medicine in Tanzania

Climate change is one of the most important issues in the global social, political and economic agenda, yet it has taken a while to be prioritized. This is partly because climatic change was communicated as a scientific problem which was originally complex, confusing and at times contested scientific information which resulted to a slow public and political awareness. Thus, climate change commentators have argued, but humanity have done very little to prevent the outcomes. Tanzania has not escaped from the shock waves of climate change. Authors have written about climate change in its broadest parameters. Seldom however has climate change raised concern on issues related to traditional medicine and their role in female reproductive health. Using the Makonde community, this research has portrayed the use of traditional medicine and its significance in with an immense performance in rescuing women’s live through curing common reproductive diseases. Thus, a wide variety of roots, leaves, barks, flowers, thorns, minerals, animal and insect were used as medicine which imply that the Makonde had extraordinarily knowledge about local plants. Sadly, climatic changes have diminished medicinal plants and various wild medicinal plants have disappeared resulting to increasing maternity complications and other female reproductive system diseases. In rural areas where public hospital are grappling with a countrywide drug shortage and long distance allocations of hospitals, traditional medicine would have served a number of women. Therefore, there is a need for government support in analyzing and documenting traditional medicine for an immediate rescue. Given the fact that climatic change cannot be avoided, good planning is required to reduce vulnerability and recovery costs which include consciously constructed opportunities for learning involving some form of communication designed to improve indigenous health knowledge such as local health museum for local herbs, which can lead to better health for women.