Local environmentalists have warned that the sausage tree, known locally as Mumvee, is at risk of extinction due to over-exploitation.
This tree is highly valued for its believed medicinal properties, including its use as a remedy for various illnesses and as a sex-enhancing medicine.
Along the Mhare River in rural Hwedza, Mashonaland East Province, the rampant cutting down of Mumvee (scientifically known as Kigelia Africana) is evident. Here, the trees are often debarked, and their fruit is harvested for processing.
In an interview with NewsDay, Romeo Chisunga, a 38-year-old resident of the Hwedza South constituency, remarked that Mumvee fruit sells rapidly in Harare.” He said:
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I have a ready market in Harare. Some people come here to buy dried bark or its powder for resale as it has proved to be a medicine.
We chop the sausages and dry them before processing them into powder
A sack of dried barks goes for US$20, while a bucket of powdered mumvee fruit goes for US$40.
Many people in Hwedza are actively harvesting Mumvee fruit, as evidenced by the piles of Mumvee bark and fruit left to dry on rooftops before processing.
Kurauone Shonhai, a 65-year-old herbalist based in Marondera, told NewsDay that Mumvee is believed to “cure everything from diabetes to cancer.” He added:
We grew up consuming mumvee concoctions treating different ailments, and it works.
At vegetable markets in Marondera and Harare, small bottles or sachets of powdered Mumvee tree products are sold for US$1.
Maria Nhiwatiwa, a herbal vendor at Marondera’s Dombotombo market, said the medicine sells quickly due to high demand.
A herbalist in Murewa, Thompson Mutasa, affectionately known as Sekuru Shumba, said:
It is not a secret that both men and women use the mumvee tree fruit for sex-enhancing purposes.
The tree is special in the history of medicine. Some perform rituals under it.
Itai Rusike, executive director of the Community Working Group on Health, said that a significant issue with herbal medicine is the lack of regulation. He said:
Most of our herbal medicines are locally sourced and readily available, 100% organic and non-toxic. The challenge is and has always been the gap in communicating the dosage schedule, and indication for treatment.
There is no accreditation or regulation of the practitioners, their practice or premises as is done for medical doctors, nurses, pharmacists and other therapists trained in conventional medicine.
We also additionally have a lack of clinical trials, scientific data and evidence to support the claims despite some convincing results from treated individuals.
Meanwhile, environmentalists have warned that the over-exploitation of mumvee may result in the extinction of the tree species. Harare-based environmentalist Pelagia Kanyandura said:
Relevant authorities should come up with strategies if there are no policies to stop the rampant cutting down of the tree. As it stands, the species is being destroyed willy-nilly and will soon face extinction.
Astas Mabwe, the Environmental Management Agency (EMA) Mashonaland East provincial information and publicity manager, said that locals should use best harvesting methods to save the species.
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