SOURCES OF INDIGENOUS KNOWLEDGE ON HEALING PRACTICES AMONG FARMERS IN KWARA STATE, NIGERIA.

The study was undertaken to examine the sources of indigenous knowledge on healing practices among farmers in Kwara State, Nigeria. A representative sample (n=300) of farmers was surveyed on health condition, knowledge on indigenous healing practices, Indigenous healing practices (IHP) accessed and means of acquiring the knowledge using structured questionnaire and in-depth interview. Descriptive statistics techniques such as frequency, percentages were used as well as Pearson Product Moment Correlation (PPMC) analysis for empirical analysis. Results however revealed that 100% of respondents indicated malaria, body pain and injury as common illness; though majority 94% further indicated that body pain was more frequent. Results also showed that majority (83.5%) had knowledge on IHP. Majority 62.3% accessed herbal medicine. Findings revealed that majority (78.1%) acquired knowledge from their parents while a handful acquired it through training from practitioners. PPMC analysis revealed that body pain, injury and snake bite were significant (p 0.05) to source of knowledge on IHP. It was concluded that verbal parent-child transfer of IHP was prevalent among farmers in the study area. The study recommends that agencies of information especially the agricultural extension and health officers should document and record the indigenous healing knowledge of common illness/diseases among farmers for the purpose of preserving the knowledge.