Indigenous ethnomedicinal knowledge and herbal remedies among Saharan women healers in Southwestern Algeria

Abstract

Background: Traditional healing remains central to primary healthcare in Saharan communities across North Africa. In Algeria, ethnomedicinal knowledge is largely held by women healers. This study aimed to document herbal remedies used by Saharan women healers and to examine age- and practice-related variation in reported ethnomedicinal knowledge.

Methods: We documented the practices of 39 women traditional healers from Bechar and Beni Abbes provinces. Ethnobotanical data were quantified using the Relative Frequency of Citation (RFC), Fidelity Level (FL), and Informant Consensus Factor (ICF). Age-related variation was assessed by correlating informant age with use-report counts (UR), and experience-related differences were examined by comparing UR across practitioner groups.

Results: A total of 776 UR were recorded, documenting 95 medicinal plant taxa belonging to 40 botanical families. Artemisia herba-alba was the most frequently cited species (RFC = 0.846). Informant consensus was highest for respiratory (ICF = 0.89) and digestive disorders (ICF = 0.76), and 11 taxa showed complete fidelity (FL = 100%). Approximately 25% of informants reported consulting biomedical services primarily for diagnostic purposes and subsequently relying on traditional remedies for management.  Total UR showed a weak positive association with age, and professional Douaya reported higher UR values than non-regular traditional healing practitioners.

Conclusions: Women healers reported a diverse ethnomedicinal repertoire. Lower UR among non-regular practitioners may reflect differences in reported ethnomedicinal knowledge and practice intensity, underscoring the need to document and safeguard women’s traditional healing knowledge.

Keywords: Ethnobotany, Traditional healers, Women, Algerian Sahara, Medicinal plants, knowledge transmission