Local ‘viagra’ Gondolosi can boost Malawi economy: Mzuni lecturer upbeat on ‘optimization of traditional medicine’

Senior lecturer in the department of chemistry at Mzuzu University (Mzuni) John Kamanula has expressed optimism that optimizing traditional medicine such as a herbal aphrodisiac ‘Gondolosi’ (mondia whitei) and others would be a plus in boosting Malawi’s ailing economy.

Trader selling Gondolosi in Malawi
Trader selling Gondolosi in Malawi

Kamanula said Friday at Mzuni during a public lecturer presentation, Optimization of Indigenous Knowledge: ‘A Case Study of Traditional Medicine and Botanical Pesticides’  that purportedly sought of bringing to limelight debate on what escapades can be brought forth to get economic benefits from local medicine.

During the lecture, it was also revealed that another local medicine, Mvunguti, has great healing powers for hypertension.

Kamanula said it was no longer a far-fetched idea that “Malawians, both in middle and low classes were taking them in abundance.”

His lecture revealed, for example, that ‘gondolosi’ has impeccable “economic value”, arguing that Malawi’s  traditional version of the anti-impotence pill Viagra, a herbal treatment  called Gondolosi, could be a hit in Western nations.

Said Kamanula: “I currently know of a Malawian woman who plies her ‘gondolosi’ trade in South Africa.”

He stated that if  the West  sells viagra at high prices, Malawi can do the same with Gondolosi, which can boost the economy.

But participants during the public lecture admitted “little was being done to make the plant more beneficial.”

Kamanula argued, however, that the problem was lack of a “sound policy” to optimize the local medicines and “lack of capacity building.”

He added: “We need safety studies and effectiveness of traditional medicines, safety studies and information management to make progress.”

Kamanula hoped for “support from government and interested stakeholders” in such kinds of research.

Gondolosi, scientifically known as Mondia whytei, is a shrub that grows  throughout the country. Herbalists use the shrub’s bark and root to make a  powder, or sell the entire root, in most urban markets.

Malawi Traditional Healers Organisation (Mthuo) representative Dr Kasasula Kayira, who attended the lecture, confessed the significant problem they faced in dealing with the aphrodisiac was “prescriptions.”

He said government must do more in “enlightening them on traditional medicines.”

If optimized, the lecture participants agreed, gondolosi would help increase revenue tax base through exports and local taxes.

A call was made for the country to remove the veil of secrecy about this herb
in order to cash in on the export market.

Malawi is one of the poorest nation in the world according to a recent study.

Recetntly, a lawmaker Boniface Kadzamira revived a debate in parliament when he recommended
the country should start growing marijuana (Indian Hemp), for non-narcotic purposes.

Malawian cannabis is renowned in the region as one of the best available,  although it is illegal to grow, smoke or deal in it.

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chosadziwa
chosadziwa
9 years ago

ana abadwe tsopano

shaaaa!
shaaaa!
9 years ago

tikamanena kuti atumbuka pa nkhani ya gondolosi satheka ,ambiri mumayesa chipongwe chabe.timanena zimene timaziona ndi ana atumbuka m’manyumbamu.si gondolosi yekha koma palinso izi;mkwapukwapu,mvunguti,kudelera aliyense nde ana achitumbuka.saopa
ngakhale azimayi apa banja.kikikikikikikikikik

Olobodoka
Olobodoka
9 years ago

Gondolosi ndi deal tiapweteke amkaziwa akumadelela kuchipinda komaso pakhale chiswabumbu apa ndi bvunguti cha abambo chikure kwambiri kuthesa ku ndeleraaaaaa…….

Kanyimbi
Kanyimbi
9 years ago

Umphawi umayambitsadi zambiri eti? Anyway this herb is very powerful if taken you can pound and pound until the woman will want to runaway back to her fathers house. No need to lose foreign currency on viagra, sildanefil etc. Lets boost the economy of Malawi.

uzyohed
uzyohed
9 years ago

I tink this Lecturer is wiase and intelligent. Why should we Malwians always wait for others to start anything good, then value it? This man has vision, its not only Whites that make new things happen. Lets support him anyhow.

elkabiir
elkabiir
9 years ago

we need chiswabumbu company here

peter
peter
9 years ago

A more scientific approach needs to be followed and not here say. Do the research, identify the active ingredient/s that are responsible for the so called claims, carry out clinical trials to prove the findings beyong doubt and then meet with the private sector to find the way to market.

john wa chilungamo
john wa chilungamo
9 years ago

I have not seen anywhere in the research the scientific findings of the effectiveness of Gondolosi. Otherwise it is used elsewhere just as a spice in food

Peter Mthibulo
Peter Mthibulo
9 years ago

Kikikiki! So that’s the type of research Mzuzu University can conduct. No wonder MZUNi is nambala kuthengo, pa world ranking.

ruth warren
ruth warren
9 years ago
Reply to  Peter Mthibulo

ndi coleji ya ambwenumbwenu obiba muthengo kaya kkkkkkkkkkkkk

Malawian Mom
Malawian Mom
9 years ago

MALAWIANS ALWAYS LOOKING FOR WAYS TO GET QUICK MONEY. I CAN’T BELIEVE THIS IS COMING FROM A LECTURE.

WHITE PEOPLE, PLEASE HOLD ON TO THAT AID. YOU SEE NOW PEOPLE ARE STARTING TO THINK CLEAR. SLOWLY PEOPLE ARE WORKING UP. THE AID WAS NOT DOING US ANY GOOD AT ALL.

WE NEED ALL OF US TO WORK HARD, AND GREAT THINGS WILL HAPPEN BEFORE OUR EYES.

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