Heritage-based medicine,

innovations and entrepreneurship

Presentation Outline
• Entreprenueship
• Heritage-based innovations and entrepreneurship
• i.Heritage-based innovations and entrepreneurship in medicine and
medical practices
• a.Traditional medical practices drug discovery
• Innovative heritage-based healing practices
The concept of entrepreneurship
• The concept of entrepreneurship was first established in the 1700s,
and the meaning has evolved ever since. Many simply equate it with
starting one's own business.
• To some economists, the entrepreneur is one who is willing to bear
the risk of a new venture if there is a significant chance for profit.
• Others emphasize the entrepreneur's role as an innovator who
markets his innovation.
• Still other economists say that entrepreneurs develop new goods or
processes that the market demands and are not currently being
supplied.
• In the 20th century, economist Joseph Schumpeter (1883-1950)
focused on how the entrepreneur's drive for innovation and
improvement creates upheaval and change.
• Schumpeter viewed entrepreneurship as a force of "creative
destruction."
• The entrepreneur carries out "new combinations," thereby helping render old
industries obsolete.
• Established ways of doing business are destroyed by the creation of new and
better ways to do them.

• Entrepreneurship is therefore a multidimensional concept (Bula, 2012)

• Depends on who is defining it and the perspective of view (economic,

social, anthropological etc)
• Business expert Peter Drucker (1909-2005) took this idea further,
describing the entrepreneur as someone who actually searches for
change, responds to it, and exploits change as an opportunity.

• Most economists today agree that entrepreneurship is a necessary

ingredient for stimulating economic growth and employment
opportunities in all societies.

• In the developing world, successful small businesses are the primary

engines of job creation, income growth, and poverty reduction.
Definitions of Entrepreneurship
• Creation of a new businesses (Gartner, 1988)
• Change implementing innovation through the carrying out of new
combinations (Schumpeter, 1934)
• A way of thinking, reasoning, and acting that is opportunity obsessed, holistic
in approach, and leadership balanced
• Nexus of enterprising individuals and valuable opportunities which constitute
the process of existence, discovery, and exploitation of entrepreneurial
opportunities (Shane & Venkataraman, 2000).
• In the context of education, entrepreneurship is about making students more
creative, opportunity oriented, proactive and innovative, adhering to a wide
definition of entrepreneurship relevant to all walks in life.
Source: Edwin Cottrell
Entrepreneurship is used to describe
• Creation of new businesses
• Small businesses
• Sole proprietorships
• Family owned businesses
• Franchises
• Intrapreneurship
 who is an entrepreneur?
most successful
entrepreneurs share creativity,
dedication,
certain personal determination,
attributes, including: flexibility,
leadership,
passion,
self-confidence.

Are you one????

Medicine as Business
• Medicine is business
• Acquire the knowledge and identify opportunities for business
• Various opportunities besides treating people
Traditional Medicine as Business
• traditional healing is an age old business.
• traditional healers would be paid for their service.
• some may not have charged that much but the family of the healed or
the patient when they recover would pay with whatever they can
afford.
• some would charge right from consultation to when the illness is
brought under control.
• however, for those who healed on the basis of spiritual control, they
man not have had the latitude to charge as they pleased.
 Herbal trade
• the realisation of demand in herbal medicine has led to an increase in
the selling of traditional medicine.
• on the other hand this has led to unsustainable exploitation of herbal
medicines as people harvest such plants for sell in towns.
• Challenges in affording allopathic medicine has raised the demand for
traditional medicine and healing .
• Sometimes the patient is asked to look for the relevant shrubs/plants.
• Health conscious individuals may also consume herbal medicine not
because a traditional healer has advised them to.
• you may recall drinks such as Musimboti that were claimed to have certain
health properties
• There is also Moringa, Zumbani and now because of Covid-19, there are
many plants that are being consumed to improve the immune system
• With the upsurge of diseases such HIV and AIDs, and other chronic ailments,
herbs are being recommended to improve the immune system of the
individuals
• Of course, scientists in western medicine are generally against the use of
some of these herbs and traditional medicine (Students should interrogate
and discuss this issue)
• In southern Africa, South Africa is in the forefront of businesses
involving traditional medicines
• But globally China and India contribute much in the global sell of
herbal medicine
• Traditional medicine is found in markets such as Mbare in Harare
• Today, there are now pharmacies and clinics in Zimbabwe selling
traditional and herbal medicine
• The quality of herbal medicine has been improving, including its
packaging and dosage specifications, issues that have been the major
points of attack by critiques of traditional medicine
• universities now involved in research on medicinal properties of herbs
and plants commonly used by traditional healers
• the challenge with this development has been the fear of losing
control of the knowledge and enriching big pharmaceutical
companies
• the stigma associated with traditional medicine has been hindering
development in this area.
• it is this area that WIPO and relevant regional bodies has been
seeking to improve and protect owners of traditional knowledge or to
make sure benefits also reach such communities.
• UNDP had a project on medicinal plants in Zimbabwe. Some of its
activities involved encouraging the growth of the business of selling
traditional medicine and the growing of medicinal plants which could
also become economically viable as many people resort to traditional
medicine.
• herbal medicine is not exactly synonymous with general traditional
medicine.
• Herbs can be grown by anyone interested as long as they know what the
herbs treat and how to use the medicine derived from them
• Religious people have established herbal clinics.
Types of businesses possible
• Growing and selling herbs as raw materials for producing herbal
medicine (herbal farms/herbal gardens)
• Being the middle man between growers of herbs and developers of
herbal medicine
• Selling traditional medicine - one acquires the herbal medicine and
sells them.
• A bit tricky. you must know what you are selling to avoid selling harmful
products. you have to trust your sources of the medicine
• drug development and improvement of the herbal medicines especially
in terms of packaging and quality of the actual medicine.
• There manufacturers of traditional medicine who are making it into
tablets, creams, oils, suspensions etc
• consultancy involving testing of the herbal medicines
• (Universities have been involved in this. Not sure if this was for profit or to just
help those who require confirmation)
• establishment of clinics for diagnosis and treatment based on herbal
medicine
• provision of support in growing medicinal plants (herbal gardens)
 Conclusion
• heritage-based medicine should open our eyes to see potential for economic growth
through medicine
• integration of traditional medicine is likely to increase the demand for traditional
medicine
• this is especially so if research institutions get involved to improve the efficacy of
such medicine and reduce the stigma associated with such medicine
• it may be improtant to note that most of the world’s medicine comes from plants
and so there is nothing wrong in making use of herbal medicine if it is properly
prepared and in hygienic environments.
• some businesses require knowledge on patents and intellectual property to protect
innovations around herbal medicine.
• The world herbal trade has grown to $120 billion and is expected to reach $7 trillion
by 2050