Ethnoveterinary knowledge of sheep and goat farmers in Benin (West Africa): effect of socioeconomic and environmental factors.

Sheep and goats are two of the main animal species raised in Benin and one of the main sources of income for people living in rural areas. Faced with the inaccessibility of synthetic veterinary products and their low purchasing power, the majority of breeders use ethnoveterinary practices to treat small ruminants diseases. The specific objectives of the current study were (1) to document the traditional knowledge regarding the disorder groups treated and the medicinal plants used in the health and zootechnical management of small ruminants in Benin and (2) to assess the effect of gender, ethnicity, agro-ecological zone and herd size associated with them.