Bangladesh ‘Village of Herbs’ profits from planting rather than cutting trees

 Interestingly, even in this era of rampant development in medical science, technology and economy, when traditional ways of life give way to newer ways, these local village doctors can still be found in plenty. Thanks to a renewed zeal and understanding of herbal medicine among some of the country’s biggest names in the medical industry, herbal plant culture is once again on the rise.

From being threatened and neglected, medicinal plants, in the space of two or three generations, are now thriving again. The descendants of locals who once cut down trees that bore healing leaves are now actively planting and cultivating medicinal trees. For them, it’s a new moneymaking profession; and for the plants, it’s another small attempt at survival.

Take the example of the Lakshmipur Kholabaria Union (local government’s lowest administrative tier) in the northern Bangladeshi district of Natore, where many community villagers are cultivating medicinal plants commercially for a living.

The credit goes to local kabiraj Afaz Uddin Pagla, who is similar to that character in the ‘90s TV commercial. The union comprises 15 villages where all farmers have been cultivating medicinal plants for years. The union is now popularly known as the Oushudi Gram (the Village of Herbal Medicines).

It all started in 1995 when Afaz Uddin Pagla began treating people with herbal medicines in his village, Kholabaria. As a kabiraj, he earned a lot of fame, and the queue of patients in front of his homestead gradually grew longer.

He then started planting medicinal plants in his own farmland and homestead to save himself the trouble of going to hard-to-reach places to collect leaves, barks and roots. At some point, he started having some surplus, which he sold to other village doctors in 

the area.