A Quantitative Assessment of Indigenous Plant Uses Among Two Chepang Communities in the Central Mid-hills of Nepal

Abstract

This study analyzes the indigenous knowledge of plant use among the Chepang communities of two wards of the Shaktikhor Village Development Committee in the central mid-hills of Nepal. A total of 12 key informants and 240 men and women of different ages, were interviewed and the results were analyzed using mixed linear regressions. Though there was a significant difference in knowledge between men and women due to gender specific activities, it is difficult to draw a general conclusion about knowledge and sex, as men were in general more knowledgeable than women in the homogeneous ward while women were more knowledgeable than men in the heterogeneous ward. We also found that older people were more knowledgeable than young ones. Furthermore, the knowledge was higher in a homogeneous Chepang community than in a heterogeneous one. The knowledge transmission to the young generation was investigated and it is concluded that there is an issue with knowledge transmission to the younger generation.