African Traditional Practices for Coping with COVID-19

Introduction: Traditional Practices as Pandemic Resources

The COVID-19 pandemic has placed enormous strain on formal healthcare systems worldwide, exposing structural vulnerabilities that are especially acute in sub-Saharan Africa. In this context, customary and traditional practices — long embedded in the social fabric of African communities — offer underutilized resources for pandemic response. This paper examines how traditional healing, subsistence farming, informal savings cooperatives, marriage customs, and community caring models in South Africa, Nigeria, and Swaziland can be adapted to help populations cope with COVID-19.

South Africa: Healing, Farming, and Ubuntu

Traditional medicines are substances used in traditional health practice for the diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of illness, as well as the promotion of well-being in most rural African societies. They include a diverse range of plant and animal products that are either self-administered by the patient or administered by traditional healers, and are believed to treat a wide range of conditions including mental disorders, tuberculosis, and diabetes. For instance, the leaf of the Aloe ferox plant has been shown to have anti-diabetic properties; the Ubulawu, a traditional medicine drawn from the stem of Helinus integrifolius and the root of Silene bellidioides, is used to cleanse the body and soul; while Cryptocarya bark mixed with crocodile fat is used in the treatment of chest pains (Mmamosheledi & Sibanda, 2018).

Traditional healers are responsible for the administration of traditional medicine in South Africa and include traditional birth attendants, traditional surgeons, herbalists (iNyanga), and diviners (iSangoma) (Mmamosheledi & Sibanda, 2018). Traditional healing is interwoven with religious beliefs and cultural practices and is therefore considered holistic, involving both the mind and soul (Mmamosheledi & Sibanda, 2018). South Africans link traditional healing practices with spirituality and believe that traditional healers are capable of communicating with ancestors and an individual's departed blood-relatives, who are believed to mediate between the living and God and who serve as the custodians of the destinies of living generations (Mmamosheledi & Sibanda, 2018).

Diviners in the South African belief system, for instance, are considered spirituality experts capable of defining and diagnosing the origin and cause of illness with the help of the patient's ancestors (Mmamosheledi & Sibanda, 2018). The strong belief that traditional healers enjoy a spiritual connection with ancestors and God — one that can intervene in illness — makes them the first treatment option for most patients. Patients also prefer them because they are more affordable. In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, traditional healers could help reduce strain on the formal healthcare system by administering or guiding patients to self-medicate using traditional medicines such as Umckaloabo, used in the treatment of chest pains and bronchitis symptoms (Mmamosheledi & Sibanda, 2013). Traditional healers and medicinal options are more affordable and readily available to rural populations than formal options such as aspirin and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), and would effectively help patients with mild symptoms manage the disease at home.

Farming is one of the primary economic activities in South Africa. Traditionally, farmers practiced subsistence, organic farming, with households in rural areas mostly producing their own food and those in urban areas relying largely on market purchases. Recent years have, however, seen a shift towards market food purchases in both rural and urban households (Baiphethi & Jacobs, 2009). The disruption of food chains as a result of lockdowns and other measures aimed at curbing the spread of COVID-19 affects the availability of food in the market, increasing the risk of food insecurity — particularly among urban dwellers who rely predominantly on market food purchases. Moreover, it is estimated that food expenditures account for between 60 and 80 percent of total household income in an average sub-Saharan African household (Baiphethi & Jacobs, 2009). The decline of food produce in the market as a result of disrupted supply chains pushes food prices upward, imposing a further strain on the urban poor who are already experiencing falling incomes as a direct effect of the pandemic.

In this regard, a return to traditional subsistence farming would help increase food security for households, minimizing reliance on market food purchases (Baiphethi & Jacobs, 2009). Several actions have been taken to encourage local communities to shift back to subsistence farming. One such initiative is the partnership between organizations such as the Spier Wine Farm and the Sustainability Institute, which seeks to train locals in the Lynedoch area on how to use eco-friendly techniques to grow their own nutritious and fresh produce for consumption (Pretorious, 2020). Such moves towards increased subsistence farming help raise the production of food items that have been shown to boost immunity and thereby minimize the risk of COVID-19. Further, by growing their own food, households increase their access to a balanced diet, which also strengthens their ability to manage the disease.

Formal trade and savings cooperatives in South Africa are underdeveloped, particularly in rural areas where education levels are low and infrastructure is poorly developed (Finmark Trust, 2013). Informal institutions that allow indigenous rural farmers without regular income streams to save and invest include informal saving groups, rotating savings and credit associations (ROSCAs), and accumulating savings and credit associations (ASCAs) (Finmark Trust, 2013). They provide effective avenues for alternative investment when incomes are falling during crises, helping communities to better cope in difficult times (Finmark Trust, 2013).

The traditional wedding ceremony varies across communities. However, in the basic traditional setting, weddings only took place between members of different clans, which implies that the individuals had to carry different clan names, although men were allowed to marry women from the same clan as their maternal grandmother (Siyabona Africa, 2020). For the two weeks preceding the wedding, the bride is secluded in a specially constructed structure in her parents' compound, designed to shield her from the eyes of men (Siyabona Africa, 2020). She remains in solitary seclusion for the entire period, with only a designated maiden having direct access to attend to her needs (Siyabona Africa, 2020). On the day of the wedding, she emerges from seclusion covered by an umbrella and completely wrapped in a blanket, which she wears in addition to her marriage blanket (Siyabona Africa, 2020). At the end of the ceremony, the couple moves away from the bride's village to settle in an area belonging to the husband's clan (Siyabona Africa, 2020).

The two-week seclusion period helps in the management of COVID-19 in that it minimizes social interactions between the bride and other people, helping her maintain a safe physical distance. Furthermore, the fact that the bride appears from seclusion completely covered in a blanket reduces her risk of contracting the disease. The movement away from the bride's home area into an unfamiliar locality also helps to minimize visits from family members, which reduces the couple's risk of exposure to COVID-19.

The South African culture is founded on the Ubuntu framework, which emphasizes teamwork and collectiveness through the social values of survival, solidarity, compassion, respect, and dignity (Poovan et al., 2006). As in most African societies, the family is the smallest unit of South African society (Ghebregiorgis & Karsten, 2006). The extended family is an outgrowth of the individual family and is the social glue binding various interrelated families together (Ghebregiorgis & Karsten, 2006). The extended family forms the foundation of brotherliness under Ubuntu (Ghebregiorgis & Karsten, 2006). Members of the extended family are bound by the five values of Ubuntu, which implies that they must work together as a team to address problems facing the family — including illness — as well as caring for the vulnerable such as children and the elderly.

If one member contracts COVID-19, for instance, Ubuntu requires members of their extended family to come together in an integrated model of care. The value of survival requires family and community members to pool their limited resources to ensure that the patient receives the care and medication needed to recover (Ghebregiorgis & Karsten, 2006). Employed members of the group have a duty to provide the financial support required by the sick member, while healthcare professionals in the family and community have a moral duty to assist by administering medication, monitoring progress, and offering medical advice (Ghebregiorgis & Karsten, 2006).

The value of solidarity empowers members to share responsibilities and work cohesively in making effective decisions regarding the patient's treatment (Ghebregiorgis & Karsten, 2006). Compassion requires them to place themselves in the patient's position and demonstrate empathy (Ghebregiorgis & Karsten, 2006). The values of respect and dignity impose upon family and community members the duty to treat each other with dignity regardless of their social status and contribution to the group's shared vision (Ghebregiorgis & Karsten, 2006). Based on the dictates of the five social values of Ubuntu, a COVID-19 patient is assured of proper familial and community-based care to help them recover.

Conclusion: The Value of Cultural Adaptation in Crisis Response

Across South Africa, Nigeria, and Swaziland, customary and traditional practices offer meaningful, culturally grounded resources for pandemic response. From indigenous medicinal knowledge to Ubuntu-based communal care, these traditions complement formal health systems and deserve integration into public health strategies. Traditional healers can extend the reach of healthcare to underserved rural populations, subsistence farming practices can shore up food security when supply chains are disrupted, and informal savings cooperatives can provide financial resilience during economic shocks. Marriage customs that emphasize seclusion and protective covering inadvertently model social distancing and personal protection. Meanwhile, community caring models — exemplified by Ubuntu in southern Africa and the coordinated Ebola response in Nigeria — demonstrate that culturally embedded solidarity can be a powerful tool in managing infectious disease outbreaks. Policymakers and public health professionals would do well to recognize, respect, and harness these traditions alongside formal interventions.

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