About the Programme

The Initiative

Origins, objectives, and the knowledge gap this research addresses.

Origins

Origin Story

The Shashemene Flora Archive began when field data researcher Derartu Taye received formal acceptance from the Director of the Ethiopian Biodiversity Institute's Shashemene Biodiversity Garden to conduct ethnobotanical data collection as part of her internship programme.

Recognising the broader scientific value of this work, independent researcher Lencho Taye joined the initiative to formalise documentation standards, develop the digital archive, and prepare research outputs for publication and grant applications.

With institutional support from EBI, Madda Walabu University, and technical development support from EAGLOPEN, the initiative evolved into a structured research platform — not an NGO website, not a personal portfolio, but a living academic record of indigenous botanical knowledge.

Derartu Taye conducting field research

The Knowledge Gap

Ethiopia is recognised globally as a centre of plant diversity and traditional medicine. Yet vast amounts of local knowledge — particularly from the Bale-Shashemene highlands and Sidama Zone — remain undocumented in accessible, multilingual formats suitable for scientific cross-referencing.

Existing herbarium records often lack the ethnographic context: how plants are named in Afaan Oromo, how they are prepared, who uses them, and under what cultural protocols. Without systematic documentation, this knowledge is vulnerable to loss.

This initiative addresses that gap by pairing rigorous field collection with structured digital archiving, verification workflows, and open research dissemination.

Research Goals

  • Document medicinal and culturally significant plant species from the Bale-Shashemene highlands with trilingual nomenclature (English, Afaan Oromo, Amharic) and scientific identification.
  • Record traditional uses, preparation methods, and collector metadata with a transparent verification status for each entry.
  • Produce peer-reviewed publications and formal research outputs suitable for academic grant applications and institutional collaboration.
  • Acknowledge and protect the intellectual contributions of local knowledge-holders and community informants.
  • Build a reusable digital infrastructure that partner institutions can extend as the research programme grows.

Timeline & Milestones

Key phases of the research programme.

January 2026

Institutional Acceptance

Formal acceptance from EBI Shashemene Biodiversity Garden Director for field data collection internship.

February – April 2026

Initial Field Collection

First round of plant documentation at Shashemene Biodiversity Garden and Bale foothill sites. Pilot entries added to digital archive.

May 2026

Archive Launch

Public launch of the Shashemene Flora Archive website with searchable plant database and researcher profiles.

Q3 2026

First Publication Draft

Submission of first ethnobotanical survey paper for peer review, cross-referencing archive entries with EBI herbarium specimens.

2027

Expanded Collection & Verification

Lab verification phase for priority species. Expansion of archive to 50+ documented entries with community co-authorship protocols.