ABSTRACT
The industrialization of Ghana's herbal medicines from its origin as homemade remedies has witnessed both macro- and microlevel efforts. There has been governmental support, especially from Ghana's first president, aimed at standardizing the practice through the promulgation of Acts and the establishment of agencies. At the micro level, the industrialization of herbal medicines is driven by the backgrounds of the manufacturers who venture into the business to continue a tradition or as new entrants onto the scene. Even though the industrialization seems checkered and cannot be compared to Indian Ayurvedic medicine for example, there is an attempt by manufacturers to model standardized herbal medicines on cosmopolitan medicines in terms of form and packaging, culminating in the commodification of standardized herbal medicines. Contextually, manufacturers have developed a niche for themselves in responding to market demands by producing herbal medicines for malaria and for sexual and reproductive health issues. Standardized herbal medicines for malaria was consumed for its efficacy, while those for sexual and reproductive health issues were a preference for consumers responding to sociocultural expectations of men to be virile and women to be “clean,” thus heightening the level of pharmaceuticalization.
