Madagascar’s Green Gold: Nature Religion, Biotechnology, and the Global Race against Covid-19

Abstract

Abstract At the start of the coronavirus pandemic, Madagascar’s government garnered international media attention for their herbal remedy to COVID-19, made from the Artemisia plant, called “Covid-Organics” (CVO). While global media outlets presented CVO as yet another example of an inherent conflict between traditional African medicine and Western medicine, this article hypothesizes that the release of CVO offers a rare window into the dynamic processes by which ecological, technological, and cultural developments in the production and distribution of artemisia and plant-based medicines in the country are giving rise to a multifaceted system of medical pluralism that attempts to strike a difficult balance between appeasing the rapidly growing global demand for plant-based medicines and preserving the country’s unique religious heritage and biodiversity.