Handbook on African Traditional Healing Approaches & Research Practices is a rich collection of well-researched articles on indigenous healing. These articles, from a broad range of researchers, pertain to a broad range of communities. They discuss healing practices in the realm of the spiritual, the medicinal, nutritional and more. Some demonstrate a clear relationship between modern and traditional medicine through pharmacological analysis. The practical examples documented capture the effectiveness of indigenous healing as practised by a large number of societies.

That indigenous healing practices face the risk extinction is a theme that runs through the contributions. Indeed, without practical (and urgent) steps to preserve such knowledge for posterity, future generations will not have the benefit of time-tested knowledge such as this. The risk of loss of such knowledge that has been passed down generations would be a major loss to humankind. This collection, in part, addresses that risk through systematic research and documentation.