A new FAO technical brief finds traditional herbal medicines could help reduce antimicrobial use in livestock, but warns that limited evidence on safety, efficacy and quality prevents international endorsement.
Variability in plant compounds, lack of standardisation and uneven regulations pose major hurdles, prompting calls for more research, validation and responsible, science-based oversight before wider adoption.
Traditional herbal medicines (THMs) are emerging as a potentially useful alternative to antimicrobials in livestock, but evidence on their safety, efficacy and quality remains insufficient to support international use, standard setting and regulation, says a new technical brief by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).
Published in August 2026, the brief titled Traditional herbal medicines as alternatives to antimicrobials in the livestock sector, was prepared following a September 2025 roundtable convened by the Livestock Antimicrobial Partnership (LAMP) action network of the Global Agenda for Sustainable Livestock (GASL). The GASL is a partnership of stakeholders committed to the sustainable development of the livestock sector.
THMs are mostly plant extracts containing multiple active compounds with anti-infective properties and can be used to prevent and treat illnesses in livestock thereby reducing need and dependence on antibiotics. Their use is commonly practiced in low- and middle-income countries.
The brief has been jointly written by experts from Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, FAO, Vétérinaires Sans Frontières International, International Livestock Research Institute, and Livestock Development and Ethnoveterinary Group. The technical brief evaluates where THMs stand with regard to effectiveness, safety, quality, regulations and challenges in scaling up their use. It flags some important areas of concern that need attention.
While being generally affordable and locally accessible, one of the key challenges is the variability in the concentration of active compounds in the plant species. This can be affected by factors such as geography, season or preparation methods. It impacts the potency, bioavailability and safety of THMs. The lack of standardisation of preparation and production processes also adds another layer of uncertainty.
Experts also take cautious note that though THMs are generally considered safe, the possibility of them having side effects cannot be ruled out due to variations in potency, concentration of active substances or any undesirable substances.
The brief also points to a limited number of studies which demonstrate antimicrobial activity under laboratory or controlled clinical conditions and calls for greater investment in research to establish their efficacy, safety and validate their production processes.
Regulation presents another challenge at multiple levels. Due to varying regulatory requirements among different countries, scaling up use of THMs for international use may not be easy. This is further limited by need for financial resources and technical competence to carry out systematic testing and regulation. Experts ask a fundamental question: what exactly should be regulated—the medicinal plant, the extract, the final formulation or the entire production chain? Despite a rising interest in this area, there are so far no official recommendations or endorsements for THMs as alternatives to conventional antimicrobials, from international standard-setting bodies.
Experts suggest that THM holds the potential to be used as ‘first-tier supportive treatment’ to alleviate disease symptoms, provided there is sufficient evidence, national regulatory approval and when their use does not delay or replace effective antimicrobial treatment when that is required.
Recognising the potential value of THMs as sources of novel anti-infective compounds, the brief calls for further research and development, science-based validation, responsible regulation and knowledge exchange between traditional and contemporary medicine.
Experts also flag the need for equitable benefit-sharing and sustainable harvesting or cultivation so that increased demand for medicinal plants does not threaten biodiversity.
The Centre for Science and Environment, New Delhi, has been advocating about the concept of ethnoveterinary medicines and their effectiveness in helping reduce antibiotic use in the Indian dairy sector. It has been highlighting how India offers an excellent example of traditional veterinary knowledge already being implemented and integrated into livestock health programmes through initiatives of National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) as well as the Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying (DAHD), Government of India. The NDDB has been promoting ethnoveterinary medicine (EVM) to rationalise antibiotic use through its Disease Control through Alternate Methods project. The initiative has operated across milk unions and producer organisations in eight states, using EVMs for common bovine ailments. By March 2025, NDDB had documented more than 11 lakh (1.1 million) EVM interventions, with a reported success rate of over 80 per cent. The DAHD has recommended use of EVMs in its standard veterinary treatment guidelines for livestock and poultry and has also been conducting training and awareness programmes for farmers.