The study investigated the effects of Ethno-Chemistry Instructional Approach (ECIA) on Secondary School Students’ Academic Achievement and retention in Chemistry. The quasi-experimental research design was adopted; the pretest-posttest non-equivalent control group was used. The population of the study was 1,997 senior secondary school year two (SS2) chemistry students in Idemmili-North Local Government Area (LGA) of  Anambra State. A sample of 113 SS 2 students was involved in the study. The instrument for data collection was chemistry Achievement Test (CAT) validated by two experts in science Education and one expert in measurement and evaluation. The reliability of the
instrument was established using Kuder-Richardson Formula 20 which yielded an internal consistency reliability index of 0.81. The data obtained were analyzed using mean, standard deviation and analysis of covariance. The findings of the study revealed among others that there was a significant difference between the mean academic scores of the students taught chemistry using Ethno-Chemistry instructional Approach and those taught using conventional method in favour of Ethno-Chemistry Instructional Approach.  The finding also revealed that the students taught Chemistry using Ethno-Chemistry Instructional Approach had significantly higher mean retention scores than those taught using conventional method. It was recommended that workshops should be organized for chemistry teachers by the state ministry of education on how to use Ethno-chemistry Instructional Approach in teaching.

Keywords: Ethno-Chemistry, Achievement, Retention