Responding to HIV/AIDS in agriculture and related activities

This article explores the challenges posed for agriculture by HIV and AIDS and considers a range of policy options. The impact of HIV and AIDS is first considered at a household level. HIV and AIDS has a high human cost and undermines household economies resulting in poverty and vulnerability. Specifically, HIV and AIDS results in labour and asset shortages for agriculture due to illness, caretaking, deaths and additional costs of treatment. This reduction in labour and working capital results in change in agricultural activities and strategies which often reduces agricultural productivity and output. HIV and AIDS affect the farming community by weakening of the social support system and loss of prominent community members. Moreover, the wider economy and agriculture also suffers as it is deprived of capital with weakened supply chains and fewer government services and is faced by lower demand for market surplus.

This paper, when considering policies, suggests that the focus of policies is now shifting from urban to rural and from the sectors of health and education to agriculture, using the concept of social protection to enable synergies between protecting and promoting people’s livelihoods. It is suggested that the intensification of current development efforts can in aggregate outweigh the damage of the epidemic. In particular, it is recommended to:

• make best use of savings and ensure innovation in rural finance to respond to reduction in household financial capital due to diversion because of the disease
• enhance labour saving technologies-especially for women to cope with reduction in labour
• improve education and training to compensate for loss of labour and skills
• strengthen the rights of women and orphans to land worked by them to ensure retention of key assets
• reduce threats to the supply chains from the disease.

Moreover, it is suggested to devise effective and affordable social protection schemes while avoiding dangers of stigmatising the beneficiaries. Such social protection measures can include food and cash transfers, public works programmes as well safeguarding the rights of those directly affected by the disease. The protection of future young orphans by providing nutrition, education and care as well protecting property rights in case of deaths of household heads should also be provided.

Besides intensification of general development strategies the article highlights that the policy conclusions particularly relevant to HIV and AIDS-affected households, such as modifications to modalities of migration and strengthening land rights of women and minors, should also be implemented while avoiding AIDS-exceptionalism. Finally, the paper highlights the evidence of impact of HIV and AIDS on productive sectors is still limited and recommends collection of further evidence.