Implications for policy and planning
Better targeting and the participation of PLWHAs in the design of programmes can make interventions more responsive to different types of vulnerability and needs, and enable individuals to take charge. This is particularly the case with livelihoods programmes, which require a shift away from the use of traditional stakeholders such as farmers organisations. Agricultural interventions must also move beyond a focus on labour saving technologies and practices to a broader form of labour management.
As HIV and AIDS are not just health issues, infected and affected individuals need a range of services across sectors (e.g. health, agriculture, education, and social protection). As a result, a number of different providers are needed. Coordination of service provision at household, community, and district level is therefore key. To date cross-sectoral partnerships/linkages at these levels have been weak, partly as a result of low human and financial resources but mainly because they are hard to implement. Preventing infections and mitigating the impact of HIV and AIDS will not be fully successful without cross-sectoral partnerships, and innovative pilot projects need to be developed and tested.
Furthermore, without increased support through safety nets and other forms of social protection, specific interventions such as nutritional interventions are not enough for the most vulnerable. Any programme to mitigate the impact of HIV and AIDS must therefore directly address, or ensure that other providers are addressing, all three aspects: development, relief and rehabilitation.
As HIV and AIDS are not just health issues, infected and affected individuals need a range of services across sectors (e.g. health, agriculture, education, and social protection). As a result, a number of different providers are needed. Coordination of service provision at household, community, and district level is therefore key. To date cross-sectoral partnerships/linkages at these levels have been weak, partly as a result of low human and financial resources but mainly because they are hard to implement. Preventing infections and mitigating the impact of HIV and AIDS will not be fully successful without cross-sectoral partnerships, and innovative pilot projects need to be developed and tested.
Furthermore, without increased support through safety nets and other forms of social protection, specific interventions such as nutritional interventions are not enough for the most vulnerable. Any programme to mitigate the impact of HIV and AIDS must therefore directly address, or ensure that other providers are addressing, all three aspects: development, relief and rehabilitation.
- Effective food and nutrition policy responses to HIV/AIDS: what we know and what we need to know
- ( L. Haddad; S. Gillespie / International Food Policy Research Institute , 2002)
- Recommended reading
- This paper from the International Food Policy Research Institute reviews the ways in which HIV and AIDS impact on assets and institutions generally, as well as agriculture, natural resource management...
- Rethinking food aid to fight AIDS
- ( S. Kadiyala; S. Gillespie / International Food Policy Research Institute , 2003)
- Recommended reading
- This paper from the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) highlights the implications of the AIDS pandemic for food aid strategy and programming. It presents a detailed review of the re...
- HIV/AIDS, food security and rural livelihoods: understanding and responding
- ( M. Loevinsohn; S. Gillespie / Regional Network on HIV/AIDS, Rural Livelihoods and Food Security , 2003)
- Recommended reading
- This working paper, published by the Regional Network on HIV/AIDS, Rural Livelihoods and Food Security (RENEWAL), describes key concepts which it argues need to be understood by agriculture, food, and...
- Mitigation of HIV/AIDS- impacts through agricultural and rural development - success stories and future actions
- ( Southern African Regional Poverty Network , 2003)
- Recommended reading
- This report, produced by the Southern African Regional Poverty Network (SARPN), summarises the findings of a May 2003 workshop on mitigating the impacts of HIV and AIDS through agriculture and rural d...
