Mitigating the impact of HIV and AIDS on rural livelihoods in Southern Africa

Abstract

A variety of interventions to mitigate the increasing impact of the HIV and AIDS epidemic on smallholder agricultural production and food security are currently implemented in sub-Saharan Africa. However, documentation and dissemination of such interventions is limited and patchy. Building on emerging experiences from the field, this article seeks to move beyond charting the impacts of HIV and AIDS on rural livelihoods to review existing mitigation policies and programmes, identify the challenges to mitigation, and provide suggestions for future mitigation strategies and policy priorities. The experiences cited in the article are mainly drawn from the hardest-hit regions in Southern and Eastern Africa, but they provide useful lessons for AIDS-affected rural communities in other contexts. The main conclusion is that, as current initiatives are to a large extent ad hoc and localised, there is a need for documentation, dissemination, and scaling up of existing interventions, as well as greater coherence and co-ordination in policies and programmes to extend their reach and make the most of limited resources.

Keywords:

• Aid
• Civil society
• Labour and livelihoods
• Social sector
• Sub-Saharan Africa

Notes

Source: ECA-SA 2006

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Gladys B. Mutangadura

Gladys B. Mutangadura is an Economic Affairs officer responsible for food security, HIV/AIDS, and sustainable development with the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa Office for Southern Africa. Her research interests are in the interaction between food security, gender, poverty, land-tenure security, human rights, and the HIV/AIDS epidemic in sub-Saharan Africa, and in charting ways to address impending challenges. She has written several articles on the responses to HIV/AIDS in Southern Africa.

Bjorg Sandkjaer

Bjorg Sandkjaer is an Associate Demographer with the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa. Her research interests include rural and social development related to human security, governance, and health-system strengthening in resource-constrained settings. She has published on different aspects of HIV/AIDS, human security, and development in Africa.