AIDS, women, land, and natural resources in Africa: current challenges

Abstract

AIDS-affected households in rural Africa often turn to natural resources as a livelihood safety net. Yet women affected by AIDS have less time for sound resource management, and indigenous knowledge is lost when parents die before educating their children. As demand and inappropriate use grow, resource depletion and land degradation increase. In many countries, widows cannot inherit land. As poverty deepens in the wake of AIDS, women and girls are often forced into prostitution, accelerating the spread of HIV. Multi-sectoral approaches by development, health, and environmental organisations can reduce the impact of HIV and AIDS on women, rural communities, and the natural environment, through health work integrated with alternative livelihoods and women's empowerment.

Notes

1. www.abcg.org, last checked by authors November 2007.

2. Concessionaires are holders of concessions in conservation areas (e.g. tourism concessions, logging concessions).

3. But note that voluntary counselling and testing services and anti-retroviral treatment are dependent on health infrastructure and national HIV and AIDS progammes, whose reach and effectiveness vary greatly by country.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Judy Oglethorpe

Judy Oglethorpe works for World Wildlife Fund-US as Director of Community Conservation. Postal address: 1250 24th Street, NW, Washington, DC 20037, USA

Nancy Gelman

Nancy Gelman is the Program Manager for the Africa Biodiversity Collaborative Group. Postal address: 1250 24th Street, NW, Washington, DC 20037, USA