Afoakwa EO, Owusu WB; International Conference on AIDS (15th : 2004 : Bangkok, Thailand).
Int Conf AIDS. 2004 Jul 11-16; 15: abstract no. TuPeD5271.
University of Ghana, Legon - Accra, Ghana
Issues: Hunger and malnutrition have reached crisis proportions in much of Africa where about 200 million people are undernourished. Africa is the only region in the world to have experienced such substantial increase in the number of undernourished in the past 30 years, reasons for which HIV/AIDS has been noted as a major factor. HIV/AIDS depletes both human resources and capital, leading to a reduction in land area cultivated, changes in crop patterns, declines in food yields and human nutritional status. While there are many dimensions to the HIV/AIDS pandemic, little attention has been focussed on the impact of the disease on agricultural production and food security. Description: This paper draws implications from various nutritional and epidemiological studies conducted in Africa. It also presents a framework for analysing the problems and highlights key effects of the disease on food security, farm households and larger production units as well as the health of people in different parts of Africa. Lessons learned: Agricultural policies attempt to influence yields and commercial crop outputs, and whether such policies can affect the spread of the HIV/AIDS pandemic or migrate its impact need a critical assessment. Food and Agriculture Organizations need to become aware of the impact of the pandemic on food production and food security. They also need to recognize that there already exist a number of policies and programme tools that could be effective in reducing the vulnerability of rural populations to HIV/AIDS, if workable policies are well formulated and implemented. Recommendations: Efforts to mobilize agricultural institutions worldwide, both public and private, are worthwhile in the face of the present or potential damage of the pandemic. Without these initiatives, it will be impossible to achieve the Millennium Development Goal of cutting hunger by half in Africa by the 2015.
Publication Types:
Keywords:
- Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome
- Africa
- Agriculture
- Epidemiologic Studies
- Food
- Food Supply
- HIV Infections
- HIV Seropositivity
- Health
- Humans
- Organizations
- Public Policy
- Research
Other ID:
UI: 102283076
From Meeting Abstracts