Impact of HIV/Aids and the future for African Agriculture

1. Impact of HIV/Aids and the future for African Agriculture Week 11 b

2. Objectives • Discuss how HIV/AIDS impacts agriculture: • Crop production • Livestock production • Natural resources • Discuss the roles of Government on HIV/AIDS • Discuss the roles of PEPFAR U.S Government organization on HIV/AIDS • Discuss the impact of HIV/AIDS on demographic • Discuss the solutions in combating HIV/AIDS

3. Introduction • Education and health status affects a person’s potential to engage in high-value nonfarm jobs as well as the return on agriculture. • The physical intensity of most agricultural labor, health and nutrition affect agricultural productivity • Poor health reduces agricultural productivity, and some agricultural practices contribute to health problems • AIDS takes a heavy toll on rural population in Africa • Mortality among young adults sharply increasing • Life expectancy declining in many countries: • Lesotho (45.6), Malawi, Swaziland, Zambia, Zimbabwe, 47 years in (HDI for 2010 • Namibia 62.5

4. What is AIDS? • The acronym HIV/AIDS is a term now coined to mean the virus and disease it causes. • It stands for Human Immune-deficiency Virus/ Acquired Immune- Deficiency Syndrome. • HIV is the virus that destroys the immunity system of an infected person • to such an extent that the individual is susceptible to a wide variety of diseases as the body is not able to fight any disease, a condition called AIDS. • A person may carry the virus and is said to be HIV positive • but may not exhibit any symptoms of being sick until the viral load exceeds a certain limit in which case the person starts to exhibit symptoms of AIDS. • It is these opportunistic diseases that will make an individual ill, emaciated, incapacitated and then eventually die.

5. FAO Information:

6. The impact of HIV/AIDS on HH • AIDS reduces household members, • gives extra responsibilities due to nursing, • It increases poverty, • and it increases vulnerability on the entire household as resources become over stretched, • the number of orphans increase and it is difficult to look after • orphans as they expect special care. • Thus production goes down = less people producing - even if the patient is still farming, • he is weakened so his output is less – and more time is spent on nursing and caring for the patient. • The number of orphans increases and this places other burdens on already stretched clusters and households.

7. Factors affecting the vulnerability and resilience of a household to the impacts of a death on livelihood and food security includes

8. Explanation of the figure • A conceptual framework is presented in Figure is above Adapted from Asenso-Okyere, et al, 2010 • The framework shows how HIV/AIDS affects: • agricultural production, • food security and • farm income • through its direct influence on agricultural labour supply

9. HIV/AIDS Linkage to Agriculture Condition Effect Outcome Impact

10. Impact of HIV/AIDS on Crop Production • Loss of knowledge on cropping systems • young orphans are still too young to learn • Reduce crop produce required at household level

11. Explanation….. • HIV/AIDS causes illness and ultimately death in individuals that are affected by the disease. • Once the disease has progressed into AIDS, • the individual becomes prone to all opportunistic diseases, • gets incapacitated and eventually dies. • The most direct effect on an individual, who is infected by the disease, is first • illness, • incapacitation and • eventually death • The contribution of the individual to total available labour decreases as the illness progresses to total incapacitation and death and • contribution of other household members to available labor also decreases as they forego productive work to care for the sick or mourn at death

12. Impact of HIV/AIDS on Livestock Production • Communities keep • cattle, • goats, • pigs, and • local chickens • for selling whenever there is a need for cash. • The raising and tending of both small and large-breed livestock are done by all members of the household, • with different responsibilities according to gender and time availability. • For example, women tend cattle while the children are at school, but the children look after them after school.

13. Impact of HIV/AIDS on Livestock Production…. • HIV/AIDS has intensified the negative impact of drought on the livestock by further depleting herds. • For example • Most tradition the slaughter of a cow when a family member dies in order to take care of the mourners; • The frequency for slaughter has increased due to HIV/AIDS • Livestock soles have increased to pay for hospitalization or treatment of sick members of the household • Prices received for livestock sales are low. • Traditionally, farmers will sell cattle only when they are really desperate. • The death of a male member of the household affects livestock production • Because men hold the majority the local knowledge about and experience with livestock. • Once the male member is chronically ill or dies the livestock will be left in the hands of female members and children who may have very little or no knowledge at all on the livestock industry.

14. Impact of HIV/AIDS on Natural Resources • Trees and herbs for medicinal purposes • Land access for women • Indigenous knowledge on natural resources • Ownership

15. President’s Emergency Plan for Aids Relief: www.pepfar.org • The U.S. directly supported life-saving antiretroviral treatment for more than 3.2 million • men, • women and • children • worldwide as of September 30, 2010, up from less than 2.5 million in 2009. • PEPFAR directly supported antiretroviral prophylaxis • to prevent mother-to-child HIV transmission for more than 600,000 HIV-positive pregnant women in fiscal year 2010, • allowing more than 114,000 infants to be born HIV-free.

16. PEPFAR…… • Partnerships with more than 30 countries, PEPFAR directly supported 11 million people with care and support, • including nearly 3.8 million orphans and vulnerable children, in fiscal year 2010 alone. • Supported HIV counseling and testing for nearly 33 million people in fiscal year 2010, • providing a critical entry point to prevention, treatment, and care.

17. PEPFAR….. • The U.S. is the first and largest donor to the Global Fund to Fight; • AIDS, • Tuberculosis and • Malaria, • Made an historic multi-year pledge of $4 billion for 2011-2013, a 38 percent increase in U.S. support. • To date, the U.S. has provided more than $5.1 billion to the Fund. • Of the estimated 5.2 million individuals in low- and middle-income countries who currently receive treatment, • nearly 4.7 million receive support through PEPFAR bilateral programs, the Global Fund, or both.

18. AIDS and Demographics • AIDS can change the demographic profile of rural populations • Through the direct effects on mortality and through migration • Increased number of orphans and vulnerable (OVC) in rural area in Botswana, Swaziland and Zimbabwe have high dependence ratios • The changes in rural household composition are likely to affect household income strategies • The potential of rural households to benefit from agricultural and rural growth.

19. Solutions • Antiretroviral treatment sustain the adult labor force, leading to less child labor and better child nutrition outcomes • Abstention • Faithful to one partner • Educational campaigns on HIV/AIDS prevention • Break the silence barrier • Stigma associated to HIV/AIDS • See the 4 pager FAO HIV/AIDS :food security and rural livelihoods

20. In summary • AIDS reduces adult’s capabilities to work • Diverts the labor of others to caregiving • Breaks the intergenerational transmission of knowledge. • All these factors result in reduced agricultural production

21. Questions: 140 points • What is AIDS? How does is differs from HIV? [10 points] • What are the causes of HIV/AIDS? [10 points] • What are the impacts of AIDS on food security? [20 points] • What are the implications of HIV/AIDS on food security? [20 points] • Use a diagram to show your understanding of how AIDS can lead to food insecurity? [20 points] • What effects does AIDS have on demographic in rural area? [10 points] • What roles does PEPFAR play on HIV/AIDS? [10 points] • What should be agriculture sector responses to the impact of HIV/AIDS?[20 points] • What major challenges of HIV/AIDS on young farmers? [10 points] • What is the sustainable response to fight HIV/AIDS? [10 points]