Posted 5 October 1998
This study was conducted by FAO upon request of UNDP. The focus was placed on the effects of the epidemic on the commercial agricultural sector, the mitigating effects, vulnerability and coping mechanisms. The comparative study forms a an integral part of a programme undertaken bythe Programme Support Implementation Arrangement (PSIA) by the Government of Kenya and UNDP on Support to cCombat the dDevelopment eEffects of HIV/AIDS. (Title: "Capacity Building for Enhanced Public Administration and Participatory Development").
The effects of HIV/AIDS on agriculture in Kenya and on the economy as a whole are alarming, as the epidemic severely hits the work force in their most productive ages, moreover tends to wipe out a whole generation. Many of the victims are in their 20ies and 30ies when they develop AIDS symptoms and then often continuously fall ill. In addition to the human tragedy, this creates steadily rising costs to companies and losses in profits and profitability due to loss of workers and working hours (illness, death; overwork and stress, attendance at funerals, home care of ill dependents).
Medical and funeral costs exceed budget provisions by far; terminal benefits, re-training and replacement measures add further to the expenses incurred by the epidemic. Labour-intensive companies, such as sugar estates, which in addition heavily depend on out-growers (individual farmers' supply with raw cane), loose reliable workers and farmers to the epidemic. Consequently these agro-industries face a decrease in quantity and quality of their inputs with poor recovery ratio in the (sugar) production. Cultivation patterns of some affected out-growers change to less labour intensive agricultural production of cassava and maize. Fertile land of families hard hit by the epidemic remains idle due to shortage of labour force and death. Some households find themselves overnight with another five children to feed and educate - AIDS orphans left behind by relatives who died of the disease.
Projections estimate that Kenya's Gross Domestic Product will be nearly 15 % smaller in the year 2005 relative to an economy without HIV/AIDS. Per capita income is projected to be reduced by 10 percent as a result of HIV/AIDS. (Forsythe, AIDS in Kenya: Socioeconomic Impact and Policy Implications, 1996)
To obtain a copy of the report on "HIV/AIDS and the Commercial Agricultural Sector of Kenya: Impact, Vulnerability, Susceptibility and Coping Strategies", contact: Silke Weigang, SDRE (Sustainable Development Department, the Extension, Education and Communication Service) Viale delle Terme di Caracalla, 00100 Rome, Italy. E-mail: silke.weigang@fao.org
Following the World AIDS conference June 28 - July 3, the Ministry of Health, the Secretariat of Health Policies and the National programme for STD/Aids in Brazil has published a document on the AIDS epidemic in Brazil. The report discusses the prevalence of AIDS, time trends of affected populations and examines the National Programme for STD/AIDS and the Ministry of Health's programme components in terms of humans rights, prevention, drugs and AIDS, information, communication. It also discusses the exisisting partnership with non-governmental organizations and summarizes the main activities in Brazil.
For more information and to obtain a copy, please write to: Ministério da Saúde, Esplanada dos Ministérios - Bloco G - Sobreloja, CEP 70058-900 Barasília-DF Bazil
Two decades after the appearance of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), an estimated 30 million people have contracted the virus and 6 million have died of acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS). About 90 percent of infections occur in developing countries, where the disease has already reduced life expectancy, in some cases by more than a decade. HIV is already widespread in many countries in Sub-Saharan Africa and may be on the verge of exploding in other regions. Because most people who develop AIDS are adults in the prime of life, the disease imposes a heavy burden on surviving family members, especially children, and may exacerbate poverty and inequality. Clearly, the human toll of the epidemic is great. But low-income countries face a multitude of pressing human needs. Given the limited public resources, which measures for confronting the epidemic should be public priorities? In answering this question, the report draws on three bodies of knowledge: the epidemiology of HIV; public health insights into disease control; and especially public economics, which focuses on assessing tradeoffs in the allocation of scarce public resources. Much has been written on the epidemic from the perspectives of public health, medical science, and human rights. This book addresses the epidemic from the perspective of decisionmakers outside the health sector who shape and finance national efforts to combat the disease.
The report argues that AIDS both affects and is affected by economic development. Although HIV is transmitted primarily by private sexual and drug injecting behavior, governments can and should confront the epidemic by preventing new infections and by mitigating the impact of infections that occur. The report provides a framework that helps distinguish among activities that can be undertaken by households and the private sector (including nongovernmental organizations), those that should be initiated by developing country governments, and those that should be most strongly supported by the international development community.
For more information on how to order the report or download the summary of Confronting AIDS: Public Priorities in a Global Epidemic go to the website, or mail order to The World Bank, P.O. Box 960 Herndon, VA 20172-0960 USA. The report can be obtained to a cost of 30 USD.
This paper is a product of a collaboration between the Sustainable Development Department of FAO and UNDP's HIV and Development Programme and was presented at the Harare Conference 6-12 June 1998, mentioned in our feature article this month. It examines the implications of the HIV epidemic for rural development policies and programmes in sub-Saharan Africa and, in particular: the inter-relationships between rural development and HIV/AIDS; and the broad policy and programming challenges that the epidemic poses for rural institutions. The proposed conceptual framework for the identification of key policy and programming issues for rural development raised by HIV is intended to provide guidance for the design and conduct of a set of four case studies to be carried out in Southern and Eastern Africa. The main objective of the case studies will be to help formal and informal rural institutions generate policy and programme responses to the HIV epidemic (in the areas of land tenure, agricultural research, training and extension, appropriate technology, credit, etc.) in each of the four countries.
The full paper is available for downloading via FTP (MS-Word 6, zipped, 74K). It can also be obtained from The Population Programme, Women and Population Division, Sustainable Department of FAO, Viale delle Terme di Caracalla, 00100 Rome, Italy. E-mail: jacques.duguerny@fao.org
See also our Themes article, Impact of HIV/AIDS on agricultural and rural development institutions