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HIV/AIDS and Food Insecurity in Southern Africa - December 2002
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7. Recommendations
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Oxfam International and Save the Children UK make the following recommendations to governments, donors, and implementing partners:
To donors:
- The level of funding for food aid and the diversity of food items coming into the region must be dramatically increased. People living with HIV/AIDS have greater energy and protein requirements. Depending on the stage of the illness, they use higher amounts of micronutrients and are unable to absorb fats and carbohydrates effectively. Food rations must be adapted to the specific needs of people living with HIV/AIDS. Donors need to supply non-maize food with high nutritional values, such as oil, beans, pulses, Corn Soya Blend (CSB) for infants, etc.
- Donors need to make more funding available for non-food needs in the region. The regional vulnerability assessments clearly demonstrate the importance of supporting health, nutrition, water, and sanitation, yet only 20 per cent of non-food needs in the region are currently covered.
- More assistance is required to support the maintenance and/or rehabilitation of livelihoods assets at the household, community, and macro levels. Long-term issues of structural food insecurity in the countries affected must be addressed alongside immediate relief. Investment in mitigation programmes to strengthen rural livelihoods and reduce vulnerability is vital. These initiatives must respond to the needs of children and young men and women.
To governments:
- Governments in the region should allocate more of their national budgets to address the impact of HIV/AIDS and improve access to essential medicines.
- National governments and donors should make the improvement and rehabilitation of public health and water structures in the region a primary objective.
- Governments in the region should make HIV/AIDS an integral part of their vulnerability assessments.
- The implementation of sound policies to improve the food security of the most vulnerable people should be a priority.
- At the international level, the EU, US, and other rich countries must end double standards in trade policy by radically reducing their massive subsidies to agricultural exports. At the same time they should support the right of developing countries to protect and support their agriculture sectors on the basis of food security and rural development.
- The US government must stop exerting bilateral pressure on developing countries to introduce unnecessarily high standards of patent protection on medicines. Such pressure restricts and delays the production of cheaper generic medicines, with potentially devastating consequences for millions of poor people.
To implementing agencies:
- Agencies must strive to target effectively those affected and infected with HIV/AIDS, and children vulnerable to HIV infection.
- Agencies should incorporate HIV/AIDS into all development and humanitarian work and ensure that all programmes, including livelihoods, education, and humanitarian preparedness and response, are relevant to people affected by and living with HIV/AIDS. The needs and vulnerabilities of children of both sexes and different ages should also be included in all food security and livelihood programmes. Similarly, all HIV programmes must also respond to the needs of children and young people.
- Organisations working in humanitarian relief must ensure that people infected or affected by HIV/AIDS, including child-headed households, are included in decisions about programmes.
- All agencies involved in the humanitarian crisis should be actively acknowledge the risks to child protection, including greater vulnerability to sexual exploitation and HIV, and ensure that appropriate activities and management mechanisms are built into all plans and proposals.
- NGOs should support local health structures where possible, and co-operate systematically with other specialised agencies.
- UN agencies and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) have started to discuss the challenges posed by HIV/AIDS in the region. These efforts must be supported and increased.
Possible characteristics of a livelihood programme responding to HIV/AIDS
- Agricultural and livelihood support based on the particular needs of people badly affected by HIV/AIDS (e.g. labour-saving approaches or techniques for children, sick people, and elderly carers; agricultural extension for child-headed households; use of crops with different times for planting, weeding, and harvest; quick returns to labour or investment; reduction of mobility requirements; diversity of food and income sources, nutritional benefits)
- Awareness of the different needs of children of different ages, and the role that children play as carers, minders of other children, and farmers.
- Longer-term approaches that recognise the underlying livelihoods crisis in the region, e.g. long-term biodiversity.
- Focus on relatively easy technologies and low reliance on strong social networks (which might have been overstretched by the impact of HIV/AIDS).
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