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The impact of HIV/AIDS on farmers' knowledge of seed: case study of Chokwe District, Gaza Province, Mozambique
International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT)
Research Team:
Principal Scientist: Dr. Rachel Waterhouse
Research Assistants: Eng. Milly Devji, D’bora Adelaida Xavier Arгo de Carvalho, Cerejeira dos Santos Pedro Tinga
ICRISAT:
Seed Systems Global Theme Leader: Dr. Richard Jones
Mozambique Country Representative: Dr. Carlos Dominguez
January 2004
SARPN acknowledges permission from the FAO to post this analysis on our website.
Users should note that this report will soon be published as an official FAO-ICRISAT document.
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Abstract
HIV/AIDS has a negative impact on all the key factors that facilitate access to local and new
knowledge around seed and seed management, including local capacity for seed conservation,
access to labor and land. Women, the principal keepers of this knowledge are particularly
vulnerable to these impacts. Based on fieldwork carried out in Chуkwи District of Gaza Province,
southern Mozambique, this study reveals that female-headed households have a significantly
smaller area of cultivated land, plant fewer crops and have access to less family labor. These factors
all relate to seed security, suggesting that female-headed households are less seed secure than maleheaded
households. However, it is difficult to determine whether this is caused by poverty (femaleheaded
households are likely to be poorer than male-headed households) or the impact of
HIV/AIDS. Statistical analysis of the data collected suggests that HIV/AIDS affected households,
especially those households caring for orphans, experienced constraints in access to seed and seed
information. These issues should be addressed urgently before the erosion of local knowledge
undermines seed security and thereby food security. New agricultural projects, especially those
relating to seed, should be formulated to target and relieve some of the farm level constraints faced
by HIV/AIDS affected households, especially those households caring for orphans and femaleheaded
households.
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