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| Papers > Michael Loevinsohn and Stuart Gillespie |
| HIV/AIDS, Food Security and Rural Livelihoods: Understanding and Responding | |||
RENEWAL Working Paper No. 2 Michael Loevinsohn and Stuart Gillespie1 12 May 2003 [Complete paper  - 149Kb ~ 1 min]
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Introduction
There is hardly need these days to repeat that HIV/AIDS is devastating African societies and economies, threatening the hard won human development gains of the past several decades. Without decisive action, other developing and transitional societies are at risk of gaining similar experience. "AIDS is a development problem, not just a health issue" has become a mantra in recent times, but what does it mean in practice? The changes to the development landscape wrought by AIDS demand a review of existing development actions at many levels, from households seeking to secure viable livelihoods, to policymakers attempting to better understand and internalize the implications of AIDS for their own sectoral goals and strategies. Though one of the UN Millennium Development Goals is to "combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases", it is increasingly clear that - unless AIDS is brought under control - most, if not all, of the remaining outcome goals are unlikely to be achieved2. A truly multi-sectoral approach to addressing HIV/AIDS in the context of people's livelihoods is essential. In this paper, we describe the kinds of understanding and responding that are needed for agriculture, food and nutrition-relevant organizations to effectively confront HIV/AIDS. First, we outline some underlying principles that need to be grasped in order to understand the variable and changing nature of AIDS epidemics. Key concepts here include the variance among different epidemics and the notions of susceptibility, vulnerability, resistance and resilience. We illustrate these concepts through describing the particular interactions between food and nutrition insecurity and HIV/AIDS, and their implications for response strategies. Second, we examine the implications of this understanding for the ways in which different people - in affected households, communities and in affected sectors -- may best respond. We focus on the particular importance of food and nutrition for the four conventional aspects of response -- prevention, care, treatment and mitigation - and why it is a mistake to compartmentalize these approaches. The imperative and different rationales for multi-sectoral mainstreaming are then discussed. And third, we move on to describe a flexible and evolving aid, the HIV/AIDS lens, and the processes through which agricultural and other professionals can learn to employ it in order to respond more effectively. We highlight the fundamental principles that comprise the lens and then illustrate how it can be used in practical situations to review agricultural, food and nutrition policies and programs at different levels. The paper draws on the experience of countries participating in RENEWAL (Regional Network on HIV/AIDS, Rural Livelihoods and Food Security3) where the lens and the processes in which it is being put to use are being refined. As we make clear, the lens is not a static construct, rather, its distortions are hopefully reduced through practice and shared experience in using it. Action research by sector organizations is key to this process of refinement and learning. A recent workshop explored methodological challenges and opportunities in research and evaluation (RENEWAL 2003). Two forthcoming RENEWAL publications will synthesize these methodological issues and describe the development of networks to advance practical understanding. The experience we draw on and the illustrations we use here are primarily from sub-Saharan Africa where the impacts of HIV/AIDS are most widespread and severe at present. The primary focus is on agriculture, rural livelihoods and food security because these are the predominant concerns of most people affected by HIV/AIDS. There is also evidence that the agriculture sector is less able than most other sectors to absorb the human resource losses associated with the pandemic. The principles and approach we highlight are however likely to be of wider relevance and interest both to other sectors and other regions where, regrettably, HIV/AIDS epidemics are fast developing. Footnotes:
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