AIDS and food security

2001-2002 Annual Report Essays

Poor people in developing countries struggle continually to fight hunger,malnutrition, ill health, and deepening poverty.The alarming spread of HIV/AIDS has made their struggle even more difficult. Hit by this syndrome, the poor lose their ability to work, to feed themselves and their families, to ward off disease, to maintain their assets, to transmit essential farming knowledge to their children, and to remain connected to their communities. Eventually they lose their lives. Families, communities, and whole nations in Africa are being devastated by HIV/AIDS at such a rapid rate that some expect almost a third of their populations to die prematurely.This demographic nightmare will substantially reduce economic growth in Africa. It will also affect the economies of Asia as the pandemic gains a foothold there.The multiple effects of HIV/AIDS at all levels of society make it imperative that the development community adapt all policies and programs to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS and mitigate its effects.These essays explore the reciprocal relationship between food security and HIV/AIDS and what it means for policy.

Piot, Peter
Pinstrup-Andersen, Per
Gillespie, Stuart
Haddad, Lawrence James
Published date: 
International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI)
PDF file: 
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