AIDS Fuels Famine in Southern Africa

The HIV/AIDS epidemic is fuelling a widening and increasingly deadly famine in southern Africa, according to a new report AIDS Epidemic Update 2002.

A new report released today by UNAIDS confirms AIDS is one of the major causes of the famine ravaging Southern Africa. Photo: Steve Matthews, World Vision

According to the new report, the African famine is a clear example of how the impact of HIV/AIDS reaches beyond the loss of life and health care costs traditionally associated with disease. More than 14 million people are now at risk of starvation in Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Swaziland, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

All six of these predominantly agricultural societies are battling serious AIDS epidemics, with more than 5 million adults currently living with HIV/AIDS in these countries, out of a total adult population of some 26 million. These six countries also have a total of 600,000 children under 15 living with HIV. The new report details how the impact of AIDS in farm communities has greatly decreased the capacity of these communities to survive the famine.

AIDS is combining with other factors-including droughts, floods and in some cases short-sighted national and international policies-to cause a steady fall in agricultural production and to cut deep into household income.

"The famine in southern Africa brings the world face-to-face with the deep and devastating impact of AIDS," said Dr Peter Piot, Executive Director of UNAIDS. "What we are seeing today in a number of countries of sub-Saharan Africa is an HIV epidemic that is overwhelming the coping resources of entire communities. We must act now, on a much larger scale than anything we have done before, not only to assist those nations already hard-hit, but also to stop the explosive growth of AIDS in the parts of the world where the epidemic is newly emerging."

AIDS-related deaths in a farm household cause crop output to plummet-often by up to 60%. A 2002 study in central Malawi, for example, has shown that about 70% of surveyed households had suffered labour losses due to sickness. Household incomes also shrink, leaving people with less money to buy food.

The report indicates that 7 million agricultural workers in 25 African countries have died of AIDS since 1985. In 2001 alone, AIDS killed nearly 500,000 people in the six predominantly agricultural countries threatened with famine, most of who were in their productive prime.

"The famine is a tragic example of how this epidemic combines with other crises to create even greater catastrophes," noted Dr Piot. "What is happening today in southern Africa illustrates that AIDS cannot be addressed in isolation. Reponses to AIDS must take into account that the epidemic has an impact in every economic and social sector."

The dual challenges of AIDS and famine are forcing World Vision and other agencies to be innovative. World Vision's "Models of learning" programme in Uganda and Zambia is seeking to establish the best ways to tackle HIV through development programming that not only prevents new infections, but supports communities devastated by AIDS, helping them to rebuild.

World Vision's HIV / AIDS programmes are incorporating public awareness and education, health care, counselling, and orphan support, as well as income generating activities and vocational training, according to World Vision's Rene Onte. "AIDS is no longer just a health issue. This is a multifaceted social phenomenon that's bringing challenges nobody has ever faced before. It has to be dealt with at multiple levels."

UNAIDS