HIV and Aids are expected to kill 16 million farm workers in Southern Africa by 2010, with severe implications for agricultural production and food security.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) says that between 60 percent and 80 percent of Aids-related deaths are due to malnutrition.
James Morris, United Nations (UN) envoy for humanitarian needs in Southern Africa, says the region's food production capability will decline.
"The pandemic is threatening the future of nations and a bold approach is needed to address the crisis of devastating illness and drought-afflicted agriculture," said Morris.
Food security should be seen in context with HIV and Aids Scott Drimie, of the Human Sciences Research Council, said food security should be seen in context with HIV and Aids.
Continues Below ↓
"The challenge is to develop food security interventions and farming practices that adapt to the reality of HIV/Aids affected environments," he said.
Poverty cannot be seen in isolation either, says the Namibian Aids Law Unit's Michaela Clayton, and must be factored into the HIV and Aids and food security debate. "Poor people are people made poor by inequitable socio-economic structures," she said.
Clayton said HIV and Aids strategies must alleviate poverty, which affects the agricultural production capacity of communities most at risk of the disease.
Bennie Van Zyl, of the Transvaal Agricultural Union-South Africa, said the HIV-pandemic would impact on agricultural production.
It is difficult to estimate the impact on production, says Van Zyl, but it does pose serious challenges in terms of food security.
"Theimpact on production and food security is difficult to estimate," he said.
-
This article was originally published on page 11 of Pretoria News on December 01, 2004
|
StumbleUpon
Reddit
Digg
Delicious
Newsvine
Facebook
muti
Twitter
