We hear you asking. “AIDS is a disease. What has FAO, a food and agricultural organization, got to do with it?”

Fair question. We’ve got a few answers for you.

But before we tell you how FAO is responding to the AIDS crisis, you need to know a little about the disease. In fact, you should know about the disease for your own sake.

Young people – 15-24 year olds – account for nearly half of all new HIV infections worldwide.

So if you’re not sure what exactly HIV and AIDS are, why don’t you do yourself a favour and find out

And if you think you know a lot about AIDS, why not take this little quiz.

Now back to your question: “Why is FAO, a food and agricultural organization, concerned about AIDS?”

Well here’s one reason:

Food is the first medicine against AIDS. A healthy diet can help bolster the immune system and keep the body strong even when it is under attack from HIV and AIDS. For many families in developing countries, HIV and AIDS drugs are too expensive or simply unavailable. Good nutrition may be the only option many people have for slowing down the disease.

Find out more about AIDS and nutrition.

And here’s another:

In many African countries, the AIDS epidemic has hit agricultural communities very hard. As a result, food production has gone down and hunger and poverty have increased. This is bad news, but it’s not the worst. You see, increased hunger and poverty help fuel the spread of the disease. It’s an ugly, vicious circle.

Find out more about AIDS and agriculture.