Strategic approaches to HIV prevention and AIDS mitigation in rural communities and households in Sub-Saharan Africa

Draft for Discussion

This paper aims to provide a suggested framework of action for FAO' s engagement in HIV/AIDS prevention and impact-mitigation in rural Sub Saharan Africa at the community and household level. It presents a list of potential activities to undertake in both high and low HIV/AIDS prevalence areas in order to contribute more effectively and significantly to preventing HIV, reducing and/or alleviating the impact of AIDS on rural households and communities. The activities proposed are mainly aimed at (1) alleviating the impact of HIV/AIDS on agriculture, food security and people's livelihoods, and (2) reducing the hardships the affected communities and households are confronted with. Finally, this paper provides the preliminary guidelines for FAO to "intensify" its action in the field of HIV/AIDS prevention and mitigation in Africa.

The activities proposed throughout the paper are neither exclusive nor definite in that they are entirely open to discussion and modification. In fact, one of the expected outcomes of this paper is to increase awareness and trigger discussion (both inside and outside FAO).

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