Addressing HIV/AIDS through Agriculture and Natural Resource Sectors: A guide for extension workers

Socio-economic and Gender Analysis Programme (SEAGA)

The agriculture and natural resource sectors present a unique opportunity to combat the HIV/AIDS epidemic in predominantly rural economies. Up to 80 percent of the population in some African countries depends on subsistence agriculture; crops, livestock and other natural resource products are the mainstay of the economy and export earnings; and agriculture, forestry and fisheries provide vital safety nets. In other regions of the world, the sectors still account for the livelihoods of a sizable proportion of the population, ranging from 50 – 60% in Asia to 15 – 30% in Latin America and the Caribbean. The impact of HIV/AIDS erodes the asset base of rural households, depletes their labour force, reduces their range of knowledge and skills, restricts their ability to earn cash from farming and non-farm activities, and undermines their ability to feed themselves and maintain adequate levels of nutrition.

It is only recently that the rural dimension of the epidemic has being fully appreciated, as prevalence rates in rural communities gradually rise towards the urban thresholds. Hence extension services, with their unrivalled experience of working to improve nutrition and food security and strengthen rural livelihoods, have a major opportunity to contribute to addressing the rural epidemic. The purpose of this guide is to enable extension workers and development agents to contribute to addressing the rural epidemic through agriculture and natural resource sector initiatives.

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