Seminar on Aids And Nutrition, Mozambique
April 21, 2005- Mozambican rural households, who live essentially from agriculture, are losing the capacity to generate foodstuffs, because of the impact of HIV/AIDS, according to Ana Taju, of the Food and Nutritional Security Technical Secretariat (SETSAN) in the Agriculture Ministry. She was speaking at a planning meeting on nutrition and AIDS organised by SETSAN and the National Council for the Fight against AIDS (CNCS), with support from the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO).
There is a vicious circle involved when HIV infection hits farming households. On the one hand food security and good nutrition are essential conditions for fighting against AIDS, but on the other people weakened by HIV/AIDS are in no condition to produce enough food for themselves and their families.
Taju said that AIDS reduces the work force, reduces the area under cultivation, and compromises agricultural production.
Households then find themselves forced to resort to "risky activities" (such as prostitution) in order to ensure their survival.
But if food security were guaranteed, Taju said, this would help keep communities united, and would offer greater protection for the large number of orphans whose parents have died of AIDS.
She pointed out that a healthy diet can hold back the progression of HIV infection, delaying the onset of full-blown AIDS.
"Even when people have access to anti-retroviral treatment, a balanced diet is fundamental so that the drugs can be effective", she said.
Taju stressed the role of community leaders in the strategies required, which would include, among other actions, ensuring that peasant farmers know their rights under the land law, supplying seeds and other agricultural inputs, vegetable production in gardens and at schools, and breeding small livestock species.
Source: All Africa.com and Agencia de Informacao de Mocambique (Maputo), April 21, 2005
There is a vicious circle involved when HIV infection hits farming households. On the one hand food security and good nutrition are essential conditions for fighting against AIDS, but on the other people weakened by HIV/AIDS are in no condition to produce enough food for themselves and their families.
Taju said that AIDS reduces the work force, reduces the area under cultivation, and compromises agricultural production.
Households then find themselves forced to resort to "risky activities" (such as prostitution) in order to ensure their survival.
But if food security were guaranteed, Taju said, this would help keep communities united, and would offer greater protection for the large number of orphans whose parents have died of AIDS.
She pointed out that a healthy diet can hold back the progression of HIV infection, delaying the onset of full-blown AIDS.
"Even when people have access to anti-retroviral treatment, a balanced diet is fundamental so that the drugs can be effective", she said.
Taju stressed the role of community leaders in the strategies required, which would include, among other actions, ensuring that peasant farmers know their rights under the land law, supplying seeds and other agricultural inputs, vegetable production in gardens and at schools, and breeding small livestock species.
Source: All Africa.com and Agencia de Informacao de Mocambique (Maputo), April 21, 2005
posted by AIDS-Care-Watch at 1:50 am
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