This paper investigates the effect of the HIV/AIDS epidemic on the South African agricultural sector.
The major issues of concern arising are relevant to both the commercial and subsistence arms of the agricultural sectors.
United Nations figures for 2002 reveal that the number of HIV-infected South Africans in 2001 was estimated at 4. ... The number of AIDS related deaths for South Africa in 2001 stood at 360,000.
The UN estimates that he real GDP for South Africa will be 1. ... 7% lower by 2015 compared to a no-AIDS scenario. ... 5% lower than in a no-AIDS scenario.
Some of the major concerns facing the agricultural sector include:
A rampant spread of the HIV/AIDS epidemic
A loss of household income coupled with increased expenditure for labourers
A loss of labour, their skills and resulting decreased productivity
A loss of intellectual capital
Insufficient funding to educate and effectively treat the agricultural community
A growing population of Aids orphans
A lack of accurate data on HIV/AIDS and its impact on the agricultural sector
The availability of more detailed data on the current situation in the agricultural sector would make strategic planning and management more effective as a result of having more realistic benchmarks against which to measure progress.
Encouraging effects of measures taken to decrease transmission have been demonstrated in Uganda where a decline in the HIV infection levels is occurring. ...
Table of Contents
Declaration 2
Executive summary 3
Table of Contents 5
Introduction 6
Discussion 7
Prevalence of HIV and AIDS 7
Economic impact of HIV/AIDS 8
Knowledge loss 9
HIV/AIDS effect on GDP 9
Epidemic trends 11
Proposals 11
Conclusion 16
References 17
Introduction
“From the Sahara to the tip of Southern Africa, one in eleven adults has HIV” reported Stewart Rammerty of Sky News Network on 23 September 2003.
“South Africa could face economic collapse within a few generations unless it adopts a more urgent response to its HIV/AIDS epidemic” a World Bank research report warned on 23 July 2003 in Johannesburg (Bell,2003).
AIDS undermines agricultural systems and affects the nutritional situation and food security of rural families. ...
In addition, rural communities bear a higher burden of the cost of HIV/AIDS as many urban dwellers and migrant labourers return to their village of origin when they fall ill. ...
Research supporting the above found that HIV/AIDS will have a "profound effect" on agriculture, mainly in subsistence farming in terms of crop production, labour and delivery. A report, The Impact of HIV/AIDS on Agriculture, states that households previously self-sufficient in terms of food through subsistence farming would find themselves producing less due to a lack of labour (Business Day, 2001).
The report went on to say that there was an "urgent need" to address a lack of adequate information on the prevalence of HIV/AIDS in South Africa, and a "Lack of adequate information was the major constraint in the formulation of the report."
A survey detailing the effect on small-scale farming households, commercial farms and farming villages would have to be undertaken before the overall impact on the sector could be determined and a mitigation strategy set up.
In the report "The Long-run Economic Costs of AIDS: Theory and an Application to South Africa", the authors comment that many of the studies on the macroeconomic costs of AIDS had overlooked the long-term undesirable effects of this disease (Bell et al, 2003:2)
The UNAIDS supports the above concerns and states that in the absence of massively expanded prevention, treatment and care efforts, the AIDS death toll on the continent is expected to continue rising before peaking around the end of this decade.
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