As the United Nations Food Summit met this week in Rome, relief organisations are beginning to highlight the role of HIV/AIDS in exacerbating a food shortage that threatens approximately 12 million people in six countries across Southern Africa.
Nicholas Haan of the World Food Programme told
PLUS NEWS that the real crisis would come in September, when crops harvested in April and May will have been exhausted.
“Many households by December normally depend on purchasing their food. That number is around 80 percent of poor households who depend on purchasing their food from December through March. Without income coming into their households [because of illness due to HIV/AIDS] - that might come from remittances from South Africa, from income from working on a neighbour's farm, from working on estates - without that income, the household cannot afford maize, it cannot afford food. So HIV/AIDS has direct effects. Plus the increased demands on caregivers' time is very critical. And it's particularly women and the elderly caregivers in the household. Because now they have to spend their time not only taking care of other household members, but also the production activities that they normally do.”
The Food and Agriculture Organisation has reported that "the disease is no longer a health problem alone, but is having a measurable impact on food production, household food security and rural people's ability to make a living."