Using Empirical Information in the Era of Hiv/Aids to Inform Mitigation and Rural Development Strategies : Selected Results from African Country Studies

It is widely believed that the HIV/AIDS epidemic will have substantial socioeconomic impacts in Sub-Saharan Africa, including on the agricultural sector. While the implications of the disease for research in the health fields are well established, there is a growing awareness that the spread of HIV/AIDS is influenced by economic and social conditions, and that the economic consequences of the disease can be influenced by policies and institutions that affect behavior. Using prime age (PA) adult mortality and morbidity to proxy for HIV/AIDS health impacts, this paper summarizes empirical results from a synthesis of a set of country studies undertaken by agricultural economists at Michigan State University and at partner institutions in five African countries, each of which is based upon large-scale rural household surveys. The survey findings, in contrast to the general assumption that HIV-related mortality is typically associated with household heads/spouses, a majority of deceased prime-age adults are not household heads or spouses. Ex post land/labor ratios and total income per capita of rural households directly affected by PA adult mortality are heterogeneous, such that interventions need to be designed to target those households most affected and not simply households with a PA adult death. Those interventions may best address all households in poverty