Food security aspects of the impact of HIV/AIDS on rural women in smallholder agriculture

Abstract

This article explores the gender dimension of the impact of HIV/AIDS on agriculture, and whether the gender status of household head is important in accounting for observed differences in agricultural performance. The article quantifies this in terms of time and attempts to put a monetary value to the costs of caring of caring and caregiving. It indicates that rural women lose a substantial amount of time dealing with the disease and that his has a significant impact on their productivity, which directly affects their food security status. The impact of HIV/AIDS on female-headed households was found to be compounded by external factors that interact with household characteristics.