Predicted impact of HIV/AIDS on improved fallow adoption and rural household food security in Malawi

Abstract

AbstractResearch was conducted to assess the impact of HIV/AIDS on improved fallow adoption and rural household food security in Malawi. An ethnographic linear programming model was created for a representative household with three scenarios: no illness, adult female illness and adult male illness. Results show that the impact of HIV/AIDS on food production depends on the patient's gender. If a male head of household is sick and later dies, available field labour is reduced as family members are expected to care for him and, consequently, less food and cash crops are produced, which creates a food insecure household. However, when a woman is sick and later dies, the effect on male labour is not as great, as males are not care‐givers. We conclude that in an HIV/AIDS environment, agroforestry adoption is more feasible in households in which available labour is undisrupted for longer periods of time. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.