HIV/AIDS and food crises

"To effectively address the interactions between HIV/AIDS and food insecurity, there's a need to fill knowledge gaps. strengthen capacity, and learn-by-doing in partnership with people who are directly affected." from TextPandemics ,HIV/AIDS Africa ,HIV/AIDS Social aspects ,

Natural Experiments: An Under-Appreciated Evaluation Resource?

Natural experiments are observational studies of sharp, well-defined but unplanned changes. They hinge on identifying an uncontrolled but opportune 'intervention', typically of a kind or on a scale that could not – ethically or feasibly – be implemented deliberately, and communities, groups, or individuals that are affected and not affected, or that are differentially affected by that intervention. More than a method, natural experiments can also be understood as a resource – opportunities that must be recognised and wisely exploited. This CDI Practice Paper explores some of the roles that natural experiments have played in evaluation and considers their potential and limitations and the prospects for their wider use. In the context of development, natural experiments' two most salient features are first, that they make it possible to assess scales and types of impact that are difficult or impossible to deal with through other approaches, and second that, being centred on large, notable events, they can lead to more open evaluations and wider public involvement in them. Of particular interest as experience of the effects of climate change widens is the potential they hold to support evaluation and learning around resilience and adaptability to extreme events. The CDI Practice Paper series is published by the Centre for Development Impact (CDI), a joint initiative between IDS and ITAD.DFI

Assuring food and nutrition security in the time of AIDs

"The interactions between HIV/AIDS and food and nutrition insecurity are becoming clearer as research fills knowledge gaps. To address these gaps, different actors (from individual household members to national policymakers) need tools and processes to turn growing knowledge into appropriate action. One such tool is the HIV/AIDS lens. Through such mainstreaming of HIV/AIDS into food- and nutrition-relevant policy, evidence of what works is progressively built up, learning is enhanced, and people are ultimately better equipped to address the multiple threats of the pandemic." from TextAIDS (Disease) ,HIV/AIDS Africa ,

Convergence on Nutrition in Agricultural Systems of Innovation: Concepts and Methods, with Examples from Pakistan

LANSA is funded by UKAid through the Department for International Development (DFID).The paper first briefly sketches the origins of the system of innovation (SoI) concept and the need it was seen to fulfil in agriculture. It then illustrates the different ways it has been employed as a framework to explain how change in agricultural practices and outcomes happens and is sustained. At its heart is “innovation”, which can be understood both as an outcome – a new or improved product, process or organizational form (Niosi et al., 1993) – and as the process by which innovations are generated. The SoI concept focuses on the systemic nature of that process. The SoI concept recognizes that all these actors are capable of innovation, that this is not just the purview of research and that actors relate to one another in more than a passive or hierarchically determined fashion: interactive learning is central to the functioning of SoI. Also important is the notion of a shared direction or coherence to actors’ innovations. This paper is concerned with the extent to which the direction of innovation in agricultural SoI furthers nutrition objectives, what will be referred to as their convergence on nutrition. Convergence, like the degree of coherence in actors’ innovations and the interactive nature of their relationships are a matter of degree, amenable to assessment and, we suggest, subject to influence by carefully designed interventions.UK AidDepartment for International Development (DFID

HIV/AIDS, food security and rural livelihoods

"There is hardly need these days to repeat that HIV/AIDS is devastating African societies and economies, threatening the hard-won human development gains of the past several decades. The changes to the development landscape wrought by AIDS demand a review of existing development actions at many levels, from households seeking to secure viable livelihoods, to policymakers attempting to better understand and internalize the implications of AIDS for their own sectoral goals and strategies. In this paper, we describe processes of understanding and responding that are needed for HIV/AIDS to be effectively addressed. Key concepts of resistance and resilience are illustrated through a discussion of the two-way interactions between food insecurity and HIV/AIDS, and their implications for the ways in which affected households, communities, and sectors may best respond. One major set of responses is required from the agriculture sector, as the need to secure and provision food for populations affected by HIV/AIDS is rapidly increasing as the impact waves hit. Food is the first priority of many people affected by the pandemic. We are also beginning to learn more about the crucial role of nutritional status both in terms of susceptibility to HIV infection and transmission and in terms of the quality and quantity of life of HIV-positive individuals. A sea change is required in attitudes and consciousness of what HIV/AIDS is doing at different levels and the pathways through which it moves through societies. Such a new awareness may be facilitated by the use of an 'HIV/AIDS lens' essentially a tool for reviewing situations and development actions from the perspective of our evolving knowledge of AIDS interactions. The lens will facilitate the development of more HIV-relevant policies and programs of more sectors and ultimately in larger scale, sustained progress in responding to AIDS. While the specifics will become clear through use of the lens, external support will likely be most effective in the long run where it is directed to preserving and developing institutional capacities to strengthen resistance and resilience." Authors' AbstractPandemics ,HIV/AIDS Africa ,HIV/AIDS Social aspects ,

HIV/AIDS, food security and rural livelihoods

"There is hardly need these days to repeat that HIV/AIDS is devastating African societies and economies, threatening the hard-won human development gains of the past several decades. The changes to the development landscape wrought by AIDS demand a review of existing development actions at many levels, from households seeking to secure viable livelihoods, to policymakers attempting to better understand and internalize the implications of AIDS for their own sectoral goals and strategies. In this paper, we describe processes of understanding and responding that are needed for HIV/AIDS to be effectively addressed. Key concepts of resistance and resilience are illustrated through a discussion of the two-way interactions between food insecurity and HIV/AIDS, and their implications for the ways in which affected households, communities, and sectors may best respond. One major set of responses is required from the agriculture sector, as the need to secure and provision food for populations affected by HIV/AIDS is rapidly increasing as the impact waves hit. Food is the first priority of many people affected by the pandemic. We are also beginning to learn more about the crucial role of nutritional status both in terms of susceptibility to HIV infection and transmission and in terms of the quality and quantity of life of HIV-positive individuals. A sea change is required in attitudes and consciousness of what HIV/AIDS is doing at different levels and the pathways through which it moves through societies. Such a new awareness may be facilitated by the use of an 'HIV/AIDS lens' essentially a tool for reviewing situations and development actions from the perspective of our evolving knowledge of AIDS interactions. The lens will facilitate the development of more HIV-relevant policies and programs of more sectors and ultimately in larger scale, sustained progress in responding to AIDS. While the specifics will become clear through use of the lens, external support will likely be most effective in the long run where it is directed to preserving and developing institutional capacities to strengthen resistance and resilience." Authors' AbstractPandemics ,HIV/AIDS Africa ,HIV/AIDS Social aspects ,

Using Diversity : enhancing and maintaining genetic resources on-farm; proceedings of a workshop held on 19-21 June 1995, New Delhi, India

Meeting: Using Diversity Workshop, 19-21 June 1995, New Delhi, I