This publication discusses the linkages between agriculture and HIV/AIDS through three case studies (Uganda, Namibia and Zambia). It emphasises vulnerability of women and orphans with insecure property rights.
[From the executive summary] In 2002, through research involving 1 889 rural households in northern Namibia, southern Zambia and around Lake Victoria in Uganda, FAO’s Integrated Support to Sustainable Development and Food Security Programme (IP) explored the relationships among HIV/AIDS, gender, agricultural production, food security and rural livelihoods. [...]
Three case studies demonstrate that the HIV/AIDS pandemic has serious implications for rural agricultural production and household food security, gender concerns and the policy environment. The studies emphasize that, under conditions of increasing AIDS-induced poverty, the decreased access to productive resources for rural men and women - and increasingly children - becomes particularly important. [...]
The challenge is clear. How can countries support increasing numbers of vulnerable households? What can be done to reverse the trend towards increasing destitution? IP stakeholders identified a wide range of possible agricultural interventions as a response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic, and a few of these were selected as pilot activities to be implemented under the IP. In Uganda, efforts are focused on supporting the mainstreaming of HIV/AIDS-responsive actions into the agricultural extension services. In Namibia and, to a lesser extent in Zambia, resources still need to be directed towards bringing the epidemic under control. As a consequence, the IP pilots in these countries focus on improving household food security and nutrition and on the prevention of property grabbing.
You can access this publication from the FAO website.