Impact of Hiv and Aids on household food and nutrition Security in Suba district, Kenya
Date
2009Author
Otieno, A.
Kaseje, D. K.
Ariga, E. S.
Musita, C. P.
Type
ArticleLanguage
enMetadata
Show full item recordAbstract
The impact of HIV/AIDS on household food and nutrition security in Suba district
was studied in a quasi longitudinal study. Households with People Living with
HIV/AIDS (Index- 25%) and three surrounding households (control- 75%) were
considered for the study. Data were collected on demographic characteristics of the
households, land ownership, cultivated land by crop, crop yield, livestock kept by
category, diet composition, frequency of hunger, experience of weight loss in the
households and expenditure on food. Categorization among the index households was
based on disease progression stages: Stage 1(with no symptoms), Stage 2
(Symptomatic-(CD4>200, CD4 <200) and on antiretroviral, Stage 3( bedridden
patients), and Stage 4 (households with HIV related deaths). Results showed
households with bedridden members had the highest land ownership of more than 3
acres (62 per cent), while those with CD4 < 200 and on ARVs had the least land (28
per cent). The proportion of index households with uncultivated land was 3 times
higher than control households. Index households significantly planted less maize but
equally planted beans, sorghum/millet, cassava, groundnuts and tomatoes, whose
yields were comparatively less. Control (non index) households kept more goats,
sheep, cattle and chicken than index households. Households that had suffered HIV
related deaths had lower overall rate of expenditure on food due to reduction in
household income. Death increased household consumption of home produced food
partially making up for the lost income. The incidence of hunger was found to be
slightly higher among the controls with chronically ill (65 per cent) than among index
households (63 per cent). Eating of non balanced food and loss of weight in the last
one month was significantly higher in index than non index households. The mean
expenditure on food was also less in index (8.5 US $) than non index households (9.2
US $). It is imperative, therefore, that appropriate intervention measures be put in
place to combat food and nutrition insecurity among People Living with HIV/AIDS
and their families in order for them to benefit from the life prolonging effects of
ARVs.
Citation
Ajfand Online Volume 9 No. 7 2009 October 2009Publisher
Great Lakes University of Kisumu, University of Nairobi,