Institute for Social Development

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    An assessment of the socio-economic impact of HIV/AIDS on agricultural production in Ethiopia: The case of Ada’a district in Eastern Showa province in Ethiopia
    (2008) Wondimagegnhu, Beneberu Assefa; Conradie, Ina
    Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) which is caused by the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) is not only an epidemiological problem but also one of the developmental challenges in developing countries. The epidemic is severely affecting the productive part of the population (15 to 49 age range), that is believed to be ‘the motor of development’. Ethiopia is one of the Sub-Saharan African countries whose economy is affected by the epidemic. The country is assigned along with India, China, Nigeria and Russia as the ‘next wave of HIV/AIDS’ with large populations at risk from HIV infection, that will overtake the current epidemic prevalence rate in central and southern Africa (NIC, 2002). The epidemic is also among the challenges facing the agricultural sector of the country which provides half of the country’s GDP. Although agriculture is the backbone of the economy, little effort has been made to estimate the impact of the epidemic and many existing studies focus on urban areas instead of rural areas. Therefore, the research reported on in this thesis assesses the extent and channels of the impact of HIV/AIDS on agricultural production. The research measured the extent of the impact of the epidemic on factors of production such as labor, capital stock and land use, which are the determinants of agricultural production. The research was conducted in Ada’a district in Eastern Showa province, Ethiopia, which is one of the top agricultural production areas of the country and also one of the most vulnerable areas for HIV/AIDS. Stratified random sampling and judgmental sampling techniques were employed to identify sample cases. In addition, both primary and secondary data sources were used to gather the required data/information. The primary sources of data collection methods include PRA, individual interviews, focus groups, photographs and observations. Secondary sources include reports from governmental and nongovernmental organizations, health centers, agricultural bureaus, books, newspapers, the internet, etc. The collected data was analyzed by using spread sheets-2003. The interpretation of the results was supported by graphs, tables and photos. Two stages of ordinary least square (OLS) estimation were done. The first stage was to estimate the impact of HIV/AIDS on production factors whereas the second stage estimation was done to estimate the impact of HIV/AIDS on output (income) of farmers via the impacts on factors of production. The findings of the analysis indicated that HIV/AIDS has been affecting factors of production significantly, i.e. by reducing labor-hours, depleting the capital stock of farmers and by its impact on the use of land (reducing the amount of land cultivated). The findings also indicated that HIV/AIDS has been decreasing the agricultural income of farmers.