Menu ENN Search

Impact of drought and HIV/AIDS on child malnutrition

Summary of published research1

A too familiar sight in drought striken areas, here Red Sea State, Sudan

There is growing interest in delineating the impact of drought and HIV on trends in child malnutrition. A recent study set out to investigate trends in child malnutrition in six countries in southern Africa in relation to the HIV epidemic and drought, in crop years 2001/2 and 2002/3. Sub-national and national survey data from Lesotho, Mozambique, Malawi, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe were compiled and analysed. Data from antenatal clinic surveillance on weight-for-age and HIV prevalence were also utilised in the analysis.

The study found that child nutritional status, as measured by prevalence of underweight, deteriorated from 2001 onwards in all countries except Lesotho, with very substantial increases in some provinces/districts (e.g. from 5 to 20% in Maputo, Mozambique from 1997-2002). Greater deterioration in underweight occurred in better-off areas. Areas with higher HIV/AIDS prevalence had (so far) lower malnutrition rates (and infant mortality rates), presumably because more modern areas - with greater reliance on trade and wage employment - have more HIV/AIDS. However, areas with higher HIV/AIDS showed more deterioration in child nutrition. A significant area-level interaction was found of HIV/AIDS with the drought period, associated with particularly rapid deterioration in nutritional status.

The study authors concluded that the most vulnerable may be households in more modern areas nearer towns, to whom resources need to be directed and that causes of this vulnerability need to be investigated. Furthermore, HIV/ AIDS amplifies the effect of drought on nutrition, so rapid and effective response will be crucial if drought strikes again. In addition, expanded nutritional surveillance is now needed to monitor and respond to deteriorating trends.

Show footnotes

1Mason J et al (2005). AIDS, drought, and child malnutrition in southern Africa. Public Health Nutrition, 8 (6), pp 551-563

More like this

FEX: Evolution of a Crisis: a Save the Children UK perspective

By Mark Wright Mark Wright was the Save the Children Programme Officer for Southern Africa from November 2000 to November 2002. This article details Save the Children UK's...

FEX: Nutrition Programming in the Southern Africa Emergency

Summary of unpublished report1 A review of UNICEF and World Food Programme (WFP) nutrition programming was carried out in six southern African countries (Lesotho, Malawi,...

FEX: The Triple Threat: Southern Africa’s emergency behind the emergency

By George Aelion, WFP A Junior Farmer Field Life School site in Swaziland, one of five pilots started in 2006. George Aelion is Senior Regional Programme Advisor, with the...

FEX: Shared experiences of Southern Africa crisis

Malawi 2002, Medical Missionaries of Mary distribute Concern funded maize to most needy in Lilongwe Summary of meeting By Marie McGrath (ENN) On November 5th, 2002 a meeting...

FEX: Understanding the food crisis in Zimbabwe

By Fiona Watson Fiona has recently been in southern Africa with the Overseas Development Institute (ODI), looking at the role of needs assessments during the current...

FEX: Malawi food shortage: how did it happen and could it have been prevented?

By Sarah King Sarah King is currently working as an Emergency Capacity Building Officer with Christian Aid. Having completed a MSc in Public Health Nutrition at LSHTM, she...

FEX: Revisiting ‘new variant famine’ in southern Africa

Summary of published research1 The 'New Variant Famine' hypothesis was first published in 2003. It postulated four factors contributing to worsening food shortages in southern...

FEX: Global Trends in Malnutrition

Summary of published paper1 Child with Kwashiorkor in Kalongo, Pader. A recent study set out to estimate trends in childhood underweight by geographic regions of the world in...

FEX: A fragile situation in Sudan: review of the 2001 nutritional situation

By Mutinta Nseluke-Hambayi Mutinta Nseluke-Hambayi is a nutritionist who has been working as a Nutrition Emergency Officer for the past 3 years, supporting all WFP emergency...

FEX: Disparate responses to need in Southern Africa

By Gaëlle Fedida Blanket food distribution in Bunjei, Angola, August, 2002 Since 1993, Gaëlle Fedida has worked in humanitarian aid in a wide variety of countries, including...

FEX: The effects of HIV on Botswana’s development progress

By Siddharth Krishnaswamy Siddharth was a part of the Vulnerability & Mapping Unit (VAM) of the WFP. Prior to this he worked for an international NGO in Northern Uganda. He...

FEX: References for Special Supplement 2

Livelihood activities in South Sudan 1. World Health Organisation (WHO), Management of Severe Malnutrition: A manual for physicians and other senior health workers. Geneva:...

FEX: Learning about Exit Strategies in Southern Africa

By Kara Greenblott Kara Greenblott was formerly the programming section manager for C-SAFE's regional office in Johannesburg, and is now a freelance consultant working for...

FEX: Nutrition assessments in Zimbabwe: a local perspective

By George Kararach For the past two years, George Kararach has worked as a consultant policy analyst in Zimbabwe - for the last year working with UNICEF Zimbabwe. The support...

FEX: Community management of acute malnutrition in Mozambique

By Edna Germack Possolo, Yara Lívia Novele Ngovene and Maaike Arts Edna Germack Possolo is Chief of the Nutrition Department of the Ministry of Health, Republic of Mozambique...

FEX: South Africa HIV/AIDS Pandemic

By Mary Corbett Mary Corbett is a food security and nutrition consultant who visited the region on behalf of ENN in early 2005. This viewpoint is based on a series of...

FEX: Research snapshots

Factors influencing pastoral and agropastoral household vulnerability to food insecurity in Kenya Kenya has a population of more than 38 million, 10% of whom are classified as...

FEX: References for Special Supplement 3

Beatrice, a beneficiary of the CRS seed voucher scheme in Burundi 1. Abdulai A., Barret, C., Hoddinott, J. (2004, June). Does food aid really have disincentive effects? new...

FEX: Nutritional Status of HIV+ Pre-School Children in South Africa

Summary of unpublished research Nursing health professional doing clinical investigation at Livningstone Hospital By Liana Steenkamp, Dr Jill von der Marwitz, and Charlene...

FEX: Impact of HIV/Aids on Acute Malnutrition in Malawi

By Susan Thurstans, AAH and Mary Corbett, ENN Susan Thurstans is HIV Adviser with Action Against Hunger, based in Malawi This article developed from an interview by Mary...

Close

Reference this page

Impact of drought and HIV/AIDS on child malnutrition. Field Exchange 27, March 2006. p5. www.ennonline.net/fex/27/drought

(ENN_2274)

Close

Download to a citation manager

The below files can be imported into your preferred reference management tool, most tools will allow you to manually import the RIS file. Endnote may required a specific filter file to be used.