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Dissertation

Msc Development Studies

Title

Policy Critique of the Commission for Africa Report’s recommendations on ‘Agricultural and Rural Development’ – Gender, HIV/Aids and Food Security in Rural Communities of Sub-Saharan Africa.

Research areas:

HIV/Aids, Gender Relations, Agricultural Policy, Sub-Saharan Africa

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Abstract

The following dissertation is a critical analysis of the 2005 Commission for Africa Report’s policy recommendations on ‘Agriculture and Rural Development’. Considering the high prevalence rate of HIV/Aids in sub-Saharan Africa, the study focuses in particular on the Report’s failure to integrate the pandemic’s impact on the agricultural sector, or to consider the way that the agricultural sector and agricultural policy itself can implicate on the HIV/Aids pandemic. With the recognised important role of agriculture for household food security and the connection between nutrition and HIV/Aids prevention, treatment and care efforts, the paper will examine possible local constraints to the proposed technology improvements, such as labour and capital availability, and how these can implicate on food security and the HIV/Aids pandemic. Taking into special consideration existing gender roles and disparities, the study will conclude that it is vital for policy makers to consider how changes in agrarian structures and production impact on benefit distribution, rural household food security and the impact on and of the HIV/Aids pandemic at all levels. The failure of the Commission Report to do so is likely to have negative implications on policy effectiveness, rural livelihoods and (already compromised) food security.