Impact of HIV/AIDS on Veterinary Extension Services and Livestock Production in Sub-Saharan Africa

Abstract

The HIV/AIDS epidemic is challenging all aspects of the development agenda. Many of the premises on which development interventions are based, are no longer relevant. The disease has affected sub-Saharan Africa’s agricultural labor force and may continue to deplete the region of its food producers for generations. Not only is the epidemic causing severe reversals in development gains, but also it is making typical development interventions impractical. Communities’ livelihoods are being permanently eroded and assets depleted with the reoccurring periods of sickness and death that the epidemic brings. Labor, a much-valued human asset and the foundation of development interventions, is becoming scarce and this lack of labor strains traditional coping mechanisms and increases vulnerability. HIV/AIDS fuels soaring rural poverty rates and it is becoming the crux of the spiral of poverty as it affects adversely all agricultural and livelihood activities including livestock production. This paper argues that when family savings are exhausted; both crop/livestock farmers and pastoralists begin to sell their animals to cover medical expenses or meet funeral costs of HIV/AIDS victims. The distressed slaughter or sale of animals reduces herd sizes, resulting in less livestock products being available for good. A lack of labor due to deaths may affect overall management of livestock, particularly grazing. Animals health also becomes a concern if veterinary extension services no longer function properly because staff members are absent from work to attend funerals or care for relatives, or have contracted AIDS and died.