[Wigsat-l] G&D News No 78: 1 December 2008, World AIDS Day Special Issue

[Sophia Huyer]

Special Issue
G&D News No 78, 1 December 2008

G&D is proud to highlight research initiatives and staff activities of  
CGIAR Centers as we mark World AIDS Day. Visit the UNAIDS website to  
learn more about World AIDS Day 2008.

The International Crop Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics  
(ICRISAT)
ICRISAT developed a comprehensive strategy to fulfill its research,  
development and disaster rehabilitation responsibilities in response  
to the AIDS pandemic in Eastern and Southern Africa. The purpose is to  
enable agricultural research organizations contribute effectively to  
the HIV/AIDS struggle, taking a more informed account of HIV/AIDS in  
pursuing other development goals.  For more information, please see:   
Mainstreaming HIV/AIDS Research at ICRISAT

ICRISAT also believes in promoting a holistic health approach for its  
own staff.  The Institute designs interventions in prevention,  
treatment and rehabilitation. ICRISAT supports the following  
initiatives:
Prevention programs such as voluntary screening and periodic health  
check-ups, counseling etc. This includes sensitizing staff on  
misconceptions on HIV/AIDS and motivating them to support the affected  
staff physically and socially.
Providing treatment assistance at ICRISAT’s cost. Together with  
insurance companies, ICRISAT is exploring insurance coverage for HIV/ 
AIDS.
In circumstances leading to death or disability ICRISAT works with  
staff/family on rehabilitation, including providing financial support.

The International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI)
Ø  ILRI contributes to a project by Urban Harvest - the CGIAR system- 
wide initiative on Urban and Peri-urban Agriculture convened by the  
International Potato Center (CIP).   In 2006, working in partnership  
with other organizations, including the Badili Mawazo (BM) group of  
People Living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHAs), a project was started to address  
food and nutrition insecurity through the introduction of vegetable  
and micro-livestock production systems.
Ø  ILRI is involved in a five-year project - Improving Productivity &  
Market Success (IPMS) of Ethiopian Farmers.  The objective of this  
project is developing Research & Development (R&D) options for  
enhancing market orientation of smallholder farming with specific  
objectives in relation to gender and HIV.

To mark World AIDS Day 2008, ILRI will hold a seminar at both the  
Nairobi and Addis Ababa campuses with the assistance of the Addis  
Ababa campus medical clinic and Jubilee Insurance.   In addition, ILRI  
will:
hold a video session at ILRI Info Centers
display a banner in a prominent location
display the latest HIV/AIDS posters
distribute red ribbons

The International Potato Centre (CIP)
Contribution of women living with HIV/AIDs to urban livelihoods, food  
and nutritional security in Nakuru, Kenya
Through its Urban Harvest Program, The International Potato Center  
(CIP) conducted a baseline survey on household livelihoods, food and  
nutrition status among 85 male-headed and 70 female-headed households  
with a child aged 2-5 years in Nakuru.  The results revealed that  
female-headed households experienced more crises; more illness,  
perceived lack of medical care and less access land for farming.    
Some of the challenges encountered include poor or erratic  
participation in farm activities by some PLWHA farmers due to  
illnesses and inability to access farms that were far from their homes.

The Badili Mawazo (BM) group marked World AIDS Day on 29 November 2008  
in Nakuru where BM members hold their weekly meetings.   Traditional  
African vegetables, sweet potato vines as feed for dairy goats and  
dairy goat milk were on display with group members educating guests on  
their nutritional value as a strategy to improve the health status of  
PLWHA.  Brochures with HIV/AIDS messages alongside information on  
successes, challenges and dreams of the group were distributed.

International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA)
IITA has been involved in several projects in the field of HIV/AIDS  
Research, these include:

Ø  Learning to Live Positively:  A key development tool for promoting  
“treatment preparedness” among HIV/AIDS-affected rural communities in  
Africa.
This paper describes the authors’ experiences in using the “How to  
Live Positively” discovery-learning process to empower rural  
communities in Benin, Malawi, Nigeria and Zimbabwe to reduce their  
vulnerability to HIV/AIDS, improve household nutrition and clean up  
their environment to reduce opportunistic infections.

Ø  Welfare school for Benin farmers by UFLS-IITA/Benin
The Farmer Welfare School (FWS) is inspired by the Farmer Life School  
(FLS) which is in turn inspired by the Farmer Field School (FFS).  It  
entails training farmers through the non-formal education principles;  
“learning by doing” and “discovery-based learning”. The training  
content is drawn from the manual “How to live positively” under three  
main headings namely: reducing vulnerability to HIV, promoting good  
health and preventing diseases.

The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI)
The Regional Network on HIV/AIDS, Rural Livelihoods and Food Security  
(RENEWAL) Project
The project’s ongoing work on linkages between HIV/AIDS continues to  
make significant progress in policy research, communications and  
capacity strengthening. Currently in its third phase, RENEWAL has  
taken on important work in three key areas: AIDS, Agriculture and  
Livelihood Security; AIDS, Community Resilience and Social Protection;  
and AIDS and Nutrition Security. In addition, its work on  
communications and capacity strengthening continues to develop.

In preparation for the XVII International AIDS Conference this year,  
RENEWAL developed a series of 18 briefs on HIV, Livelihoods, Food and  
Nutrition Security, summarizing recent research results. To read them,  
click here.

World Agroforestry Center (ICRAF)
ICRAF has demonstrated its commitment to dealing with HIV/AIDS by  
being one of the first Centers to put in place and act on a HIV/AIDS  
policy. To mark World AIDS Day last year, ICRAF West and Central  
Africa organized a seminar on ‘Leadership and Communication on HIV/ 
AIDS’ at Ngali II village, 25 Km from the City of Yaounde, Cameroon.   
In 2006, ICRAF held a seminar under the theme ‘Our responsibility in  
the Wake of HIV/AIDS’.

This year, ICRAF will commemorate the day at a special coffee break to  
share messages of hope and courage through various media e.g. skits  
and poetry.  Guest speakers have been invited to share personal  
experiences with HIV/AIDS with staff.  ICRAF will also set up VCT  
services within campus from 26 November to 1 December 2008.  ICRAF  
will facilitate a platform for endorsement by individuals, to take up  
leadership in keeping the promise to stop AIDS.  In addition, ICRAF  
has made arrangements for a charity visit to persons living with HIV/ 
AIDS.  To raise funds towards this charity visit, staff will be  
selling beaded red ribbons.  Collection points for donations have also  
been set up on the ICRAF campus.

The International Rice Research Institute (IRRI)
IRRI will be observing World AIDS Day by distributing information  
brochures and videos on HIV/AIDS to employee sectoral organizations  
and community residents. The institution will also put up a G&D  
exhibition with a panel on IRRI’s HIV/AIDS materials for display at  
the Institute’s Riceworld Museum.   IRRI periodically coordinates with  
the Department of Health (DOH) for updates and the latest advisories  
on AIDS and other staff health concerns.

Recommended Reading
Food gardens for people living with HIV/AIDS in Mpumalanga Province –  
South Africa
This link provides information on HIV/AIDS support groups that have  
incorporated food production initiatives in working towards attaining  
food security for people living with HIV/AIDS.  The groups started  
food gardens to provide vegetables necessary for the nutritional needs  
of the people with HIV/AIDS.

FAO:  HIV/AIDS and its impact on Food Security
The webpage has information on the threat that HIV/AIDS poses on food  
security and rural livelihoods.  It also lists publications on this  
topic.
Perspective:  How can agriculture face the challenges posed by HIV/ 
AIDS? By Marcela Villarreal
FAO focal point on HIV/AIDS, Head of Population and Development  
Service in the e-journal New Agriculturist.

HIV/AIDS and Food and Nutrition Security:  From Evidence to Action by  
Stuart Gillespie, Suneetha Kadiyala.  This book, drawn from the IFPRI  
Food Policy Review Series, highlights the link between HIV/AIDS and  
Nutrition security.

Now is the time to lead from the front
Asunta Wagura’s call to leadership on HIV/AIDS (Daily Nation). Wagura  
has lived with HIV for twenty years.

The Power of Participation:  Women Leaders Speak
The executive summary from the forthcoming review of Women’s  
Leadership and participation in the AIDS response by UNIFEM and the  
ATHENA network.

Further reading:  Publications on HIV/AIDS by CGIAR centers
Clare Bishop-Sambrook, Nigatu Alemayehu, Yirgalem Assegid, Gebremedhin  
Woldewahid and Berhanu Gebremedhin.  The Rural HIV/AIDS Epidemic in  
Ethiopia and its Implications for Market-Led Agricultural  
Development.  Workshop proceedings, 2006.

Toolkit for conducting HIV Risk and AIDS vulnerability assessment at  
the Woreda level, 2007. ILRI’s IPMS (Improving Productivity and Market  
Successes for Ethiopian Farmers) Project, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.   
Joint publication by the Ministry of Agriculture, Federal Democratic  
Republic of Ethiopia, ILRI (International Livestock Research  
Institute) and Canadian CIDA (International Development Agency)

B. Valentine Joseph Gandhi, M. Cynthia Serquina Bantilan and  
Devanathan Parthasarathy.   Livelihood risk from HIV in the semi arid  
tropics of rural Andhra Pradesh. UNU-WIDER Research Paper series No.  
49/2008

B. Valentine Joseph Gandhi, M. Cynthia Serquina Bantilan and  
Devanathan Parthasarathy (In Press). Vulnerability to HIV risk in the  
semi arid tropics of rural Andhra Pradesh “Dimensions of  
Vulnerability: Risk and Poverty in Developing Countries “United  
Nations University, World Institute for Development Economics Research  
(UNU-WIDER) Publications. (Book Chapter, Forthcoming, 2009).

Verheijen JPE and Minde IJ, Agricultural innovations: A potential tool  
to HIV mitigation. Journal of SAT Agricultural Research, 5 (1), 2007.

Verheijen JPE, Gender-sensitive agricultural interventions as tools  
for mitigating HIV and AIDS. Medical Anthropology 19 (2), 219-245, 2007.


Working Papers on HIV/AIDS by G&D
Working Paper 28: HIV/AIDS in the CGIAR Workplace: Model Policies and  
Practices
http://www.genderdiversity.cgiar.org/publications/genderdiversity_WP28.pdf

Working Paper 38: HIV/AIDS Policy in the CGIAR Workplace: The  
Challenge of Implementation
  http://www.genderdiversity.cgiar.org/publications/genderdiversity_WP38.pdf


More tips and tools:
Visit G&D’s inclusive workplace link to find out more about HIV/AIDS http://www.genderdiversity.cgiar.org/inclusiveworkplace/index.htm

See G&D’s Cybrary of Best Links on ‘HIV/AIDS and the workplace’, at: http://www.genderdiversity.cgiar.org/resource/links_hiv_aids.asp

To see G&D's previous newsletters, go to: http://www.genderdiversity.cgiar.org/newsletter/GD_news.asp

If you prefer to be removed from our mailing list, go to: http://www.genderdiversity.cgiar.org/newsletter/un_subscribe.asp

I hope you find these resources helpful.   As usual, your feedback is  
warmly invited.

With warmest regards,
Vicki


Vicki Wilde, Director
CGIAR Gender & Diversity Program

ICRAF, United Nations Avenue
P.O. Box 30677 - 00100
Nairobi, Kenya
Tel: 254-20-7224240 or 1-650-833-6645
Email: v.wilde at cgiar.org
Website:  www.genderdiversity.cgiar.org

  
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