Proceedings second LAPNARD network meeting
16 – 28 May 2004 Zambia

page

1. Introduction 2
2. LAPNARD, short overview of the history 2
3. LAPNARD, outline of the network
4. The second LAPNARD network meeting 6
4.1. Introduction 6
4.2. Rapid Rural Appraisal on Orphans and Vulnerable Children. 7
4.2.1 Introduction 7
4.2.2 Objective of the study and research questions 7
4.2.3 Research methodology 7
4.2.4 Data Collection 9
4.2.5 Findings and conclusions 10
4.2.6 Recommendations 11
4.3. Defining Competencies of Rural Development Professionals
with regard to HIV/AIDS issues 12
4.3.1 Introduction 12
4.3.2 Objective of the research and research questions 12
4.3.3 Research methodology 13
4.3.4 Data collection 13
4.3.5 Preliminary findings and conclusions 14
4.4. LAPNARD policy paper and country groups 14
4.5. Special interest sessions 16
4.5.1 Is HIV/AIDS a threat to rural development? The example
of Kagera region in Tanzania, by Bedan Masuruli, Tanzania 17
4.5.2 Anti-AIDS clubs in colleges and universities,
by Birhanu Biazin, Ethiopia 20
4.5.3 Nutrition and food based approach to care and support for
HIV/AIDS orphan headed households, by Charity Gatari, Kenya 22
4.5.4 Integration of HIV/AIDS with agriculture in Uganda,
by Sserwanga Joseph, Bukalasa Agricultural College, Uganda 25
4.5.5 The impact of HIV/AIDS on orphans vulnerable children
in Zambia by Phyllis Bune Kanyemba 28
4.5.6 Review of Prevalence and Characteristics of AIDS Orphans
in Ethiopia, By Gebrehiwot Hailemariam, Ethiopia 30
4.5.7 Overview of other papers 34
4.6. Production of the documentary 34
5. LAPNARD, the future 34
References 34
Abbreviations 35



1. Introduction

Since December 2000 participants and staff of the international course Teaching in Rural Extension and Training (TREAT) of Larenstein University of Professional Education have been dealing with the issue of HIV/AIDS and Rural Development. This resulted in a research project* and in the founding in 2002 of a professional network on AIDS and Rural Development for alumni of Larenstein University and Wageningen University, called LAPNARD. This network was launched at the end of a meeting of two weeks in Arusha, Tanzania in June 2002, during which the outline of the network was defined with participants from Ethiopia, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania and Zambia. In May 2004 a second meeting of the LAPNARD network was organised in Zambia in order to further strengthen the network structure. Besides that the situation of orphans and vulnerable children (OVC’s) in rural areas and their position within the rural service delivery was explored by means of a rapid rural appraisal, in order to formulate possible interventions for Rural Development Professionals. Other activities during that meeting comprised research activities with regard to specific competencies of Rural Development Professionals facing the challenge of HIV/AIDS, presentations of the participants about HIV/AIDS and rural development in their home-countries and the production of a documentary on OVC’s in Zambia.

Both network meetings were financially supported by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the Netherlands, which also has provided subsidies for activities of the country groups within the network.

This report first gives a short overview of the history of the LAPNARD network, a description of the outline of the network, including its objectives and activities and then focuses on the second network meeting in Zambia. The various activities undertaken will be described and the results will be presented. The annexes contain among others the list of participants, the terms of reference for the Rapid Rural Appraisal (RRA) and the general policy paper of LAPNARD.

Detailed reports can also been found on the website: www.lapnard.com.

2. LAPNARD, short overview of the history

The film: ‘An exciting story’

In December 2000, students of the international course ‘Teaching in Rural Extension and Training’ of Larenstein University produced the short video film ‘an exciting story’. The film is a romantic soap about two lovers, resulting in pregnancy of the girl. The recording of the film created a lot of rumours and gossiping by outsiders (“are they really in love?“). The students participating in the filming felt uncomfortable and strongly hesitated to participate.

The turning point was during the evaluation of the course. Participants realised that the distance they usually experience when discussing rural issues was absent in the case of AIDS. They all felt deeply involved in the issue. These experiences gave rise to the awareness that they, as rural development professionals, should be more competent to deal with the HIV/AIDS issue.

The research project: ‘Exploring our responsibility’

A group of students from Ethiopia, Zambia and Tanzania took the opportunity of a thesis project to continue with the topic of AIDS and Rural Development. Being far away from their home situation, enabled them to elaborate on an issue they otherwise may have felt too delicate to deal with. They started with the analysis of their own experiences during the film production. Elizabeth Chintu (Zambia) for example wrote: “sexual life is not a topic discussed in public. However, when AIDS strikes nothing is hidden…”.
Their joint research project ‘HIV/AIDS prevention and rural development professionalism: Exploring our responsibility’ is composed of thesis projects. It includes the following topics: HIV/AIDS and rural development, facilitation of delicate issues, media and media campaigns in the context of HIV/AIDS and rural development and professional networks for capacity building.

The final conclusion of this research project was that the AIDS epidemic has a strong negative impact on the farming systems and rural development in their respective countries. HIV/AIDS issues are positioned in the Ministries of Health and seldom in the Ministries of Agriculture and other rural institutions. The rural development professionals, who should engage themselves, are not trained nor competent to deal accordingly with HIV/AIDS related issues. The late Betty Shezongo questioned in her thesis the hesitating attitude of rural development professionals when she wrote “keeping silent only breads myths and misconceptions about the disease and the stigmatisation of those who are infected”.
The students proposed ‘capacity building for rural development professionals’ to be the focus of rural policies and to create a professional network for Larenstein alumni.

Impact assessment of AIDS on Rural Development

Rebeca Mongi, a Tanzanian TREAT student of the 2001/02 cohort initiated an in-depth study on the impact of AIDS on farming systems with a case study of Moivaro village, Arusha region. She presented a paper during the FAO expert meeting (FAO–Comité Nederland) in Utrecht, May 2002. This issue was further elaborated by Larenstein staff and initial ideas about a quick scan instrument for impact assessment were described and presented for UNAIDS at the African Evaluation Association (AfreA) Conference in Nairobi.

The first LAPNARD network meeting in Arusha, Tanzania

Staff members from Larenstein and Wageningen University formulated a proposal for a meeting with alumni of both institutes in Africa to formulate objectives, strategies and activities for a professional network on AIDS and Rural Development. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs agreed to finance the meeting and additional costs.
In June 2002 this first network meeting took place in Arusha, Tanzania. Tanzanian alumni were responsible for the programme and organisation. One of the characteristics of the programme were the field visits undertaken in Arusha and Kilimanjaro region to experience and analyse the impact of HIV/AIDS on the rural community. Visits took place to the Tumaini women group, to the Moshi group of People Living with HIV/AIDS and the Rainbow Centre. A creative session with the children of two orphanages was organised and the quick scan instrument for impact assessment of HIV/AIDS on rural development was further elaborated and tested in Moivaro village. All these activities served the design and formulation of the LAPNARD network.

Concrete areas of interventions have been defined:
• Prevention of HIV infection by the promotion of use of condoms and by addressing in general terms relationships and sexual behaviour, in the conviction that it will help to trigger openness about delicate issues related to HIV/AIDS. This task lies with Rural Development Professionals considering the importance of reaching the rural areas, which is their operational territory.
• Food based care for people living with HIV/AIDS. The life of People Living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) will be improved in both qualitative and in quantitative terms when they manage to grow the appropriate food.
• Rural based enterprises can serve as a source of income for PLWHA and other members of AIDS affected households.
• Appropriate technologies, especially labour saving devices, are required for PLWHA and for new client groups such as orphan headed and single headed households.
• The development and production of appropriate IEC (information, education and communication) materials. More and better material is needed. In Arusha materials were studied of the various countries participating and it was realised that it is not known yet how to deal with the mixture of messages for different target groups.

The results of the first LAPNARD network meeting have been published in proceedings (Witteveen, Brinkman & Hailemariam Birru, 2002), the LAPNARD network has been launched officially at June 28, 2002. In addition, recording of a film about the professional challenges of LAPNARD members in the context of HIV/AIDS in rural communities took place. This film, “Kilio, the cry” has had its premiere at World AIDS Day, December 2002 in Amsterdam.

The second LAPNARD network meeting in Zambia

After the first network meeting a more detailed programme to strengthen the network and the activities of the country groups within the network was formulated and a second network meeting was proposed. The same format for the meeting was applied: participation of an equal number of alumni from each of the five countries, more or less equal representation of professional backgrounds (livestock, extension, gender, agricultural technology, etc.), shown commitment with the theme of the meeting, a local organising committee and active contributions to the program.

In May 2004 this meeting took place in Chibombo District and Lusaka District in Zambia. Chapter 4 provides a more detailed report of this meeting.

3. LAPNARD, outline of the network

Objectives of the network

• Create an avenue for Larenstein and Wageningen alumni for mutual encouragement to exchange ideas on how to deal with HIV/AIDS as rural development challenge
• Share experiences and information and update the knowledge and skills on HIV/AIDS and rural development in order to build the capacity of network members
• Advocate for mainstreaming of HIV/AIDS issues in rural development organisations including the own organisations.
• Use effective Information, Education and Communication (IEC) methodologies in addressing issues resulting from the HIV/AIDS pandemic
• Stimulate and facilitate the development of appropriate agricultural technologies for HIV/AIDS affected households
• Advocate the importance of food security to HIV/AIDS affected households and the use of a food-based approach for PLWHA
• To promote networking with other relevant stakeholders and international organisations.
Activities
The activities of the general LAPNARD network in order to achieve these objectives are as follows:
• Co-ordinating country networks
• Organising resources and funds
• Organising regional meetings
• Supporting of LAPNARD country groups e.g. capacity building
• Production and distribution of IEC materials
• Updating and maintaining the LAPNARD website
• Promoting research activities focussing on the exchange of good practices including playing an advisory role to country groups
• Monitoring and evaluation of LAPNARD activities and achievements.

Organisational structure

During the Arusha workshop the LAPNARD structure was defined and visualised. LAPNARD is composed by five country groups and a sixth group made up of Larenstein and Wageningen University, according to the figure below. These six groups all relate to LAPNARD, which is the central and virtual entity.

























The interrelationship of the country networks, LAPNARD and Larenstein and Wageningen universities was defined as follows:
1. Country to country network relation
- Information and experience exchange of extension strategies, methodologies and materials, agricultural technology packages, IEC methodologies
- Mutual encouragement

2. Country groups to LAPNARD network relation
- Contributions to publications, newsletters and the website
- Proposals for funding
- Materials
- Discussions on the website

3. Larenstein & Wageningen to country group relation
- Facilitate information flow
- Assist in training opportunities
- Assist in elaborating or writing proposals
- Assist in looking for funds
- Promoting HIV/AIDS and rural development research programs in their respective organisations

4. Larenstein & Wageningen to LAPNARD
- Facilitation of the establishment of LAPNARD website
- Management of the website
- Publication and distribution of the newsletters
- Backstopping activities
- Financial management of LAPNARD activities


4. The second LAPNARD network meeting

4.1 Introduction

The second LAPNARD network meeting took place from 16 till 28 May 2004 in Chibombo and Lusaka District, Zambia. The central theme of the meeting originally was ‘orphan-headed households’. One of the objectives of the meeting was to define how these households are threatened in their livelihoods, and more specifically how rural development professionals can or should approach and support them in their production and food security strategies. During the meeting the focus shifted from 'orphan-headed households' to ' the position of orphans and vulnerable children (OVC's) in rural communities'. A rapid rural appraisal was undertaken to explore this issue. In line with the original visual learning strategy of LAPNARD, during the workshop a documentary style film on this issue was recorded.
Another objective of the meeting was to further establish the organisation of the respective country groups, their strategies, methodologies and design an appropriate monitoring and evaluation system.
Parallel to these activities a small team carried out research activities for the research on competencies needed by Rural Development Professionals with regard to HIV/AIDS issues in their daily practice. This research is part of the LAPNARD programme 2003-2005, which is financed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The strategy to achieve these objectives had the following characteristics:
A heterogeneous body of participants was selected. A call for participation was send to all international alumni of the last seven years of Larenstein and Wageningen. Applicants were asked to indicate their professional experience with the AIDS epidemic.
Selection of the applicants pursued:
• A more or less evenly distribution among LAPNARD members of the five countries Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania Uganda, and Zambia.
• An interesting variety in professional backgrounds and disciplines
• Concrete input and active participation during the meeting
• A fair representation regarding gender division, AIDS experience and others.
• Some of the participants of the first network meeting need to be present to ensure continuity. Recommendations made on participation of individuals by the country groups will be taken into consideration.

The meeting had to be actual, relevant and had to focus on experiential learning, for that reason it was organised in close co-operation with LAPNARD Zambia.
The programme of the network meeting was organised in such a way that active participation was guaranteed. The programme was made up of the following elements:
• Sessions dedicated to the make the network operational, organised and facilitated by Larenstein and Wageningen staff and ‘founding’ LAPNARD members.
• Visits to relevant sites and organisations organised by LAPNARD Zambia.
• Fieldwork in relation to the issue of orphan headed households
• Research activities for the research on Rural Development Professionals competencies
• Special interest sessions facilitated by participants (based on indicated contributions during application).

The meeting had a product oriented focus and had to result in the following products:
• A research report about the fieldwork in relation to orphan headed households
• A preliminary report on the competencies of Rural Development Professionals with regard to HIV/AIDS issues
• renewed LAPNARD policy paper
• LAPNARD country network papers indicating members, organisation, activities, strategies etc.
• Papers of the special interest sessions
• A documentary visualising LAPNARD with a focus on orphan headed households

4.2 Rapid Rural Appraisal on Orphans and Vulnerable Children.

4.2.1 Introduction

The HIV/AIDS scourge has, among other things, led to an alarming increase in the number of orphans and vulnerable children, many of whom are living in orphan / vulnerable children (OVC) households. Many LAPNARD members perceived this issue as a concern in their work. All too often, the pattern is that in an infected rural household, both parents and the youngest child die. The prognosis is that very soon, the coping capacities of rural communities reach their limits. Migration to towns, with consequently young commercial sex workers, higher incidences of drug abuse and youth gangs, could then be a survival strategy for the remaining orphaned children.

LAPNARD wished to explore the issue of orphans and vulnerable children and in rural households and selected this as the theme for the 2004 workshop in Zambia. There was need to define how OVC households are threatened in their food security, how rural development professionals can approach them and how they can be supported in their production strategies.

4.2.2 Objective of the study and research questions

The objective of the study was to articulate and enhance the position of the orphans/ vulnerable children headed households in the rural service delivery system.

To achieve the above objective, the following research questions were formulated:
• Do OVC headed households exist?
• What are the needs and expectations of the various numbers of OVC headed households?
• To what extent do rural service delivery organisations respond to the needs of OVC households?
• What are the various coping strategies that OVC headed households employ in order to exist as a household.

4.2.3 Research methodology

The above research questions were elaborated by developing more specific questions to explore the issue of OVCs. These formed the terms of reference, which circulated in the wider LAPNARD network for comments before being adopted. The final text of the terms of reference is attached in Annex 2.

A research working group, selected from participants of the LAPNARD meeting in Zambia, developed a modality for conducting the study. The working group developed a research model assuming the location (type of household) of OVC and assuming patterns of movement or evolution from one location to another or from one type of household into another. Based on this model checklists for eliciting responses were elaborated for three categories of respondents:
• Orphans and vulnerable children (OVC)
• Adults (relatives or foster parents of the OVC)
• Members of government organisations and other organisations

For the research the following definitions have been used:

1. Double orphans: children who lost both parents, mother and father before they reach 15 years age. Their situation varies according to the following factors.

Double orphan children who are living in a vulnerable situation with a lot of instability in terms of the family structure. These are known as orphan/ vulnerable children (OVC). These double orphans can live in different situations, such as:

• Double orphans who are living with foster parents. These parents are not the relatives of the children. However, they do take care of the children sometimes full time or part time, e.g. during holidays and then they come back to the orphanage after the holiday.

• Double orphans who are completely supported by the orphanage.

• Double orphans who end up in the street with nobody taking care of them, are much more vulnerable.

• Double orphans who are living with elderly grand parent headed households, where the children are used for child labour, making them vulnerable. In these families, parental guidance may be minimal making their future uncertain.

2. Maternal orphaned children who lost their mother before they reach the age of 15. Some of these orphans are in the orphanage such as in the children town in Chibombo district. Some are living with the extended family, because the father disappeared after the death of the mother.

3. Paternal orphaned children who lost their father before they reach the age of 15. As in most parts of Africa, in rural communities the father is the breadwinner of the family. After the death of the father, the mother lacks income and may end up selling some property including the house. Such families leave the place and move to towns e.g. one family which moved from Ndola to Lusaka and sent the children to the orphanage centre.
Sometimes, after the father has died the mother gets married to another husband leaving the children behind and such a household is de facto a child-headed household. E.g. a family in Mumwanga consisting of seven children, living on their own, who get visited by their remarried mother occasionally.








Figure 1 below shows the model that guided the research.























Figure 1: Location of OVCs

The research team used the above model and the research questions to develop instruments for data collection from various categories of respondents, namely; orphaned children, adults who are guardians or single parents of orphaned children and institutions including orphanages and other rural development service providers. The instruments developed can be found in Annex 3.

4.2.4 Data Collection

The fieldwork of the research was undertaken in Central Province, Zambia, in the districts of Chibombo, Kapiri Mposhi and Kabwe. It was complemented further by data from Lusaka district and Chongwe district in Lusaka Province. The overall study lasted approximately three months with two months of secondary data collection and two weeks of primary data collection and analysis.

The purposeful sampling method was used for selecting institutions, based on the relevance in rural service provision. These institutions included Government, NGOs, International organisations and Faith Based Organisations.
Random sampling was mostly used for the rural client group (PLWHA, female-, orphan- and grandparent headed housed).

A desk study was undertaken to provide theoretical background and generate explorative terms of references using email discussions with research teams members from Uganda, Zambia, Tanzania, Ethiopia and Kenya. Research questions were developed through the same procedure. The desk study also resulted in a reader for all LAPNARD members who were to participate in the research.

Background information was also obtained from research/studies undertaken, by LAPNARD members prior to the fieldwork. The presentations touched a number of issues including impacts of AIDS on Orphan and Vulnerable Children in rural communities’, AIDS and pastoral communities in Kenya, AIDS and fishing communities along the River Nile basin in Uganda and Nutrition and the food-based approach in Kenya.
LAPNARD Zambia members elaborated a farming system diagram as a baseline for the research activities. See Annex 4 for the diagram.

A rapid rural appraisal was the basic methodology used for this research. A total of 25 LAPNARD members composed six research teams.

The participants, who collected the data, received a guideline regarding the interviews of the rapid appraisal, with instructions on how to interview children. They were also encouraged to carry out precise observations of the household situation.

Informal field visits were carried out with focus group discussions and personal interviews with rural client groups (female, orphan, and grandparent headed households).
Formal meetings were also conducted for institutional departmental officers to get information on the broader issues related to HIV/AIDS and OVC headed households. Photography and video coverage was utilised to document the process.
Triangulation was used to validate the data collected, by obtaining data from different sources.

4.2.5 Findings and conclusions

The study complemented the initial model with new types of households and patterns of movement or evolution from one location to another or from one type of household into another. A driving force behind the rural urban migration is orphan hood and poverty in general but a recognised pattern is that (single or double) orphaned children are brought to town with promises of education, while in reality ending up in domestic labour. This is often related to child labour and abuse, a further displacement then is to street work.

Early marriage is an escape route, mentioned for girls. Whereas early marriage refers to some kind of established relationship, the researchers also have come across several orphaned girls with a baby without any relationship to the father.
Fosterparents were not included in the initial model.
Interviews with children and adults indicate that patterns of rural – urban migration seem quite irreversible. One example of an effective programme for re-integration of former streetchildren into an orphanage with a agri-productive orientation can be found in DAPP children town.

Grandparents mostly headed the extended families encountered during the study.






















- Figure 2: Location of OVC’s, improved version

Other relevant conclusions are:

• Orphan and vulnerable children headed households exist in rural Zambia. These households face severe material and psychosocial problems, most of them are extremely poor, food insecure and suffer from uncertainty about the nearby future.

• In most other households orphans and vulnerable children are frequently found in numbers above 3. The term extended family seems to refer more to ‘extension’ rather than to integration into the nucleus family.

• Rural service delivery organisations have not yet recognised, nor articulated policies formulated to address the position of OVC headed households.

• A trend is noticeable that orphan hood and extreme poverty leads to enhanced rural – urban migration that ends eventually with commercial sex work, early unwanted pregnancies and HIV infections.

• Support to the OVC’s is limited, mostly provided by NGO’s with a focus on meeting immediate needs rather than strategic needs.

• A rapid appraisal is good to indicate trends and issues. It is fast and action orientation but needs to be complemented with further analysis and studies.

4.2.6 Recommendations

The recommendations can be summarised as follows:

• Rural service delivery organisations develop policies and practices addressing the position and needs of OVC’s in rural Zambia.

• The concept of child labour is useful as a meaningful concept for further analysis and research.

• Accessibility to education needs to be enhanced in terms of fees, walking distance and absence of stigmatisation.

• The re-conceptualisation of an extended family with many OVC’s as a grouping of socio-economic units, which needs to be approached separately by rural service providers rather than considering them as a homogenous group with one household head.

• The consideration that agricultural production and food security strategies are of paramount importance to keep the rural communities sustainable and prosperous.



4.3 Defining Competencies of Rural Development Professionals with regard to HIV/AIDS issues

4.3.1 Introduction

Although the full impact of the HIV/AIDS pandemic is not clear, it is certain that it has taken a firm grip on livelihoods in rural areas. Nearly every household is badly afflicted by the loss of its family members, the presence of sick and dying persons, orphans to care for, etc. In other words, rural families are increasingly burdened by a considerable reduction of the family labour force, steadily increasing health care and funeral costs and severe food security risks.
Accelerated agricultural and rural development is the only promising way to mitigate negative and harmful effects the HIV/AIDS pandemic causes in rural areas. Yet, so many efforts have failed. One of the reasons identified is that rural development professionals do not have the competencies to deal with the complex issues surrounding the disease.

One of the activities of the LAPNARD project is the research ‘Defining competencies for Rural Development Professionals dealing with HIV/AIDS’, part of which has been carried out during the second LAPNARD network meeting. The research findings in the context of the LAPNARD project are assumed to be representative for many areas in Sub-Saharan Africa and can be applied to other areas with related problems.

The rural development professionals (RDPs) that are the focus of the research are the middle level managers in the agricultural sector. People who directly work with the rural population or persons who give direction to staff, working in the field with farmers. RDPs can be involved in rural development training, policy and planning, project management and/or monitoring and evaluation.

4.3.2 Objective of the research and research questions

The objectives of the research are:
 To identify competencies required for RDPs to effectively address the needs of rural client groups affected by HIV AIDS, related to agriculture, and food security.
 To define recommendations for training and education needs of RDPs working in this field.

In the last decade the importance of the issue of competence development is growing. Many organisations started using the concept of competencies, as a reaction to changes in society and accordingly to changes in their management. An overwhelming diversity of notions concerning the concept of competence emerged. Mulder (2001) developed a working definition, which we is being used in this research: competence is the capability of a person or an organisation to reach specific achievements. (p.152). In his article a few other remarks concerning competencies are meaningful for the research into HIV/AIDS related competencies. Competencies comprise of integrated meaningful clusters of knowledge, skills and attitudes and competencies are neither explicitly nor externally obvious. They are abilities that become apparent by a certain achievement in a specific situation. Levels of competencies in an individual can, therefore, only be inferred by analysing achievement.

The main research question for this study is:

Which (new) competencies are required for RDPs to effectively address the needs of rural client groups affected by HIV AIDS, related to agriculture and food security?

On the basis of the central question the following sub questions have been formulated:

1. What are the current competencies of RDPs?

2. What changes do RDPs face related to their profession?
a. Interaction with client group
b. Agricultural practices
c. Within their organisation

3. What are the required competencies in the context of HIV/AIDS?

4.3.3 Research methodology

A desk study provided the theoretical background. The research has been elaborated in close contact with the RDPs. Students of the international courses of Larenstein and WUR, organised individually and in focus groups have contributed to the initial list of (clustered) competencies, by generating competencies using case studies complemented with their own experiences.

Individual in depth interviews with current international students of Larenstein completed this initial exploring research.

Field research during the Zambia workshop consisted of:
• investigation of current competencies of LAPNARD Members during the Zambia workshop, using questionnaires and in-depth interviews
• inventory of competencies required to deal with HIV/AIDS issues, using questionnaires and in-depth interviews
• case study exercise, exploring opinions about competencies related to specific field situations
• study among rural service organisations in Zambia, by means of semi-structured interviews conducted during RRA in Chibombo and Kabwe, Zambia and in-depth interviews of government staff of the agricultural sector in Lusaka.

Finally it is foreseen that the LAPNARD country group members will contribute to the research by validating the findings of the above activities in their respective countries. They might follow the same research procedure as during the Zambia meeting, using for example: focal group discussions with fieldworkers and in-depth interviews with RDPs.

4.3.4 Data collection

During the network meeting 24 rural development professionals were interviewed about the general competencies needed in their profession, the changes they face in their work in interaction with clients, in the agricultural practices in their area and in their office. Finally they were questioned about which competencies are specifically required to deal with HIV/AIDS issues in their work.

A focus group discussion was held with 15 camp and block officers, who had come to the district office for monthly briefing about agricultural technologies, and especially to prepare for an upcoming agricultural show at the district, provincial and national level. There were 8 women, seven men and one of their supervisors. Four were block officers, a position that comes with administrative responsibilities over 5-6 camps. Eleven were camp officers who are the frontline extension staff linking the ministry of agriculture and the farmers.

In-depth interviews were carried out with officials of various agricultural service organisations.

4.3.5 Preliminary findings and conclusions

Of all competencies mentioned with regard to HIV/AIDS, counselling skills were mentioned by far the most respondents. Apparently this is an important skill, that RDP’s feel they need. The quote below by a district agriculture officer confirms this need:
“We need skills to talk about HIV/AIDS. Although we all know that the disease is there, it is no longer a strange thing, thus no need for stigma. But even if we suspect some people are HIV positive or ill with AIDS, we don’t talk about it. Our mandate is agriculture and it is difficult to mention HIV/AIDS. Many issues play a role: our culture, age, confidentiality”.

In line with above, the attitudes considered important refer to assertiveness and readiness to take initiatives to address HIV/AIDS issues with farmers.
Regarding knowledge the respondents indicated the need for more knowledge on balanced nutrition for infected clients, in order to improve the quality and length of the lives of these clients.

Findings related to the questionnaire on competencies of the LAPNARD participants in the Zambia meeting will be processed and published at a later stage.


4.4 LAPNARD policy paper and country groups

During the network meeting in Zambia some sessions were dedicated to formulating the vision and mission of the general LAPNARD network and to reconsider the policy of the network. Besides that the country groups worked on the policy papers of the respective countries and formulated ideas on the organisational structure of each country network. It appeared that for some countries the structure of a professional association was the best option and for others the registration as a NGO was a better option. The country groups also developed plans for new activities and strategies.

The vision of the general LAPNARD network is: rural communities (men, women, boys, girls & PLWHA) with sustainable livelihoods.
The mission is to mitigate the impact of HIV/AIDS in rural communities by enhancing competencies of Rural Development Professionals and organisations.

The overall objective is to contribute to the prevention and control of HIV/AIDS issues in rural development and to the mitigation of the impact of the pandemic.
The text of the general policy paper can be found in Annex 5.

The country groups in general terms will carry out the following activities:

• realise an inventory of WUR and Larenstein alumni in order to identify potential network members to participate
• make an inventory of good practices, important experiences and actual issues in order to define for each country the state of the art considering AIDS and rural development and to document this in papers, website contributions and IEC material
• organise a national meeting to get the country group organised, to exchange knowledge and experiences and to define national strategies and activities
• organise IEC campaigns for specific HIV/AIDS issues
• further develop the quick scan tool for impact assessment of HIV/AIDS on rural development in the respective working areas of LAPNARD members.

Next to these general activities each country has its own focus:

1. Ethiopia: the country group has formulated a proposal to research the impact of HIV/AIDS on smallholder farmers in the district of Alamata, Northern Tigray, Ethiopia. For the purpose of advocacy and mainstreaming the members have established contacts with a few organisations in Ethiopia like: Association of Save the Generation of Tigray; these are PLWH and are willing to offer training or sensitise people about HIV prevention, the Regional HIV/AIDS prevention and control secretariat, the National AIDS Resource Center and the Organisation of Social Services for AIDS (OSSA).

2. Uganda: The Government of Uganda has recognised HIV/AIDS as one of the major challenges to human development at individual, community and national levels (Min. Of Finance, Planning and Econ. Devt., 2003). The disease poses a grave burden to the health of the people, reduces their incomes, threatens their livelihoods, and poses a threat to the economy and security of the nation. The overall prevalence of HIV/AIDS was estimated at 6.5% in 2002. The country group has formulated a project with four objectives, namely:

To hold a first LAPNARD network meeting for at least 50 rural development professionals by end of November 2004. The following topics will be part of the program:
• Formation of task forces by members on selected thematic areas. This will be the major strategy of the organisation, as membership is expected from different organisations with different interests, from all over the country.
• Inventorising good practices in the fight against HIV/AIDS from all over the country and selecting the best practices that will later be documented.
• Competency profiling of members that will result into identification of training needs among the members. This will later be used for developing training programmes for the members.
• To establish a mechanism for the operation of LAPNARD (Uganda) by end of January 2005.
• To develop a mechanism for networking with other rural development organisations dealing with HIV/AIDS by June 2005.
• To document best practices by rural development institutions, communities and individuals involved with HIV/AIDS in Uganda, by end of April 2005. Some organisations in Uganda have done commendable jobs in combating HIV/IADS. LAPNARD (Uganda) could learn from the experiences of such lessons and also avoid duplication of effort.

3. Kenya: LAPNARD-Kenya will be registered as a professional group under the NGO council. A country meeting is proposed to be held at Limuru or Kisumu for 25 alumni members in May 2005. The agenda of the meeting will include:
- Introduction to the Competencies on HIV/AIDS and Rural Development
- Formalise membership of the Kenyan Network in a participatory approach
- In the meeting the participants will present selected papers on what they are doing about HIV/AIDS in their workplaces.
- There will be one Key note paper on “HIV/AIDS AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT: THE PROFESSIONAL CHALLENGE”
Research will be an integral part of the LAPNARD-Kenya core activities. The immediate envisaged research activity is to explore the status of the Orphan and Vulnerable Children households in Kenya. Research activities will be formulated at each national meeting and will focus on OVC research in Western Province, Central and Coast province and assessment on how livestock income generating activities can contribute to food security of households affected by HIV/AIDS in Rift Valley province.
4. Tanzania: after the Arusha meeting LAPNARD-Tanzania has managed to achieve the followings:
• 37 members have been mobilized to join LAPNARD
• Email address list for LAPNARD – Tanzania has been established: Lapnardtz@yahoo.com
• Six members from LAPNARD Tanzania were appointed to be members of the task force for HIV/AIDS in rural development by the Director of Training Institutes in the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security.
• Collaborating with some NGOs to carry out specific activities e.g. sensitisation of community leaders for peer group training (Tabora NGOs Cluster ).
• The film Kilio was used for fund raising at Tengeru – Arusha by the Huruma Orphanage.

The country group will focus on exploration of concrete experiences on appropriate farming technologies for OVC’s.

5. Zambia: current estimates by the Ministry of Health indicate that the HIV adult prevalence rate in Zambia is 19.9%. This means that one in every five persons above the age of 15 is infected. There is further evidence that about 83% of the Zambians below the age of 15 years with most of them particularly in the 5 to 14 years are not yet infected.

Since the Arusha workshop LAPNARD–Zambia has achieved the following:
• Awareness campaigns were conducted during the 76th Zambia Agricultural show of 2002 during which brochures were distributed, and a report was prepared.
• Some members of the network are patrons of Anti AIDS clubs
• In an effort to mainstream HIV/AIDS activities members of the network have been involved in:
-Anti-AIDS clubs
-Developing extension packages including HIV/AIDS issues
-Integrating HIV/AIDS in the curriculum of training institutions
-Dissemination of information on HIV/AIDS through media.

Some of the activities planned for the near future are:
• LAPNARD awareness raising to alumni through agricultural show and adverts on radio, television and newspapers.
• Inventory and documentation of good practices on HIV/AIDS and Rural Development services like the use of food based approach
• Organise country meetings for LAPNARD members to exchange information on HIV/AIDS and Rural Development
• Promote exchange of information on low input and less labour intensive farming activities.

LAPNARD Zambia shall be registered as an association with the Registrar of Societies.

The policy papers of the respective countries can be found at the LAPNARD website.

4.5 Special interest sessions

During the network meeting several participants had prepared so-called special interest sessions. They presented facts and figures about the impact of HIV/AIDS in their respective countries or regions, with a focus on for example fishing communities, gender aspects, orphans and other issues. In this chapter some of the presentations and papers will be summarised. The full text of the papers can be found on the LAPNARD website.

4.5.1 Is HIV/AIDS a threat to rural development? The example of Kagera region in Tanzania, by Bedan Masuruli, Tanzania

HIV/AIDS SITUATION IN KAGERA REGION

The first 3 AIDS cases in Tanzania were reported in Kagera region in 1983. In 1986 the disease had spread to all regions in Tanzania mainland.(TACAIDS, 2003) In 1993, Kagera region had the third highest number of cumulative AIDS cases in the country at 6,646. Only Mbeya and Dar-es-Salaam had larger numbers. By 1996, Kagera cases climbed to 7,426 and in 2000 the accumulation of AIDS cases went up to 8,529. By the end of 2001, the region had reported 8,976 cumulative cases of AIDS.
Kagera’s share of the cumulative cases in 1993, 1996 and 2000 for mainland Tanzania was 9.0%, 8.0% and 6.5% respectively. Simulation model by NACP (National AIDS Control Program) estimate that only 1 out of 5 AIDS cases are reported (TACAIDS, 2004). Basing on these facts, an estimate of over 45000 cumulative AIDS cases have occurred in Kagera.

HIV prevalence among blood donors in Kagera was reported to be 17.7% (1999), 19.5% (2000) and 22.0%(2001) as shown in table 2.2. This shows an average increase in HIV prevalence of 1.433% per annum in the region. Going by this prevalence of 22%, it is estimated that 446,000 Kagera residents are HIV infected, out of the total population of 2.03 million.
This percentage of HIV prevalence in Kagera and given the fatality of the illness, HIV/AIDS can no longer be viewed as just a health problem. It has to be recognised as a development problem.

AGRICULTURE IN KAGERA AND THE IMPACT OF HIV/AIDS ON RURAL HOUSEHOLDS

Kagera region had a total population of 2,033,888 and 394,128 households (in the year 2002). Over 90% (343,000 out of 394,128 total households) in Kagera are engaged in crop and animal production. Out of 343,000 households, 33% (113,000) are engaged in crops and livestock production, 1600 households livestock alone and 229,000 (66%) crops alone.

The economic impacts at the household level in Kagera region include, increased costs, decreased productive capacity, decreased income and changing expenditure patterns at household level.
• Increased costs: smallholder farmers in the region are not beneficiaries of the National Health Insurance System. Medical costs associated with caring for the sick and bedridden must be borne by the family along with funeral expenses who die of the disease. Funeral costs appear to be even higher than medical expenses. A household study carried out by the World Bank in Kagera, revealed that on average US$ 60 is spent on an AIDS victim pre annum, 60% of which goes to funeral expenses and the remaining to medical care (World Bank 1993a). This means over three a quarter of the income earned per annum per person is spent on AIDS victims. This is an unbearable burden to the household. Since AIDS is predominantly a sexually transmitted disease, there is often more than one death in a household. As a result, numerous cases can be observed where a family’s entire savings, often meagre before the onset of AIDS, are completely spent, leaving the surviving family members without means.

• Decreased productive capacity: the second serious effect of HIV/AIDS on the farm household is the loss of labour and therefore decreased productive capacity in the household. Through sickness and subsequent death, family members have to set aside time to care for the sick and in the end neglect their farm or off-farm activities, with a subsequent loss of potential income. Labour intensive farming which is the common practice in Kagera with low level of mechanisation is also vulnerable to the impact of HIV/AIDS. In addition, traditional customs such as the time of mourning, which can last as long as 40 days depending on the importance of the dead family member and when no farming activities can be carried out, adversely affect labour availability and therefore decreased productive capacity of the household.

• Decreased income: during the illness phase of the disease, one of the first responses for those working in the informal sector is to move from directly productive activities into service-oriented jobs,(farming to selling goods) which are usually lower paid. This change allows the infected person to work when they can, as service jobs are generally less physically demanding. As a result, income falls, and as the illness progress and the ability to work decreases, dragging income down further.

• Change of expenditure patterns: at households level the expenditure on health care almost double for the benefit of the infected adult. However the non-infected members of the household receive less because of the disproportionate amount used to care for the ill adult. The increase in health care expenditure and the fall in income are accompanied by a fall in expenditure on basic needs. The shrinkage and reallocation of budget reduces food security within the home. The chances of malnutrition and sickness of other members are thereby increased.

SOCIAL IMPACT

AIDS has disrupted social roles, rights and obligations in Kagera. For the orphaned child there is often a premature entrance to burdens of adulthood, all without the rights and privileges-or the strengths associated with adult status. Becoming an orphan of epidemic is a sudden switch in roles. It is slow and painful.

Children caring for adults may experience the world going awry. A young girl of eight may care for siblings: she is unprepared to care for her mother, father or both. Coping with a parent who is weak and requires food cooked is one thing. Coping with a parent’s severe diarrhoea, declining mental function and mood changes is quite another. Children also become uncommonly familiar with death.

LONG TERM IMPACT OF HIV/AIDS ON HOUSEHOLDS AND COMMUNITIES: THE ORPHANS

The losses of adults in their productive prime reduce the capacity of households and communities. Simultaneously, extra costs are imposed upon these same households and communities. The main manifestation of these costs is orphaning resulting from AIDS deaths. Orphaning is a direct long-term consequence of the AIDS epidemic. In Kagera region by the end of 2000 there were a total of 128,442 orphans from AIDS. Kamwamwa, 2003 reported over 225,000 orphans by April 2003. The number shows orphans to have doubled within two years in Kagera. This is just the tip of the iceberg. This means AIDS is causing a more negative impact than expected and it is exacerbating poverty in the community. When comparing the number of orphans of 128,442 and 8,529 cumulative cases of AIDS recorded in 2000 there is a gross mismatch. It is highly improbable for each AIDS case to result in 15 orphans.(POPP 2003). It is therefore obvious that AIDS cases are grossly under reported.
Orphaned children are in many instances removed to the house of a relative, but there is evidence of a growth in the number of child-headed households. Both situations contribute to the vulnerability of orphaned children. Reports in Kagera suggest that the overwhelming majority of orphans are living within extended families, in their own communities, under great stress.

Figure 5.2 shows the impact of adult death on stunting among children under five in Kagera. What is striking about the sample is that orphaned children in the better-off households show the same rate of stunting as orphans in the poorer households.
Several explanations could account for this phenomenon. One is that stunting in both groups of orphans is due to paediatric AIDS or HIV-related disease such as tuberculosis. Another possibility is that some stunted orphans in households with more assets originally came from poor households and the stunting is a legacy of earlier poverty. It may also be the case that childhood nutrition deteriorates sharply after the death of an adult even in better-off households, because, the surviving spouse is failing with child-rearing responsibilities due to depression and grief.

Key: (a) = Households with more assets
(b) = Households with fewer assets

While extended families and community are currently willing to absorb orphaned children, it remains unknown whether families and communities will be able to provide assistance to the sheer numbers of orphans in the near future. Those orphans that are not absorbed into the extended family structures will face life inside child-headed households or on the streets. Their options are limited to finding jobs or resorting to crime. Girls are particularly vulnerable to exploitation and abuse. The HIV/AIDS epidemic will increase opportunities for sexual exploitation and abuse particularly of orphaned children.

IMPACT OF HIV/AIDS ON AGRICULTURE EXTENSION SERVICE

In Kagera region, HIV/AIDS has also a marked impact on the local extension service. Between 20% and 50% of the working time is lost because of the disease. Extension workers are often absent from work to attend funerals and care for the sick relatives. At the same time, several agricultural extension workers have contracted the disease and it has claimed the life of several qualified staff who may be difficult to replace. Their demise is more than just a loss in staff: it creates a vacuum in the structural organisation of the extension service. It is estimated that over 40 extension staff members have died between 1996 and 2004 from the disease.

This epidemic has also made it difficult for extension staff to meet farmers; if a meeting should coincide with a funeral of a farmer, staff or their relatives, the meeting has to be rescheduled As there were as many as 5 to 10 deaths a month in the community, such meetings were difficult to organise.

To varying degrees, three coping strategies are observed in Kagera:

• Altering household composition; or
• Withdrawing saving or selling assets; or
• Receiving assistance from other households.

CONCLUSION

The HIV/AIDS epidemic arrived in Kagera two decades ago. Manifestations of the epidemic (large-scale illness and death) and abject poverty in households and communities are underway as significant numbers of the population are already HIV-positive (22%).

Since agriculture is the backbone of the economy of Kagera region and Tanzania in general, and most agricultural workers are in the age group 0f 15-45 who are mostly affected by the epidemic, the impact of HIV/AIDS is gradually becoming noticeable as the epidemic spreads to rural communities. Production of food and cash crops is bound to suffer as the labour force and extension staff gets sick and die from AIDS. This scenario has already occurred in neighbouring Uganda where a missing generation of people is now lamented.
The conditions for replication of this horrendous scenario exist in Kagera in particular and Tanzania in general today. Ignorance, denial and unchanging sexual behaviour are pre-conditions for the scenario.

The clear message is that the epidemic and its impact may be ‘hidden’ within the household through ignorance and taboos. The community impact is also ‘hidden’; although the impact is clearly manifesting itself on an increasing scale every day. Yet the full magnitude of the coming disaster is already predetermined by the epidemiology of the epidemic.


4.5.2 Anti-AIDS clubs in colleges and universities, by Birhanu Biazin, Ethiopia

GENERAL BACKGROUND

The HIV/AIDS pandemic has affected the world population seriously and called the attention of organisations that are concerned with public health and development. The problem is very severe in sub-Saharan African countries including Ethiopia. The 2001 HIV/AIDS prevalence in Ethiopia is estimated about 6.6 percent (AIDS in Ethiopia, 2002). Urban HIV prevalence in Ethiopia continues to be high at 13.7 percent while it is 3.7 percent in the rural areas. The distribution is very fast in rural areas these days.

People living with HIV/AIDS in 2001 are estimated at 2.2 million including 2 million adults and 200,000 children. The highest prevalence of HIV is seen in the group 15 to 24 years of age. This figure is worrying as it represents recent infections encompassing the most economically productive segment of the society. Recent reports also displayed that about 25% of the newly born children are victims of HIV/AIDS in Sub-Saharan countries.

Even though it is not satisfactory, attempts have been made to limit the expansion of HIV/AIDS with its adverse effects. Governmental and non-governmental organisations to the level down to clubs are engaged in contribution to the efforts. These efforts have to be further strengthened to combat the hazardous effects of the pandemic. So far, the problem could not be addressed as a development issue, still being left only as a health problem and marginalised for health professionals.

ANTI-AIDS CLUBS

A lot of Anti-AIDS clubs in Ethiopia have long been organised by Government and Non-government organisations mainly encompassing both the infected and non-infected individuals. The clubs do have a paramount importance in increasing awareness and bringing behavioural change among the community. They focus in their education on preventive measures and the danger of stigma and discrimination.
The Anti-AIDS clubs in Colleges and Universities are classically working on the HIV/AIDS case. In Ethiopia they were organised in different colleges by volunteer students and staff members since 1999.

THE CASE OF WONDO GENET COLLEGE OF FORESTRY ANTI-AIDS CLUB

The club was established in 2001 with the aim of creating awareness about HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases among the people in and around Wondo Genet College of Forestry. Besides, the problem of unwanted pregnancy and family planning issues are also addressed. During its establishment, it had 250 volunteer members out of whom 210 were males and the rest 40 were females. It has started its activities with some budgetary and material support from the college.

The club has accomplished various activities:
• Educational film shows and get-togethers to initiate open discussions about the epidemic in different ways.
• Production and dissemination of pamphlets, flyers, displaying weekly messages, and planting posters in and around the college
• Education and experience sharing by invited guests for the college community and the people around
• Inviting HIV/AIDS victims in public gatherings to share their problems and the measures to be taken. The victims taught college community about the causes and consequences of stigma and discrimination.
• Dissemination of condoms to the college community and the people in the surrounding area.
• Regular survey to check the attitudinal and behavioural change in the people towards the problem.

Currently, not only the members of the club but also many people in the college community are well informed of the pandemic because of the Anti-AIDS club in the college. People could be able to talk about the epidemic freely and collect condoms with out fear.

ROLES OF ANTI-AIDS CLUBS

The HIV/AIDS epidemic is attacking mainly the youth and among these groups are students. College students should be aware of the problem and its impact on the socio-economic aspects and development endeavours. Accordingly, Anti-AIDS clubs in colleges and universities will have the following benefits.
 College students are the backbone of development endeavours and hence they have to be rescued from the HIV/AIDS epidemic through education while they are at University level. In this regard, Anti-AIDS clubs in Colleges and Universities will be of a paramount importance.
 Before they go out in the field, they should be familiar with the problem of HIV/AIDS so that they will take HIV/AIDS as a development issue rather than marginalizing the problem to health professionals.
 They will be one of the areas of intervention to mitigate the impact of HIV/AIDS in rural development.
 They will be channels to co-ordinate the ministry of health with the ministry of education and ministry of agriculture.
 The highest prevalence of HIV/AIDS is seen in the group 15 to 24 years of age. For most college students are under this age group, increasing their awareness will mitigate the dissemination.
 College students are potentials to forward options and opportunities in the fight against HIV/AIDS.

However, Ant-AIDS clubs do have a lot of problems to be solved. Usually, Anti-AIDS clubs have infrastructure paucity and financial problems. Therefore, they have to be sponsored and initiated. By and large, the roles played by Anti-AIDS clubs in colleges and Universities should not be overlooked.

4.5.3 Nutrition and food based approach to care and support for HIV/AIDS orphan headed households, by Charity Gatari, Kenya

BACKGROUND OF FOOD AND NUTRITION PROBLEMS FOR ORPHANS HEADED HOUSEHOLDS

Most families affected by HIV/AIDS experience extreme poverty. When parents and other family members are ill, their productivity decreases or stops altogether, and family income is reduced and spent on medical care. When death occurs, funeral expenses, which must be paid by the bereaved family members can be very high, causing families to go further into debt some times forcing the children to sell their parents assets leaving them with no resources for food production or to support their livelihood.

When a parent dies of HIV/AIDS they may leave their children under the care of elderly relatives such as grandparents or sometimes alone. The grandparents are often too old to earn a living (such as though food production or income generation) and indeed, may barely be able to survive themselves.

Parents may also die without passing on their agriculture and nutritional skills to their children, so that even those who manage to keep their land are unable to produce enough food for themselves and their siblings. Some times the children also lack skills, tools and money to buy the seeds, fertiliser or pesticides they need for efficient food production or crop diversification. These households are most affected by poor harvests and pests Reduced agricultural production leaves households with less food for their basic needs and fewer reserves for times of shortage. This leads to malnutrition and poor child growth and development

Land is very precious to an African man/woman; therefore after death you may also find unscrupulous relatives taking land and animals from orphaned children. Where children have no good Samaritan or neighbour to take care of their basic needs, they may become so impoverished that they decide to live on street.

Competing priorities, in most of the orphan headed households the children who assumes the role of parents have to drop out of schools or perform very poorly in schools. Many especially girls have to drop out of school to sometimes take care of their very young siblings and perform domestic duties. Lack of education or poor qualifications in schools facilitates for cheaper and exploitative and some times dangerous income earning activities such as commercial sex workers or some times casual jobs.

Many are the times that children in orphan headed households have slept hungry and cold since they don’t have food and their shelter and clothing’s are ragged. Some times these children are even forced to steal food from their neighbours for survival.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FOOD SECURITY FOR ORPHAN HEADED HOUSEHOLDS

It is clear that when children lose parents they become vulnerable. We need to empower and advocate for the orphans especially those who have taken parenting roles. We need to strengthen these households and community capacity to support orphan headed household to produce, secure food and provide good nutrition as follows;

• Orphan headed households should be trained to focus on growing food crops and keeping diary animals that will meet their immediate food and nutrition needs
• Encourage local communities/family members to support orphaned headed household in planting and harvesting, lending them equipment and tools, sharing knowledge, skills and experiences and also help in processing, transporting and marketing their produce. In Kenya in Limuru location the women groups and their communities use Share cropping concept. Here orphan headed household or orphans under the care of grandparents invite neighbors to work on their land and in return they share the produce.
• Support the orphans headed households to adapt agricultural methods to the reduced availability of people to do the work, while increasing their productivity and protecting food security. e.g. use of appropriate technology tools, communal planting and harvesting, crop diversification, changing to high yield, improved varieties of crops and animals breeds or crops that require less intensive inputs. Also utilizing ox ploughing with joint community ownership of animals and ploughs.
• Provide training in agriculture and animal husbandry for the orphan headed households and establish small-scale projects like animal husbandry enterprises. For example keeping of chicken or diary goats can support the orphans with eggs and milk, which can contribute a lot to their food nutrition needs.
• Strengthen agriculture extension services where available by introducing improved crop and livestock management techniques and ensure that rural and agriculture extension services reach orphan headed homes while providing seed grants to stimulate sustainable agriculture and establishment of small-scale agriculture.
• Where no agriculture extensions services exists we need to challenge the governments to provide this services especially since agriculture forms the backbone of most of African countries.
• Train field workers in communication and facilitation skills to have a multiplier effect. Encourage teamwork, networking and collaboration among field workers.
• Support initiatives that help orphans and vulnerable children develop practical survival skills. e.g. entrepreneurial and apprenticeship skills, grants for starting up income generating projects
• If water is available we should teach the orphans simple, inexpensive irrigation skills to grow vegetables in kitchen gardens e.g. the water used to wash dishes could be saved and used to water vegetables such as sukuma wiki, spinach, spring onions and local vegetables.
• In addition the orphans headed homes also require training on basic food processing skills to conserve farm produce rather than selling it such as:
• Making tomato paste/puree or sun dried tomatoes when they are in season
• Drying local vegetables
• Using local fruits to make jam
There are so many basic and local food-processing techniques that are used by women, which could be useful if adopted or taught to these children.
• Training sessions, visits to farms or successful on-going projects (e.g. women group projects) could also help in capacity building for the orphans and care givers because as they say people remember more what they see than what they hear.
• Introduce early maturing and drought resistant crop varieties, which are also useful in food production because this way, variations in climatic conditions are taken care of.
• Develop community/school gardens where teaching of agriculture skills and food production can be practiced. e.g. Farmers clubs in schools where the children contribute to planting and selling vegetables and this helps them develop agriculture, marketing and book keeping skills. Profits should go in supporting orphans.
• Enlist community volunteers, churches, women groups and the youth to help children and grandparents in their gardens.
• Integrate a nutrition component into agriculture development policies and programs.
• Support innovative and sustainable community strategies for improving food security. E.g. community grains banks, simple, locally owned and managed approach. This helps to secure food in areas affected by food shortage, famine and failed crop. Also improving crop preservation and storage methods which can prevent up o 30% of the usual wastage of fruits and vegetable due to lack of proper methods for storing and preserving e.g. putting neem leaves on the insiders of local granaries or use of solar dryers to destroy pests such as weevils in grain.
• Encouraging and supporting irrigation initiatives to ensure food security in the event of drought.
• Train orphans headed homes plus guardians’ on environmental conservation and management practices for sustainable agriculture e.g. agro-forestry, soil and water conservation practices and utilization of animal/ after harvest waste for soil fertility.

NUTRITION SUPPORT

• Train the orphans on how to develop and manage a home garden to improve nutrition and food security at households levels
• Promote small scale, community based agriculture and food processing to improve orphan household food security as it offers increased food, employment and income.
• Improving orphan headed homes with knowledge of good nutrition, emphasising natural, unprocessed, low cost, locally available foods. Use simple, locally available foods to illustrate how to make a balanced diet. This includes foods such as beans, peas, groundnuts, fruits and vegetable.
• Agriculturists together with the children and their caregivers can develop new recipes (for balanced diets) from local crops that are similar to local dishes.
• Teach the child headed home simple ways to prepare food that increase the nutritional value of meals and reduce fuel consumption e.g. avoid overcooking and use of energy saving baskets, or improved stoves; add fruit juices to porridge to make it nutritious.
• Introduce community meals scheme for younger children and community cooking in schools for children who are caring for siblings e.g. community members can donate to schools maize and beans and also volunteer to cook for the orphans
• Provide school meals or school based micro nutrient supplement programmes e.g. for Vitamin A and iron deficiencies
• Train teachers to educate school children on good nutrition in their curriculum.
• Improve rural water and power supply; to reduce time and energy required to fetch and clean or fuel for cooking and to help households prepare meals frequently. Or even practice sustainable agriculture.

CONCLUSIONS
Protecting the orphans headed household livelihoods requires integrated and collaborated efforts by all stakeholders in the society. Advocacy especially on the right of orphans within our societies is quite key especially to ensure that we create an enabling and supportive environment for the HIV/AIDS orphan headed homes. We need to secure their inheritance rights, ensure that they have access to education, health and other basic needs. Promote and protect their right to good nutrition and living conditions and ensure that their life chances are improved. And above all strengthen the economic coping capacity of the families and communities that supports them.

Governments also have a role to develop and reinforce laws and policies to protect increasing needs of these vulnerable children. They need to enforce these policies through the different ministries and agencies. And they have the ultimate responsibility to ensure that children who are falling through the safety nets of both the family and community are protected and have access to essential social services and especially food.

4.5.4 Integration of HIV/AIDS with agriculture in Uganda, by Sserwanga Joseph, Bukalasa Agricultural College, Uganda

INTRODUCTION

Agriculture is the major production sector in Uganda’s economy and the main livelihood of the rural people. It contributes 54% to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP); 90% of the country’s export earnings and over 80% of employment. The country has varying climatic conditions and soils suitable for agricultural productivity and production of a wide range agricultural produce. Thus, the importance of the agricultural sector to the country’s economy need not be over emphasised.
The HIV/AIDS epidemic has affected all age groups, more so, the youth and adults who provide most of the work force for agricultural productivity. HIV/AIDS and various factors have led to the number of children orphaned to rise tremendously in the country. Currently 1.7 million children have lost a parent or both and 3.5 million children are expected to be orphaned by 2010. The annual growth rate of orphans stands at 6.7% against an estimated population growth rate of 2.6%.

INTEGRATED APPROACH TO HIV/AIDS

Uganda has been internationally recognised for its efforts to fight against HIV/AIDS with marked reduction in the prevalence of HIV throughout the country. However, the long-term impact of the disease has had negative effect on the lives of the children and on the positive trends in the fight against the disease. The Government and a number of Non Governmental Organisations (NGO’s) have adopted an integrated community based approach that brings together community workers who interface regularly with families affected by HIV/AIDS. The team often comprises of a community based health worker, an agricultural extension worker, a nutritionist, a counsellor and an education worker. When there is shortage of qualified staff, the health worker offers the services of the HIV/AIDS counsellor and nutritionist. Similarly, the agricultural extension staff represents the nutritionist and/ or education worker. This is facilitated by a short course undertaken in the related field of study.

The professionals jointly work out training programmes and conduct field activities in a co-ordinated manner. On the other hand, this aims at making the best use of the limited and available resources at their disposal. NGO’s set up related departments i.e. agriculture, health/ and or nutrition and education for smooth running and co-ordination of field activities. Thus, holistically approaching the plight of families and children affected and infected by HIV/AIDS.

INTEGRATED ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF PROFESSIONALS

Counsellor
In the team shares the responsibility of helping people in the community to understand and accept their problems and think about possible solutions. Pre-testing counselling is given on information about HIV/AIDS (that is how HIV/AIDS is transmitted, not transmitted, how HIV can be prevented, what voluntary HIV counselling and testing is, meaning of test results and implications of test results to client), post test counselling and follow-up counselling to help one cope with test results and with any problems that may exist.

Health worker
Shares the responsibility of managing common illnesses and health problems among adults and children with HIV/AIDS. Home based care for children with HIV/AIDS is sometimes offered in form services and advice on medical and nursing care, nutrition, social care, love and support, spiritual care and emotional care.
More to that, often NGO’s offer free medical services or share the biggest part of the medical bills for orphan headed households and HIV/AIDS affected farm families. This is in an endeavour to help them keep strong and in position to work and provide for themselves other basic needs of life.
Water and sanitation is attended to as well. Water harvesting tanks are provided. Vulnerable and marginalized groups are given priority. Better sanitation is ensured by encouraging and establishing facilities like latrines, utensil dryers and preservation pots for drinking water.

Educationist
His efforts are geared towards keeping children in school and organising informal training for those who have dropped out of school. Is in charge of both formal and informal training offered to HIV/AIDS affected and infected farm families. Children under the programme are assisted with scholastic materials and school fees. School dropouts of various age groups receive vocational or apprenticeship training to equip them with the relevant knowledge and skills to earn a living. Emphasis, for that matter, is centred on skill acquisition rather than knowledge.

Nutritionist
Teaches and advises HIV/AIDS infected and affected rural families on a balanced diet and the value of good nutrition. Emphasis is laid on processing and preparing locally available foodstuffs in different ways. Mothers are counselled on the risks and benefits of breast feeding, allowing them to make an informed decision. Occasionally food aid is given to HIV/AIDS infected and affected farm families. At times it comes as food for work. The agricultural extension staff advises homes on which crops to grow for food and income generation. Those who comply receive food aid to ensure self-reliance in the future.

Other Services Offered under HIV/AIDS
The community is helped to build capacity to support people with HIV/AIDS. Community counsellors are trained to provide counselling services to persons affected by HIV/AIDS. Participatory training is given to some people in home-care for persons with HIV/AIDS. Workshops/seminars have been conducted on transmission, reduction and prevention of HIV/AIDS. Trained Peer Educators are facilitated to convey the message to a wider audience. Networks are being forged between Peer Educators, Counsellors, HIV testing Services and Schools around. Income generation activity workshops are conducted for the affected families to focus on household income and sustainability. Agriculture has a big stake in this.
- Role of Agriculture in the Integrated Approach
Because the livelihood of many people in developing countries depend on Agriculture for food and at times the only source of income, it should be given the due attention it deserves.

In Uganda a number of NGO,s have adopted a participatory approach on agricultural projects to increase agricultural productivity. Participatory Rural Appraisal has been used to work out peoples’ needs. Various project structure committees have been set up at parish and village level to manage the project and farmer Community Based Groups (registered farmers groups with common production interest) and Savings and Credit Groups. Orphans and female-headed households have been considered as vulnerable and marginalized groups. Farmer groups have Decision making and management capacity with regard to food security and income generations are approved through the structures and farmer groups.

Many households in rural areas depend on subsistence agriculture marked by low productivity of both food and cash crops, more so, those infected and affected by HIV/AIDS. Studies have revealed that there are critical areas that have to be addressed to solve household food insecurity and low income.

These include widespread ignorance and low level of awareness education, poor agricultural practices leading to low production, inadequate extension services and poor planning of farm enterprises, farmers’ inability to store produce, as well as poor farmer organisation and unfavourable marketing channels. More to that, over dependence on women labour for agriculture production, inaccessibility to farm inputs and improved varieties as well as environmental degradation due to cutting trees for firewood and charcoal.

Besides there in no participatory objective oriented planning at local level and the needs are divergent from those of the people who remain persistently marginalized i.e. women headed households and those infected and affected by HIV/AIDS.

On that note most rural based NGO,s have decided to base their activities on income generation and to ensure food security among subsistence rural farmers especially the marginalized.

ROLE OF THE AGRICULTURIST IN THE INTEGRATED APPROACH

The agriculturist, hence, is at the forefront of the initiative. It is upon him to carry out community sensitisation and mobilisation, train farmers in group dynamic, sustainable agriculture/ Low external input agriculture, improved home management, marketing strategies and distribution of capital production inputs.

To widen and improve on the delivery of extension services it has been seen right and fitting for the agriculturist to train Community Based Extension Agents (CBEAs). On the other hand, empowered farmers to take on the important aspect of extension delivery to fellow farmers. In absence of government extension staff and when activities of NGOs come to an end farmer extension workers can provide the services.

Sustainable agricultural was chosen because it minimises or excludes the use of agro-chemicals and pesticides, in favour of using natural alternatives, which can be produced within the individual’s farm or in the farming community. The benefits that can be reaped by especially small or subsistence HIV/AIDS infected and affected farmers are many.

The features of the Sustainable farm advocated for can be found in the article of Sserwanga Joseph at the LAPNARD website.

Vulnerable groups and marginalized farm families i.e. female and orphan headed households are provided with basic input in form of improved seed, exotic cocks and goats to upgrade local ones, farm implements e.g. hoes, wheelbarrow, slasher and panga. Artificial insemination is provided to upgrade cattle and improved bulls to cross breed. They receive extension advice and attention as much as possible. In addition, priority is given to them when agricultural production credit is offered to interested farmers at low interest.


4.5.5 The impact of HIV/AIDS on orphans vulnerable children in Zambia
by Phyllis Bune Kanyemba

Background information

Zambia has a population of 10.3 million according to 2000 Census. The country has been experiencing economic decline in the last three decades despite the ongoing extensive economic liberalisation programs. The standard of living is declining. It is estimated that 78% of Zambia’s population is living below poverty datum line. There is:

 Chronic malnutrition
 Insufficient access to basic social services such as health and education
 Formal sector offers limited opportunities
 Unemployment remains high
 Impact of HIV/AIDS on labour force indicates poverty will continue.

Zambian population has declined between 1990 and 2000. Currently the population growth rates 2.0% as opposed to 3.1 in the previous decade. HIV/AIDS has contributed to the impeded population growth rate.

Overview of HIV/AIDS in Zambia

HIV/AIDS is one of Zambia’s most challenging problems. It is estimated that 16 percent of people over age of 15 are infected with the virus. CBOH estimates that 842,000 adults and between 700,000 and 800,000 children are infected. Women more likely to be infected than men (18% women; 13% men). Infection peak is at 30-34 for women while for men are at 35-39 years. Infection rate in urban areas stands at 23% while in rural it is at 11%.

OVC situation in Zambia

Children on the Brink report of 2002 estimate that 12% of children less than 15 years are maternal or double orphans. Of these 76% are a result of AIDS. It is estimated that Zambia has nearly 1.2 million orphans.
Zambians have traditionally depended on the extended family in times of hardship. However, the HIV/AIDS pandemic has overstretched the traditional extended structure to the limit through absorption of additional children. Guardians are unable to meet cost of basic needs.

• Guardians and children-headed households face difficulties in providing sufficient food for the family members. Most children-headed households spend much of their time looking for piecework to provide adequate food for the household and managing the meagre food supplies.

• Most households lack sufficient money to have access to appropriate medicine and health care for both the orphans and themselves

• As household incomes dwindle with parents’ illness and death, most children stop attending school. Most guardians have no reliable source of income and in most cases they have to choose which child should go to which school or non at all.

• Shelter: many children have lost homes when a parent dies through property grabbing especially when the father dies. Previously in Zambia under the traditional setting, widows and children would be absorbed into the husband’s family and cared for. The property of the deceased would also be absorbed but not any more. Most would just be interested in property and not the children.

• Emotional impact of caring for the sick parents and death of parents.

Household coping mechanisms include:
• Reduced number of meals per day
• Withdrawing children from schools
• Using drugs
• Children heading households
• Prostitution
• Streetism

Efforts to mitigate to impact of the pandemic

A number of efforts have been put in place by different sectors in Zambia including the government. Among the efforts to try and address some of the problems include:

• Zambia signed convention on rights of a child in September 1990 and ratified it in December 1991
• Child Policy has been put in place.
• The SCOPE project: the project became operational in January 2000 through funding from USAID through FHI. Realising that a number of efforts were already being made by households, communities, districts to meet needs of OVCs and looking at the magnitude of the problem, the project did not set out to be a service provider. The project works to create partnership through and unite Government, FBO, and civil society in OVC work.

Overview of the SCOPE project

Project mitigates impact of HIV/AIDS through mobilising, scaling up and strengthening community based responses to OVC needs.

1. Project works with District Orphans and Vulnerable Children’s Committee (DOVCC ) to build their capacity to assess and respond to OVC situation
2. Works to unite multi-sectoral OVC stakeholders and encourages them to share workloads strategies and lessons learnt
3. Builds capacity of communities by encouraging them in participatory assessment of activities, for example: helps communities prioritise needs and identify solutions and trains communities in Financial Management.

Strategies employed by the project

Mobilisation
The project builds the capacity of District Orphans and Vulnerable Children’s Committee (DOVCC) or Community Orphans and Vulnerable Children’s Committee(COVCC) to mobilise households . This enables them to assist with prioritising community needs. The project also supports DOVCC to mobilise and build capacity of communities.

Capacity Building
This is an ongoing process. The following are areas of capacity building:
• Community and resource mobilisation
• Psychosocial Support
• HIV/AIDS
• Organisational development
• Skills training

Grants
Grants are provided to support households responses. These are for:
• Household economic security
• Protection of OVC
• Advocacy
• Psychosocial support
• HIV/AIDS

SCOPE accomplishment

Since the inception of the project the following has been achieved:

DOVCC and COVCC are put in place in all districts, the overlap in OVC service provision in SCOPE-OVC communities has been reduced, there is more sharing of information and communities recognise benefits of joining community effort.
The households that have benefited from the project have reported improvement in household incomes, more meals per day, children are back to school and able to meet medical fees. Project facilitates business management skills training, linkages to micro-financing institutions, and procurement of agricultural inputs.
Care givers and traditional leaders have been trained and Children’s camps have been conducted. The dissemination of information on HIV/AIDS issues has been achieved through: project brochures, flyers, newsletters, HIV/AID posters, radio programs, resource centres and dissemination foras.

FAILURES

1. Failure to meet immediate needs results in misdirection of resources e.g. households supported with agricultural inputs ends up selling them to meet.
2. Inadequate funding: SCOPE cannot fund all projects hence frustration especially for communities that have been mobilised.
3. Structures created at district and community level work on voluntary basis – sometimes lack commitment results in programmes not being monitored on regular basis.

4.5.6 Review of Prevalence and Characteristics of AIDS Orphans in Ethiopia, By Gebrehiwot Hailemariam, Ethiopia

Introduction

Ethiopia, with 3.6 million people living with HIV/AIDS, is third in terms of absolute number of HIV/AIDS infected people, following India and South Africa.
This has an important implication for development. Recent studies showed that the prevalence rate of the epidemic is 13.7 % in urban areas and 3.7% in rural areas with an average rate of 6.3% (MOH, 2002). Though the prevalence rate seems to be smaller in rural areas, there is an expectation that the trend would be higher in the years to come. This is mainly because the driving forces of HIV/AIDS transmission namely poverty, illiteracy, access to public services like health services are currently higher in the rural areas than in the urban.

The highest urban prevalence rates in Ethiopia are Bahir Dar (23.4 %), Jijiga (19 %,) Nazreth (18.7%), Mekele (17.2%), Maichew (16.8%), Adigrat (16.2%), Addis Ababa (15.6%) and Dire Dawa 15.2%) (MOH, 2002) .
This high HIV/AIDS prevalence has economic, social and demographic consequences, among others, it leaves vast number of orphaned children. The number of AIDS orphan children are raising and it is expected to increase in years to come. Despite the magnitude and severe consequences of the pandemic, data on prevalence and situation of AIDS orphan is lacking. The information on the magnitude and socio-economic conditions of AIDS orphans will have a greater contribution for governmental, community-based and non-governmental organisations to address the problems of and develop appropriate programs for the AIDS orphans.

The prevalence of AIDS orphans in Ethiopia
Studies have shown that AIDS orphans represent about 47 % of the total orphans in Ethiopia. This figure is very high compared to the figure mentioned above at regional level. According to MOLSA the prevalent rate of AIDS orphan in the total child population in major cities, small towns and rural areas are estimated to be 14.6%, 16.67% and 14.77 % respectively, with an average national rate of 14.87% (MOLSA). This indicates that there is a total of 4, 394,652 AIDS orphan population in the country. There is no significant difference among the three strata. This finding is contrary to the popular expectation that AIDS orphanhood would decrease as one goes from major cities to rural areas with the assumption that HIV infection is relatively higher in the urban areas, and the prevalence of AIDS orphan is positively correlated with HIV infection. However, a number of studies indicated that the AIDS orphans prevalence of urban and rural areas is relatively comparable (FAO and UNAIDS 1999, Save the children 2002, MOLSA 2002 and ROPCA , 2002).
Of the total AIDS orphans, 48.85 % are male and the remaining 51.15 % are female. As to the age distribution of AIDS orphans, more than half (55.79 %) was below ten years of age and the remaining 44.21 % are between 10 to 18.

Socio-economic status of AIDS orphaned households

Custody of AIDS orphans: According to the survey conducted by MOLSA the majority of AIDS orphans (73.98%) live with their families, while the rest with relatives, neighbours, friends, alone and as servants (figure 1).

Source: MOLSA, 2002.
Educational status of the household head of the AIDS orphan families: 36.8% of household head are illiterate, while the rest are literate, with their education levels ranging from adult education to 12 grade. Only 0.9% of the household head has attained some kind of training at higher institute.

Family income of AIDS orphan households: A study conducted in the Tigray regional state has shown that the majority of AIDS orphan households (77.8%) do not have any source of monthly income, while the rest have monthly incomes ranging from 2.5 to 35 USD (ROPCA, 2002). At national level, 63.2% of the households of the AIDS orphans earn a monthly income of less than 12.00 USD and about 5.7 % of AIDS orphan households earn a monthly income of more than 60.00 USD. This figure is low compared to the non-AIDS orphans.
In general the socio-economic status of AIDS orphan families are characterised by high illiteracy rates of heads of households, low family income and lack of facilities like access to drinking water, health service, radio, TV set etc.

Status of AIDS orphan children
Food: Securing daily food is among the major problems for most AIDS orphans. According to the study conducted by MOLSA about 50% of the AIDS orphans are not well-fed. This figure is significantly high compared to the non-AIDS orphans (40%). The possible explanation for the variation across the two groups is that the probability of AIDS orphans of losing both parents is much higher than the non-AIDS orphans. Participants of focused group discussion also reached an agreement that AIDS orphans do not get well-balanced and sufficient food. This has pushed the AIDS orphans into various unhealthy mechanisms like beggary, working in bars, as house servants, collecting firewood, migration to other places, theft, prostitution, etc.
AIDS orphans have problems to get community/social support and networks compared to non-AIDS orphans, due to the stigma attached to HIV/AIDS, which makes them an easy target for aggravated poverty and shortage of food.
This is supported by the study: 6.1% of the AIDS orphans were forced to beg while the proportion on non-AIDS orphans that resorted to beg were 2%.

Clothing: Clothing is another problem faced by AIDS orphans. The problem of having adequate clothing affects them not only physically and in terms of its impacts on their health but also affects their educational development. According to MOLSA, more than 55.3 % of AIDS orphans have a difficulty in getting proper clothing.

Education: Education is another indication of AIDS orphan children. AIDS orphans are forced to drop out of schools after the death of their parents mainly for economic reasons. They are constrained by the lack of money for buying the necessary school supplies and uniforms. Moreover, they can work in the field to replace the labour shortage in the household like taking care of animals, collecting firewood, and fetching water. For example, in the above study, about 11.9 % of the children who were attending primary school before the death of their mother were forced to drop-out from their school after the death of their mother mainly due to due to the inability to buy uniforms, pay school fees and other school supplies.

Health status: Health is another indicator of the situation of the AIDS orphans. The health statuses of the AIDS orphans are also affected as compared to the non-AIDS orphans. For example, according to a study conducted by MOLSA to identify the occurrence of sickness during two weeks preceding the interview, has shown that 52.6% of the male and 47.4% of female AIDS orphans children below the age of ten were sick. Where as 19.1% of the non-AIDS orphan were sick during the same period.
Similarly, 16.7% of the AIDS orphans and 14.9% of the non-AIDS orphans above ten had been sick for more than a month.
The study also showed that more than two third of the sick AIDS orphans have not tried to get any medical assistance.

Community responses to AIDS orphans
One of the most recurring problems with AIDS orphan children was the attitude of the community towards them. Relatives and neighbours avoid them and some times prohibit their children from mixing or playing with them, and hence, they become socially isolated. In relation to this statements that some AIDS orphan children said are (from MOLSA):

“After the funeral of my mother all my relatives did not show up at all”
“After my mothers’ death, all my relatives never come back to see me and we have become burden to our neighbours”
“When my mother died, both relative and neighbours ignored me”

Child exploitation or engagement in economic activity is another problem of the AIDS orphan children. This is another, commonly observed, form of maltreatment of AIDS orphan children. The engagement of economic activity before and after the death of their children’s mother is indicated in figure two.
The most common economic activities that the AIDS orphan children are engaged in are working as daily labourer, home servant, selling “Qollo”, shoe repair and polish, petty trade, herding animal, and the like.

Conclusion
The national prevalence of AIDS orphans is 15.6% showing that a significant section of the child population is severely affected by the pandemic. A considerable amount of AIDS orphans are living outside their familial environment and are faced with environmental, physical and social hazards. They are unable to sustain their life or are expelled from their parental residences following the death of their parents. The have to live with relatives, friends or neighbours, alone by themselves, get hired as a servant and the like making, them vulnerable to lack of familial care, love, affection and follow up. The AIDS orphan children live in families that are relatively poor in their educational level, which has a determinant effect on the overall development of the children. Similarly the majority of AIDS orphan children live in a household with lower incomes, which is beyond their means to provide for the physical, educational and health level of the children.

4.5.7 Overview of other papers

The following papers of participants can be found on the LAPNARD website:

• Low input and labour extensive agriculture for affected households, by Bazira Silver, Uganda
• Orphan headed household and Rural Development in Ethiopia, by Lemlem Aregu, Ethiopia
• Impact of AIDS on orphan and vulnerability of children in rural community, by Haregu M/Adem, Ethiopia
• Potholes of Child-headed Households due to HIV/AIDS, by Pamella A. Opiyo, Kenya


4.6 Production of the documentary

During the network meeting filming for a documentary video was done by a film production team, consisting of LAPNARD members and a Zambian professional filmer. The video production aimed to provide a strategic and informative tool for members of the network and related institutions by visualising the actual debate of rural development professionals engaged in HIV/AIDS related activities, focussing on orphan / vulnerable children headed households.

Note: in August 2005 the documentary was released with the title: “When I die tell Eliza…. AIDS, orphans and vulnerable children in rural Zambia”. The film follows Elizabeth Chintu, a Zambian LAPNARD member. She was welcomed with the song When I die tell Eliza … when she visited Kapiri Moshi with the film team. The story that Elizabeth tells in the film illustrates the call that is cried out loud to rural development professionals. It is the call to take up the challenge to support rural livelihood and agricultural production by orphan headed households.

5. LAPNARD, the future

The second LAPNARD network meeting was an inspiring meeting, many plans for the future were made. All country groups will be formally registered in their home countries, in order to create a structure for receiving finances. They will organise country network meetings and training with subsidies from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands. Another spin-off of the network is the development of a master course AIDS and Rural Development at Larenstein University of Professional Education.


References

MOH (Ministry of Health) (2002), AIDS in Ethiopia, Disease Prevention and Control Department, MOH. Fourth edition, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

MOLSA, 2002. Survey on the prevalence and characteristics of AIDS orphans in Ethiopia. Children youth and family affairs department, ministry of labour and social affairs. Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

POPP (President’s Office Planning and Privatization), 2003. Kagera region socio-
economic profile.

ROPCA (Regional Office for the Prevention and Control of HIV/AIDS), 2002. AIDS Orphans in Tigray: Socio-Economic Realities.

Ross, D. M. and Smith. J. S. (eds.) 2002. Children on the Brink 2002. A Joint Report on Orphan Estimates and Program Strategies. FAO / UNICEF /USAID

TACAIDS, 2003. Mkakati wa Taifa wa Kudhibiti UKIMWI 2003- 2007, Tanzania.

TACAIDS, 2004. HIV/AIDS in Tanzania.

Witteveen, L. M. and Brinkman, B. Hailemariam Birru, G., 2002. Kilio…Ukimwi na maendeleo vijijini; the cry: AIDS and Rural Development, proceedings of the first LAPNARD network meeting, Larenstein University of professional education, the Netherlands, ISBN 90-805750-7-0


Abbreviations:

DAPP: Development from People to People

LAPNARD: Larenstein and Wageningen University Alumni Professional Network on AIDS and Rural Development

OVC: orphans and vulnerable children

PLWHA: people living with HIV/AIDS

RDP: Rural Development Professional

RRA: Rapid Rural Appraisal

SCOPE: Strengthening Community Partnerships for the Empowerment of OVC