HIV/AIDS and Development — Activity Summary

The AIDS crisis, particularly in southern Africa, has impacts throughout the economy and society, with implications for every aspect of development and development assistance. It has had especially devastating impacts on agriculture — an important engine of economic growth and also the means of survival for much of the region’s population. The urgent need is to find more effective ways to halt the spread of the epidemic and to mitigate its impacts in affected regions. Although the public health efforts to curb the spread of HIV/AIDS remain vital, ultimately the public health sector cannot win the war against HIV/AIDS by itself.

On January 29th, PPC IDEAS organized a workshop sponsored by USAID and The Partnership to Cut Hunger and Poverty in Africa. The workshop focused on the linkages between the AIDS epidemic, as a health issue, and its impacts and drivers in other development sectors, focusing initially on the agriculture sector in the AIDS crisis regions of Africa. Eighty representatives from NGOs, consulting firms, development banks, and universities participated in the event.

On April 28th, PPC IDEAS organized a two-day conference sponsored by USAID to discuss the non-health effect of the AIDS epidemic and strategies to effectively combat those effects. Forty participants, mostly USAID staff, attended the event.

Speakers included Richard Cornelius, Senior Policy Advisor, Population, Health and Nutrition, USAID; Barbara Turner, Senior Deputy Assistant Administrator, PPC, USAID; Alexander R. Love, Senior Advisor and Member of the Executive Committee Partnership to Cut Hunger and Poverty in Africa; Constance A. Carrino, Director of the Office of HIV/AIDS, Bureau for Global Health, USAID; Marcela Villarreal, Chief of the Population and Development Service Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) of the United Nations; Thomas Jayne, Professor, Department of Agricultural Economics, Michigan State University; Roy A. Stacy, Program Manager, African Famine Early Warning Network (FEWS NET); Rene Berger, Policy Analyst, PPC; Malcolm F. McPherson, Senior Fellow in Development, Center for Business and Government, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University; Stuart Gillespie, Senior Research Fellow, International Food Policy Research Center (IFPRI); Thomas D. Hobgood, Director, Office of Agriculture, Economic Growth Agriculture and Trade Bureau (EGAT), USAID; Hope Sukin-Klauber, Public Health Advisor, Office of Sustainable Development, Bureau for Africa, USAID; Ishrat Husain, Senior Technical Advisor for HIV/AIDS, Africa Bureau, Office of Sustainable Development, USAID; Letitia Butler, Director, Policy Office, PPC, USAID.