It may come as a surprise to know that there are links between HIV/AIDS and forest resources in many developing countries. Across the developing world, impoverished rural households already depend upon forest resources on a daily basis for such things as firewood for a source of energy or timber and poles as construction materials. Less well known are the impacts that HIV/AIDS has on altering a household’s dependence on these crucial resources.
In remote and rural areas, forest resources can play a crucial role in enabling a household to control and adapt to the disease (Villarreal et al., 2006). With limited income opportunties, HIV/AIDS-affected households often increase their reliance on freely available forest resources as a consistent livelihood strategy to minimize the socio-economic burden of HIV/AIDS (Shackleton and Shackleton 2004). Wild foods, fruits, berries, and leaves can boost the immune system and help protect against opportunistic disease (Villarreal et al., 2006). Some non-timber forest resources have been found to be high in key nutrients required by people living with HIV/AIDS, particularly protein, fat, iron, zinc, and vitamins A and C (Barany et al., 2004).
Research on the environmental dimensions of HIV/AIDS remains limited. In spite of the importance of forest resources, there has been a dearth of inquiry into the links between the livelihoods of HIV/AIDS-affected households and forest resources, and on the long-term impacts of people living with HIV/AIDS on the management of forest resources. Research on this complex topic necessarily requires an interdisciplinary approach that brings together aspects of sustainable forest management, population health, agriculture, food security, and local livelihoods. This research domain is one of the key focal areas that is being studied by AFRICAD (the Africa Forests Research Inititative on Conservation and Development). Located within the Faculty of Forestry and led by Dr. Joleen Timko, AFRICAD works in Africa’s forested regions on applied research to address poverty alleviation and sustainable livelihoods, social equity, and conflicts over natural resources.
In 2010, Malawi was selected as the country in which to situate this research program as the country sheds crucial insight into the linkages between HIV/AIDS and forest resources given its rural nature, dependence on forest resources, high HIV/AIDS prevalence, and an openness to discussing the impacts of HIV/AIDS on forest resources and forest management institutions (Malawi Government, 2007). Twelve focus groups and sixty semi-structured interviews were conducted with members of unaffected and HIV/AIDS-affected households in villages in four case study districts in Malawi’s three regions (northern, central, southern). The purpose of this study had two components: a forest dependence assessment, and an innovation study. The forest dependence assessment sought to characterise how household dependence on forest resources changes through three phases: the period before HIV became a problem, the period during HIV-related morbidity, and after AIDS-related mortality. The innovation study sought to explore local forest-related coping strategies and innovations to alleviate the HIV/AIDS burden on rural households.
The forest dependence assessment demonstrated that the relationship between HIV/AIDS and dependence on specific forest resources appears to correspond closely with the stage of the disease. Firewood and water were consistently ranked as being one of the three most important resources, regardless of a household’s HIV-affectedness. The need for medicinal plants increased substantially for households during the morbidity phase, and many of the respondents reported an increased need for fruit, bushmeat, and honey during the morbidity phase, with a decreased need post-mortality. The importance of timber increased significantly after HIV-related mortality; this could be due to the pressing need for coffins.
The innovation study explored local forest-related coping strategies and innovations to alleviate the HIV/AIDS burden on rural households within five broad categories: labour saving practices and technologies; social, nutritional and economic safety nets; new institutions and capacity building; changing gender roles; and knowledge transmission. Many different strategies are being employed by households to obtain the forest resources they require, such as: reallocating the labour within the household to obtain forest resources, planting specific firewood-providing species around their homesteads, and collecting more indigenous wild foods for both household consumption and for sale.
A subsequent two-part study was initiated in 2012 to follow-up on the results of the exploratory studies. With firewood considered to be one of the (if not the most) important forest resources to all households in the study, this subsequent study has been established to assess the socio-economic impacts of easier access to firewood on study households. This study will assess two key innovations that were mentioned by many respondents in the innovation study. First, the improved firewood cookstove, Chitetzo mbaula, will be assessed for its impact on the household (particularly on the women). Second, the impacts of several fast-growing firewood trees (Moringa oleifera, Senna siamea, Eucalyptus camaldulensis) grown on local homesteads will be assessed.
In November and December 2012, pre-intervention interviews were conducted with 72 household representatives in two Malawian districts (Zomba and Chiladzulu) to establish a baseline for the improved firewood cookstove study. In December 2012, those individuals responsible for cooking in these study households participated in a stove-making workshop where they made their own Chitetzo stove and were instructed how to care for and use it to maximise efficiency. The households began using the cookstoves in January 2013. Post-intervention interviews will be conducted in late 2013 to assess what socio-economic impacts (such as more expendable income, more free time, less requirement for household labour) the cookstoves have made.
In December and January 2012, 26 seedlings (14 Moringa, 6 Eucalyptus, 6 Senna) were distributed to 72 households in Zomba and Chiladzulu. Semi-structured interviews with each household in early 2013 will establish a baseline of the household’s socio-economic position. Post-intervention interviews will be conducted with the households in late 2013 to assess how easier access to firewood (particularly the very fast growing Moringa) has affected their household.