Impact of Drought and HIV on Child Nutrition in Eastern and Southern Africa

Abstract

Despite severe intermittent droughts and the HIV/AIDS epidemic (now declining but still with very high prevalence rates), underlying trends in child underweight are improving when drought is absent: resilience may be better than feared. Preventing effects of drought and HIV could release potential for improvement and, when supported by national nutrition programs, help to accelerate the rates of improvement, now generally averaging around 0.3 percentage points per year, to those needed to meet Millennium Development Goals (0.4 to 0.9 percentage points per year).

A systematic review and meta-analysis assessing the impact of droughts, flooding, and climate variability on malnutrition

“…During this crisis, it is estimated that at least 15 million people in the six countries of southern Africa (Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe) became severely food insecure. Due in part to these food shortages, market failures and social and political upheavals also plagued many of these countries, further worsening the availability and efficacy of government-sponsored food aid programmes (Mason et al, 2005;Mason et al, 2010).…”

“…All 7 studies looked at underweight prevalence exclusively in children and defined underweight as weight-for-age z-scores 2 SDs below the WHO median. Of the 3 studies that did find a significant association, 2 were performed during the previously mentioned drought crisis in sub-Saharan Africa from 2001-2004(Mason et al, 2005Mason et al, 2010). During the initial drought period, the prevalence of underweight increased 5-7 percentage points per year, while in the three years following the drought, the prevalence decreased 0.1-0.9 percentage points per year until reaching pre-drought levels.…”

“…Mediating variables (a) Infectious Disease Co-Morbidities: Infectious disease co-morbidities were identified as potential mediating factors in 6 of the studies (Hagos et al, 2014;Johnson & Brown, 2014;Mason et al, 2005;Mason et al, 2010;Salama et al, 2001;Skoufias & Vinha, 2012). Of these, 3 focused on malaria, 2 on HIV/AIDS, and 1 on measles.…”

Drought Influences on Food Insecurity in Africa: A Systematic Literature Review

“…[34] made similar observations in Zimbabwe's Seke and Murewa Districts where a significant proportion of farmers had no access to early weather forecasting information. Six studies [9,10,23,26,28] identified drought as adversely affecting small-scale farmers and government response strategies (see Table 1). Philipose [10] examined how food security had been influenced by drought in selected countries with similar characteristics (Malawi and Zambia) that make them vulnerable to food insecurity, with the designated groups mostly affected by HIV/AIDS.…”

Resilience to Climate-Induced Disasters and Its Overall Relationship to Well-Being in Southern Africa: A Mixed-Methods Systematic Review

“…However, in the 1980s, there was a remarkable spike in the frequency, intensity, and impact of droughts across the region [ 12 , 13 ]. Since then, naturally occurring disasters, especially droughts that are induced by the El Nino southern oscillation, have occurred almost every two years [ 10 , 14 , 15 ]. Recurrent droughts devastate livelihoods and induce humanitarian interventions that help communities cope, thus, promoting a false and unsustainable sense of defiance against droughts [ 16 ].…”