Livelihood Strategies and Nutritional Status of Grandparent Caregivers of AIDS Orphans in Nyando District, Kenya

Abstract

Although the growing role of grandparents as primary caregivers of AIDS orphans in sub-Saharan Africa has been established by previous research, few scholars have undertaken studies to explore the experiences of older persons in this new role. In this study, I used qualitative research methods to examine livelihood strategies that influenced the nutritional status of grandparent caregivers, a population largely neglected in the literature on African livelihoods. In this article I highlight the agency of older persons by identifying responses that promote their livelihood resilience. My research was guided by the sustainable livelihoods framework and involved in-depth individual interviews with 30 grandparent caregivers selected based on their nutritional status. Focus group discussions and key informant interviews were also conducted. Results indicate that the ability to mobilize new sources of labor for food production and new social networks to facilitate other forms of food entitlement are critical to nutritional status. These results are important in designing interventions targeting vulnerable grandparent caregivers.

Experiences of Grandmothers Caring for Orphan Grandchildren in Botswana

“…Most grandmothers had sustained multiple losses, with some reporting a loss of up to six children and having to raise up to nine orphans. Most of the grandmothers in this study, like those in Kenya and South Africa, were illiterate or had very little formal education (Mudavanhu, Segale, & Fourie ; Wangui, ). Grandparenthood in this study was a women's intergenerational issue since all the grandchildren were children of daughters and not sons.…”

“…Some suggest that the extended family network is failing under the strain of HIV (Chirwa, ) and that the socio‐economic and demographic changes which have transpired over the years have stretched, and in some instances eroded, the support mechanisms of the extended family that were traditionally in place (Mokomane, ). There seems to be less reliance on family‐based networks through which grandmothers could claim food entitlements (Wangui, ). Botswana has many policies and programs designed for orphans and vulnerable children.…”

Taking Grandparent Empowerment to Tanzania: A Pilot Project

“…A comparison of urban and rural grandparents found that they differed in their feelings of obligation, qualities of their relationships, and beliefs about child rearing (Nyassani, Sterberg, & Smith, 2009). A study of 11 grandparents in Uganda reported on their extreme economic deprivation and their coping strategies (Kamya & Poindexter, 2009) while research in Kenya examined resiliency and nutritional status among 15 grandparents (Wangui, 2009). A large-scale study that explored a data set of more than 9,000 households in Lesotho showed that children living with a grandmother were two times as likely to attend school then those without a grandmother in the household, thus further underscoring the significant roles that they play (Parker & Short, 2009).…”

Social Support Disparities for Caregivers of Aids‐orphaned Children in South Africa

“…In the majority of cases, extended family take on primary responsibility for care of AIDS‐orphaned children (Freeman & Nkomo, ; Monasch & Boerma, ). These families confront a number of challenges: migration (Ford & Hosegood, ); financial stresses (Andrews, Skinner, & Zuma, ; Bachmann & Booysen, , ; Balew, Worku, Tilaye, Huruy, & Fetene, ; Collins & Leibbrandt, ) such as decreased employment and work‐care conflicts (Freeman & Nkomo, ; Linsk & Mason, ; Miller, Gruskin, Subramanian, Rajaraman, & Heymann, ; Safman, ); food insecurity (Schroeder & Nichola, ; Wangui, ); and poor physical and mental health outcomes (Joslin & Harrison, ; Kuo & Operario, ). Social support may be an important resource that caregivers draw on to respond to these diverse challenges.…”