Section Days abstract book 2010.indd - RUB Research School ...

HSS_14
THE SOCIO-ECONOMIC IMPACT OF HIV/AIDS ON
AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION AND INCOME IN
ETHIOPIA: THE CASE OF EASTERN SHOWA ZONE,
ETHIOPIA
Beneberu Assefa Wondimagegnhu
International Development Studies, IEE; Ruhr-Universität Bochum, 44780 Bochum, Germany
e-mail: benassefa2006@gmail.com
Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) which is caused by the Human Immunodeficiency
Virus (HIV) is not only an epidemiological problem but also one of the developmental challenges in
developing countries. The epidemic is affecting severely the productive part of the population (15 to
49 age range), that is believed to be ‘the motor of development’.
Ethiopia is one of the Sub-Saharan African countries whose economy is affected by the epidemic.
The country is assigned along with India, China, Nigeria and Russia as the ‘next wave of
HIV/AIDS’ for having a large population at risk of HIV/AIDS that will overtake the current
epidemic prevalence rate in central and southern Africa. The epidemic is also among the challenges
of the agriculture sector of the country where half of the GDP is derived out of it. Although
agriculture is the backbone of the economy, little effort is done in estimating the impact of the
epidemic and many existing studies focus on urban areas. Therefore, this research has its own
contribution in assessing the extent and channels of the impact of HIV/AIDS on agricultural
production. The research measured the extent of the impact of the epidemic on factors of production
such as labor, capital stock and land use, which are the determinants of agricultural production.
The research has been conducted in Ada’a district in Eastern Showa province, in Ethiopia which is
one of the highly agricultural production areas of the country and also one of the vulnerable areas for
HIV/AIDS.
Two stages of ordinary least square (OLS) estimation were done. The first stage was to estimate
the impact of HIV/AIDS on production factors whereas the second stage estimation was done to
estimate the impact of HIV/AIDS on output (income) of farmers via the impacts on factors of
production.
The findings of the analysis indicated that HIV/AIDS has been affecting the production and
income of farmers via its effect on factors of production, i.e. by reducing labor-hours, depleting
the capital stock of farmers and by its impact on the use of land. According to the finding, on
average, the affliction of an individual by HIV/AIDS has reduced labor-hours by 0.37%. Similarly,