The challenge of HIV/AIDS: Where does agroforestry fit in? - World ...

Chapter 23: The challenge of HIV/AIDS185Table 1.Labour requirements, maize production and returns to land and labour of Sesbania sesban improved fallows and continuouslycropped maize over a 5-year period, using an average farm budget.OptionWork daysha –1Maizet ha –1Returns to land:net present value US$ ha –1Returns to labour:net returns US$ work day –11996 prices 1998 prices 1996 prices 1998 pricesContinuous maize, no fertilizer 499 4.8 6 6 0.47 0.79Improved 2-year,sesbania fallow441 8.5 170 215 1.11 1.64Continuous maize with fertilizer 645 21.9 229 544 1.04 2.18Source: Franzel et al. (2002). Note that the economic analysis was conducted under two scenarios, 1996 and 1998 prices. Prices in 1996 were low,following a bumper harvest, while prices in 1998 were high, following a poor harvest.from the body through vomiting and diarrhoea.Some medicines also cause nutrientloss, while infections interfere with thebody’s ability to absorb and use the nutrientsin food. This has serious consequencesfor the poor, who are more likely to bemalnourished even before they become infected.Malnutrition may also be associatedwith an increased risk of HIV transmissionfrom mothers to children (FAO 2004b).Epidemiological evidence shows how vitamindeficiency, protein deficiency and lowimmunity make people much more susceptibleto the disease (Stillwagon 2002).Forest resources can help to provide thenutritional requirements of people who areHIV-positive. For example, leaves from thebaobab (Adansonia digitata) are a source ofcalcium, Vitamin A and Vitamin C (Boukariet al. 2001) and protein (Nordeide et al.1996). In Mali, the World Agroforestry Centrehas been working with several women’sgroups who are managing baobab plantsto produce leaves in a similar way to tea.Moringa oleifera is a multipurpose tree thatoriginated in the eastern Himalaya and hasbeen introduced to many tropical countries.In recent years, it has been promoted bynon-governmental organizations (NGOs)and faith-based organizations to meet thenutritional needs of communities affectedby HIV/AIDS. Moringa oleifera seeds arevery effective in clarifying and treating water;fresh moringa leaves contain very highlevels of micro- and macronutrients (protein,carotene, calcium, iron, Vitamins A, B andC); and moringa pods and dried leaf powderare used as nutritional supplements (McBurneyet al. 2004).Throughout sub-Saharan Africa, peopleharvest indigenous fruits to supplementtheir diets and incomes. In southern Africa,the Centre and its partners have initiated aresearch and development programme topromote the on-farm planting and managementof selected varieties of indigenous fruittrees. Greatest progress has been made withUapaca kirkiana. Scientists are selectingelite germplasm and looking at propagationand preservation, processing and marketingof fruit products. However, the domesticationand dissemination of indigenous fruitspecies is a challenging process. Mithoeferet al. (2004) estimated that the returns toplanting non-improved U. kirkiana wereonly 10–25 percent as high as the returns togathering the fruit from the wild because ofthe high costs associated with tree plantingand maintenance. Where wild fruit is stillavailable, farmers would find it profitable toplant U. kirkiana only if the domesticatedtrees yield fruit 2–4 years after planting, ifthe production per tree was increased bya factor of 8, and/or the price per kg of thedomesticated fruit was twice that of thewild fruit.Medicinal plantsPlant products have been used to curedisease since ancient times. In Africa, it isestimated that 80 percent of the populationuse natural products to treat various ailments.In the Shinyanga region of Tanzaniaalone, over 300 plants have been identifiedfor their medicinal values (Dery et al.1999). Although there is no hard evidenceto show that traditional medicines cantreat HIV and cure AIDS (FAO 2002), it isknown that certain tree products can beused to treat opportunistic infections associatedwith HIV/AIDS and/or to relievesome of their symptoms.In many villages, basic pharmaceuticaldrugs are not available, and householdsrely entirely on wild medicinal plants fortreatment of opportunistic infections associatedwith AIDS (Kolberg and HoldingAnyonge 2002). Results of two recentFAO country studies show that in someareas, such plants are becoming scarcer