Impact of HIV/AIDS on land issues

The current wave of land policy reforms in Lesotho has focused on the commercialisation of agriculture to promote economic growth and reduce poverty. But HIV/AIDS affected households face problems which may not allow them to benefit, a new report has warned. A study commissioned by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and the Southern African Regional Poverty Network (SARPN) said the impact of the pandemic on land issues had resulted in a depressed quality of life and unsustainable livelihoods in affected rural households. Coping strategies adopted by rural communities are becoming inadequate in the face of the prevalence of HIV/AIDS and acute food shortages, Matseliso Mphale, the study's principal investigator, told PlusNews. The study found that some people living with HIV/AIDS were increasingly employing sharecroppers, as they were often too sick to work their fields. This arrangement allowed them to avoid the risk of their land being revoked and assured them of continued access to agricultural land and food. Existing land reform policies have revoked land left fallow for two years. "As much as this is helpful, this is not going to be enough in the long-run because it threatens food security. As time goes on, they will be left with nothing," Mphale said. In some areas, land administration is still under the control of traditional chiefs. To avoid revocation, HIV/AIDS affected households have been reporting their problems to the chiefs who have avoided applying the legislation. This has ensured that land tenure at the community level provides a relatively secure means of livelihood for the households. But this practice could soon become redundant under the government's land reforms, Mphale warned. "The reforms are suggesting that we do away with chiefs and replace them with land boards. But these will be formal institutions which won't know about the predicament of a family, unlike the chiefs," she said. Widows interviewed in Ha Poli, a remote rural village on the boundary of the Lesotho Highlands Water Project, and Matsatsaneng in the lowlands of the kingdom, reported they had been allowed to retain their deceased husbands' land. They were also empowered to make arrangements such as sharecropping or hiring farm workers, the report said. Land is a highly valued commodity that HIV/AIDS infected parents and households see as the ultimate form of security for their children if they die. "They would rather starve than part with their land, with no other income alternatives it is their only valuable asset," Mphale added. The stigma attached to the disease, however, has hurt AIDS orphans. "In some cases the orphans are forced to seek refuge with their maternal grandparents because relatives on their father's side thought...they would be infected by AIDS," the report said. "Apart from the direct impacts through loss of labour and income, many children will grow up without the guidance of their parents. They will miss the opportunity to acquire skills to produce effectively in the fields. Much indigenous knowledge on food production will disappear," it noted. "Ministries have been planning policies as if HIV/AIDS is not an issue, they need to review these policies with AIDS in mind," Mphale said. According to Mphale, HIV/AIDS affected rural households should be encouraged to produce cash crops like vegetables. She said: "They can produce enough food with very little labour requirements and then buy the grain they need. This is one coping strategy that will be easy to manage and more long-term."