The Role of Forest Resources in theStrategies of Rural Communities Coping with the HIV/AIDS Epidemic in Sub-Saharan Africa

Abstract

The HIV pandemic has had dramatic effects on rural livelihoods in Africa. In rural communities only a few people have access to treatment due to high prices of medicine, poor health infrastructure, and long distances to the nearest health centers. These have led to a greater dependence on the natural resources by the rural communities to alleviate the problems. In the rural areas, the natural resource products are easily accessible to most people and their use has increased over the years. There has been higher demand for wood, to prepare food for increasingly frequent funerals and for making coffins. Similarly, HIV has complicated existing livelihood crises resulting from droughts, high prices of fertilizer, and poor marketing services. The impact of HIV and AIDS on household labor has also intensified the dependence on tree products like fruits, roots, tubers, and vegetables. This chapter examines the role of forest resources in the responses to HIV and AIDS, particularly in terms of herbal medicines, energy, and food. The chapter shows that HIV and AIDS epidemic has tremendously increased the dependence on wood resources and that the pandemic has environmental and natural resource management implications. Some policy and program interventions that might help lessen the impact of the pandemic on natural resources and the role forest resources can play in response to HIV and AIDS have been highlighted