This study seeks to provide evidence to help understand the relationship between poverty and HIV at the household level. It is being carried out in South Africa, Kenya and Senegal and has been funded by the governments of the Netherlands (DGIS), UK (DFID) and Canada (CIDA), and the Ford Foundation.

A literature review has been written that looks at the social and economic impacts of HIV/AIDS at the household level and this was used to help inform the study design. While there is a lot of information on poverty, HIV and AIDS, studies that explore the links between HIV/AIDS and poverty are rare.

We have thus developed a conceptual framework to help understand the many possible interactions between HIV and poverty and vice versa. This conceptual framework has allowed us to hypothesise pathways of potential interaction and to propose levels at which interventions are most likely to be effective. These levels include interventions aimed at individuals, communities, or broader policy processes.  

The conceptual framework and its discussion with experts in the field have confirmed the complexity of the relationships and increased our conviction that this research is breaking important new ground. The literature review has also helped to identify the methodological challenges in conducting research involving the identification of HIV- and AIDS-affected households. Where testing for HIV is not feasible, proxy indicators of HIV-affected households, such as chronic illness, young adult deaths from opportunistic infections and the presence of orphans, have been used.

A qualitative exploration of the nature of poverty was conducted in Senegal and quantitative studies completed in Kenya and South Africa. The quantitative studies used a similar semi-structured questionnaire which was administered to 600 households in rural Kenya and 300 households in a peri-urban area in South Africa. The research instruments developed have been designed so that they are sufficiently generic to be used in different countries, with minor modifications.

The regional principal investigators are Prof John Seager (Southern Africa), Prof Cheikh Niang (West Africa) and Prof Dan Kaseje (East & Central Africa).

Publications:

Ganyaza-Twalo, T. & Seager, J. (2005) Literature Review on Poverty and HIV/AIDS: Measuring the Social and Economic Impacts on Households. Unpublished paper of the Human Sciences Research Council

John Seager, Thulisile Ganyaza-Twalo, Tsiliso Tamasane (n.d.) Conceptual Framework to Help Understand the Interactions Between Poverty and HIV/AIDS - Poster