The Agriculture Industry

Primary Source

“HIV/AIDS in the Commercial Agriculture Sector in Kenya: Impact and Responses.” Prepared by the Center for International Health and Development at Boston University for the United Nations Commission on HIV/AIDS and Governance in Africa. 15 Aug 2005.

Findings

Impact

• For large companies, the average cost per employee lost to AIDS is between 1 and 3 years’ annual salary.
• In Kericho District, where adult HIV prevalence is estimated at 10 percent, HIV/AIDS is raising the cost of labour to large companies by 1-2 percent. These results are consistent with findings from large companies in other sectors and in other countries in sub-Saharan Africa.
• In small companies, employee losses due to morbidity and mortality—most of it
  presumably AIDS-related—are relatively high, but the impact of HIV/AIDS on the
  companies is modest.
• Companies spend little or nothing on employee benefits and training and therefore report very low costs associated with HIV/AIDS.

Response

• For large companies with active HIV/AIDS programs, a major challenge is how to sustain both financial support and employee enthusiasm for the programs over time. •Some companies are taking advantage of donor-funded programs to provide HIV/AIDS services to employees.
• The lack of interest in HIV/AIDS shown by small company managers is consistent with
  findings of earlier surveys in South Africa.
• Small commercial agriculture companies, generally incur relatively low costs since they rely on unskilled labour, and offer few employee benefits.
• There is little sign that HIV/AIDS alone threatens the sustainability or even the expansion of commercial agriculture in Kericho District.
• There is lack of information about how effective workplace interventions are in offsetting the impacts of HIV/AIDS on private companies.

Resource information

“HIV/AIDS in the Commercial Agriculture Sector in Kenya: Impact and Responses.” Prepared by the Center for International Health and Development at Boston University for the United Nations Commission on HIV/AIDS and Governance in Africa. 15 Aug 2005.

Additional resources

Rosen S, Hamazakaza P, Long L. “HIV/AIDS in the commercial agriculture sector in Zambia: impact and responses.” Report prepared for the UN Commission on HIV/AIDS and Governance in Africa. Center for International Health and Development Boston University School of Public Health. February 2006.

Rosen S, Bii M, Long L, Fox MP. “HIV/AIDS in the commercial agriculture sector in Kenya: impact and responses.” Report prepared for the UN Commission on HIV/AIDS and Governance in Africa. Center for International Health and Development Boston University School of Public Health. August 2005.