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Revisiting new variant famine: the case of Swaziland

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Abstract

The ‘new variant famine’ hypothesis posits links between HIV/AIDS and new patterns of impoverishment, food insecurity and hunger, in southern and eastern Africa. This paper explores the relevance of the NVF hypothesis to understanding Swaziland’s recurrent food crises and high HIV prevalence. Evidence exists that all four markers of NVF are present in Swaziland. The national government and the international community will have to contend with this phenomenon in future planning for the wellbeing of Swazi citizens.

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Notes

  1. Hyper-epidemic countries have a generalized HIV prevalence of 15% or above.

  2. The GHI categorizes the severity of hunger in a country as ‘low’, ‘moderate’, ‘serious’, ‘alarming’ and ‘extremely alarming’.

  3. Swaziland has a dual land tenure system. Swazi Nation Land (SNL), approximately 60% of total land area, is held by the King and allocated to households through chiefdoms. The majority of Swazis derive their livelihoods from SNL. The remainder of Swazi land, Title Deed Land (TDL), is freehold and privately owned.

  4. The effective dependency ratio(s) are calculated using the following figures: the total population, minus those that did not state their age (958 respondents), is estimated at 1,017,491. The working age population (15–64) is 577,529 and the non-working age population is 439,962. Among the working age population, there are an estimated 151,924 individuals that are HIV-positive according to the 2007 Demographic Health Survey.

  5. The 2007 SDHS did not examine the factors that led to orphan-hood prior to 2006. Inferences may be drawn from high mortality among adults of reproductive age.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Health Economics and HIV/AIDS Research Division (HEARD), University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa

    Scott Naysmith & Alan Whiteside

  2. Social Policy Department, London School of Economics and Political Science, Central London, UK

    Scott Naysmith

  3. Harvard Humanitarian Initiative, Cambridge, MA, USA

    Alex de Waal

  4. Social Science Research Council, Brooklyn, NY, USA

    Alex de Waal

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  1. Scott Naysmith
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  2. Alex de Waal
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  3. Alan Whiteside
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Correspondence to Scott Naysmith.

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Naysmith, S., de Waal, A. & Whiteside, A. Revisiting new variant famine: the case of Swaziland. Food Sec. 1, 251–260 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12571-009-0031-1

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