HORIZONS PROJECT
Transcending Boundaries to Improve Food Security of AIDS-affected Households in Rural Uganda

The National Agricultural Research Organisation, The AIDS Support Organisation, the International Center for Research on Women (ICRW), and Horizons have created a unique partnership, known as the Partners for Food Security (PAFOSE), that brings together key domains of knowledge and technology and links the institutional and community levels in the creation and implementation of interventions to improve rural households’ ability to mitigate food-related impacts of HIV and AIDS.

The ultimate goal of this study was to sustainably improve the food and nutrition security of AIDS-affected households in rural Uganda by supporting them in the creation and implementation of interventions that would improve their access to and ability to use key agricultural and nutritional technologies and practices that already exist, but that were not necessarily being used by vulnerable households in this area.

The PAFOSE partners worked with farmers’ groups in three subcounties of Tororo District in Uganda to develop the interventions based on an integrated understanding of the time and labor constraints and nutritional needs of HIV- and AIDS-affected households, and agricultural technology, bearing in mind a range of social factors such as the effects of gender relations and HIV-related stigma. The project produced a case study report that documents the partnership methodology and describes a replicable model for building effective collaborative relationships for integrated program development.

Four key findings emerged from the case study analysis, which provide valuable lessons for future interventions of this kind:

1. Intersectoral partnerships between organizations to link and leverage different sets of skills for common goals are feasible and practical. It is important that management capacity for partnership be built at all institutional levels, and that the process be participatory.
2. The coordination of agricultural extension and HIV and AIDS education and awareness can enhance the outcomes of both sets of activities.
3. Farmers’ groups provide a nonstigmatizing context for conducting HIV and AIDS education, information, and sensitization activities.
4. Men and women are willing to change negative gender-related attitudes and behaviors when they understand, in terms that relate directly to their own experience, how gender inequality perpetuates household food insecurity.

The PAFOSE partners in Tororo are focusing on the sustainability of the partnership approach and have identified advocacy for the partnership model as a key activity of their next phase of work, in addition to implementing and monitoring the delivery of technical inputs to the PAFOSE farmers’ groups. PAFOSE partners began their advocacy in September 2006 with visits to Tororo’s Chief Executive Officer and his cabinet, who were extremely interested in the project’s activities in the three intervention subcounties. In response, the district council cabinet has indicated that PAFOSE will be allocated time during council sessions to brief the council members on the project, its activities, and its successes/challenges. This is a sign of good will and support from the political leadership, which is a gateway to communities.

With continued support from individuals committed to the project, especially at The AIDS Support Organisation, National Agricultural Research Organisation-LIRI, and ICRW, partners in Tororo will develop additional confidence and skills to advocate for the partnership model within the district’s broader governance processes, with the goal of extending coordinated extension to other subcounties in the district, as part of the district’s way of doing business. Advocacy to institutionalize PAFOSE’s activities is also coming from the subcounty government structures. The Paya subcounty council has included PAFOSE activities in its workplan and budget for 2007, which is submitted to the district council for funds, ensuring the seeds of sustainability are firmly planted through institutionalization of this project.

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Location

Tororo District, Uganda

Duration

July 2003–December 2006

Horizons and Population Council researchers

Karusa Kiragu, Ellen Weiss

Non-Council collaborators

Katherine Coon, Jessica Ogden (International Center for Research on Women)

The AIDS Support Organisation

National Agricultural Research Organisation

Donors

US Agency for International Development

National Agricultural Research Organisation

Publications/Resources
Horizons and Population Council researchers' names appear in boldface type. 

2007
Coon, Katharine, Jessica Ogden, John Odolon, Anthony Obudi-Owor, Charles Otim, James Byakigga, and Peter Sebanja. “Transcending boundaries to improve the food security of HIV-affected households in rural Uganda: A case study,” Horizons Final Report. Washington, DC: Population Council. (PDF)

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See Also

• Uganda

• Horizons Program

• HIV and AIDS

• HIV and AIDS/Consequences for Individuals, Families, and Society

• HIV and AIDS/Stigma and Discrimination

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