Do you wonder how we can improve food security for HIV-affected households? Do you ask yourself how activities in the agriculture sector and for improving economic growth can play a role in helping these vulnerable populations? Well, then please join us on Thursday, May 23 from 12-1:30 pm EDT for an #AskAg Twitter Chat on the “Intersection of HIV and AIDS & Food Security.” The chat is sponsored through the Feed the Future initiative and hosted by Agrilinks, USAID Office of HIV/AIDS, and the Livelihoods and Food Security Technical Assistance (LIFT) project as part of Global Health Month at USAID.
The chat will feature tweets from:
- Meaghan Murphy (@MurphyMeaghan) — Food Security and Livelihoods Specialist, FHI 360
- Kirsten Weeks (@klweeks) — Global Lead, Health, Nutrition & Livelihoods, DAI
- Jason Wolfe (@jasonmwolfe) — Senior Household Economic Strengthening Advisor, USAID’s Office of HIV/AIDS
So why is this topic worth tweeting about? Here are some key issues to keep in mind:
- The relationship between HIV and AIDS and livelihood/food insecurity is bi-directional: HIV and AIDS can increase the vulnerability of households and communities to livelihood and food insecurity, while livelihood and food insecurity can also increase the risk of a person becoming infected with HIV.
- HIV and AIDS can impact all aspects of a household’s livelihood, including directly affecting its income generation and productivity due to compromised health of people living with HIV (PLHIV), increased care costs associated with the chronic illness, stigma, and even death of affected household members. These reduced livelihoods opportunities can have direct impacts on household food access and ultimately the diet quality and quantity of individuals in the household.
- The increased nutritional needs of PLHIV and the toll that HIV takes on the body complicate and further make food utilization and proper nutrition critical elements of the HIV and AIDS and food security discussion.
- Vulnerable households with insecure livelihoods and food access, often resort to unsustainable coping behaviors that may include those that can put them at great risk for contracting HIV.
How to participate:
- If you are new to Twitter, visit Twitter.com to sign up for an account. For more tips on getting started, check out the Agrilinks Twitter 101 & 102 Trainings.
- Explore the guiding questions that will be discussed during the chat, or tweet your questions ahead of time using #AskAg.
- On May 23 from 12-1:30pm EDT, use the hashtag #AskAg to join the discussion. You can also watch a livestream of tweets here.
- Don’t forget to follow USAID (@USAID), Agrilinks (@Agrilinks), USAID Global Health (@USAIDGH) and the LIFT Project (@LIFTProject) on Twitter!
Agrilinks is an activity of the U.S. Government’s Feed the Future initiative, led by USAID’s Bureau for Food Security.
