The Effect of Solidarity Networks on Mitigating HIV/AIDS-Induced Idiosyncratic Shocks in Southern Africa

The adverse effects of the HIV/AIDS pandemic on African economies have been analyzed in a number of studies. However, there is not a large body of literature that analyzes the impact of HIV/AIDS at household level. Anecdotal evidence suggests that extended family and solidarity based community structures can mitigate or even offset the economic consequences of HIV-related deaths on nutritional intake and coping strategies. Analyzing household data from Swaziland in 2007 this paper firstly quantifies the decrease in per capita household income associated with HIV/AIDS-related deaths and, secondly, analyzes changes in nutritional intake and diversity as well as coping strategies of household members. Results suggest that a HIV/AIDS-related decease of a household member significantly reduces per capita household income. However, household members to not seem to reduce nutritional intake or engage in negative coping strategies, such as begging, child labor or prostitution. The results support anecdotal evidence on the existence of an informal communal social security against the income-shock associated with the decease of a household member.

JEL classification: O12, O13, O55,

Keywords: HIV/AIDS, Africa, Nutrition, Income