HIV/AIDS and Agricultural Production in Sub-Saharan Africa

Abstract: This research paper analyses the impact of HIV/AIDS on cassava production on a panel of two countries from Sub-Saharan Africa: Tanzania and Nigeria. It covers the 1990-2021 time period. In addition, it provides a zoomed-in investigation on each country using time and country fixed effects, covering the same timeframe. This work contributes to the literature in three dimensions. First, it investigates the direct relationship between HIV/AIDS and cassava production. Second, it provides a more in-depth understanding of the study by focusing on two specific countries in East and West Africa. Third, it uses an empirical strategy with quantitative tools to determine the effect of HIV/AIDS on cassava production in Tanzania and Nigeria. Using several estimation methods, results show that HIV/AIDS significantly affects cassava production in both countries. In particular, HIV prevalence and HIV incidence have a negative effect on cassava production which confirms the two hypotheses. Nevertheless, the comparison within each country shows that HIV prevalence does not significantly impact cassava production in Tanzania and Nigeria. In contrast, HIV incidence appeared positively significant for Nigeria only. Finally, the paper also discusses interventions against the spread of the HIV/AIDS disease.