the vicious cycle of poverty

Poverty, hunger, and HIV/AIDS are closely linked. The Canadian Foodgrains Bank describes the situation as a vicious cycle. In countries where malnutrition is already high, HIV/AIDS makes the situation even more desperate. People fighting the disease are further weakened by poor nutrition and therefore less able to provide for their families. When those infected with AIDS die, they leave behind orphans with even less access to food, less knowledge of how to produce food and at more risk of contracting HIV/AIDS.

HIV/AIDS is a major contributor to the desperate situation in Malawi. Because AIDS primarily affects the productive working class, the welfare of families, and therefore whole communities and the entire country is severely hampered. Not only do families suffer a significant loss in their primary income, but because AIDS is an extremely demanding disease that requires the resources of the entire family to care for the infected person, their ability to compensate for lost income is debilitated. To survive, these families resort to other sources of income to provide for their children, including selling firewood, growing tobacco, begging, or even prostitution, which further increases the spread of AIDS and increases hopelessness. Many children lose one or both parents to AIDS and are left in the care of an older sibling or grandparents, often being forced to fend for themselves. Many of Malawi’s families are pushed to the edge of survival, concerned only about providing their children with at least one meal for the day rather than long-term sustainability. With these people already living in survival mode, you can imagine the devastating effects of a major drought, the last of which was in 2005. It is virtually impossible to break the vicious cycle of poverty, hunger, drought, and HIV/AIDS without a helping hand.